We are all social media babies due to the invention of
the internet and the evolution of the World Wide Web. Using the Web and being
an author of the web is now one in the same. So if you haven’t made any
contributions what are you waiting for? The internet has been called the next
step in collective modern human evolution because of its profound ability to connect
us and ensure collective intelligence will be handed down from generation to
generation and will be the catalyst for exponential technological growth in the
years to come. Conveniently enough of you were born within the last thirty
years, you grew up in an era of computers and internet so using these tools are
like breathing.
For example creating a step by step tutorial
for the deconstructing of an engine block or making a flour less chocolate cake can be done with ease! The actual task, well that’s a
different story. People are picking up hobbies by watching YouTube videos and
how-to’s, you can watch a video VLOG review of a product you are considering,
or order food.
The
internet is a global network connecting millions of computers all over the
world. The Web is a way of accessing information over the internet through
servers that support specially formatted documents. With the beginning of the Web (Web 1.0) sites
were not interactive. Though they provided some information it was not enough
to entice users to revisit sites. This was a period of time when organizations
controlled the websites and the visitors had very little control. The next stage
of this evolution is Web 2.0, an open source program. Meaning these source
codes are available to everyone on the internet. Users were able to learn how
these applications worked and make changes to them. They could even build their
own sites. With this came the birth of social media and all of its social media
babies.
Wiki
is one of the most popular social media sources. With so many branches of it,
users can teach and share on almost any subject you can think of. There are
wikis for entertainment, food, drinks, games, how to, health, political,
product, references, religion, sports, travel and so much more. So what is the
benefit of all these wiki sites? The ability to learn and share information.
The ability to gain knowledge, and knowledge is power. As humans we have a
driving need to discover not only new things and new people but new
perspectives or outlooks on supposedly familiar scenarios or subjects. Even
more so we have the need to share those things as well. Wiki is a small example
of the internet’s ability to drive innovation and ingenuity like never before. Just
like there are so many different wiki sites there are different benefits. Businesses
can now benefit from free advertising, and easier communication between
employees. Schools can provide information to the students and staff much
easier. Online learning has become an essential part of the class room. So much
so that a lot of classes don’t even make you purchase books anymore you just do
the reading online. Friends and family are able to stay connected constantly, whether
they live 5 minutes from each other or 5,000 miles from each other. This world
has reached a level of interconnectedness it has never seen before.
Of
all the Wiki sites Wikihow has become undeniably one of the most popular. Entrepreneur
Jack Herrick launched the site ten years ago with one goal in mind, to help
anyone on the planet learn how to do anything. There are now more than a
million users sharing their experiential knowledge. Wikihow provides how to do
things with simple step by step directions. It also provides a list of all the
tools you will need to complete whatever project you chose. With the boom of
Web 2.0 also came a lot of fake information. Too many amateurs were publishing
false information leaving sites like this marked as not credible. Wikihow has worked
constantly to change that mind frame of users and maintain the accuracy of the
information posted through hundreds of admin whose only job is to check facts
and retain credibility.
So what’s
it like to be an author on wiki how? If there is a topic that you know well and it hasn’t already been demonstrated go for it. People use this site out of necessity,
chances are if you need it other people do too. The website is user friendly and has tutorials so you can teach yourself.
Pick a topic you are passionate about. If you have any questions along the way
the admins are always there to help. Occasionally data can be lost. If you are
working on a draft save it to a separate word document every so often. Just to
be sure you don’t lose that work. Once you publish the article an admin
messages you right away. They thank you for joining the team and give you
helpful editing tips so your work can match their criteria. It’s also helpful to add links in your page to other
related wiki how articles. Sharing a topic also teaches you more about the topic, you
have to learn how to manage that project and make it easy to follow. Create an outline to follow step by step. You can upload your own
photos as visual aids to your steps. Add in a tips and warnings section so you
can share details you have learned along the way to stream line the process.
Teaching someone how to do something can be very rewarding.
The
evolution of the World Wide Web changed many things about the way we
communicate and how we share and learn. Wiki how is a user friendly site that
is easy to work with. With tutorials and admin to help you every step of the
way. Being an author is just a click away. It is now time to fulfill that
driving need of learning and sharing with the world.
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