Managing Virtual Teams: Getting the Most from Wikis, Blogs, and Other Collaborative Tools

Chapter 17Wikis

“Communities can build amazing things, but you have to be part of that community and you can’t abuse them. You have to be very respectful of what their needs are.

— Jimmy Wales, founder and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation, keynote speech, SXSW 2006

Wikis are collaborative websites that allow users to add and edit content. The word “wiki” (Hawaiian for “fast”) can refer to the site or to the software installed on the site. Wikis, which are similar to word processors, were created by Ward Cunningham in 1994. He called it “WikiWikiWeb” after being told to catch a Wiki Wiki shuttle bus that ran between the terminals of the Honolulu International Airport. (He preferred WikiWikiWeb over his second choice, ...