Blogs vs. Wikis (round 1)

So I was recently asked, "What's the difference between a blog and a wiki? What are they, anyway?"

Here's the answer that I usually give; it may be basic, but I think it's a good start for someone unfamiliar with blogs and wikis.

A blog (like this one) is generally maintained by just one person (sometimes one organization or department). S/he may post links, write about items of interest, discuss current events, etc. People may post responses, but it's up to the blogger to maintain the site.

A wiki is a collaboration among multiple people. It's a place to share information with others, whether it be a small group of friends in a private wiki or a global collaboration in a public wiki like Wikipedia®. A wiki can only be maintained if multiple people contribute and edit its pages. Administrators, moderators, members, and contributors can have differing amounts of control, and wikis themselves can have different levels of accessibility. Some may have one administrator who invites select members to join and edit their private wiki (accessible only to those people), while on the other extreme some wikis allow anyone to contribute and edit pages.

Right now my new wiki Northeast Ohio Gardening allows anyone to contribute, edit and even add pages, although as administrator I can delete anything. I could change the settings in the future so that only members of my wiki may contribute and edit, but we'll see what happens...