SideWiki Less Cool Than it First Appeared: Ten and a Half Reasons Why

In a recent posting I expressed my disagreement with an article published in the Guardian newspaper suggesting that Google Sidewiki could mean the end of PR as we know it (see http://andrewhennigan.blogspot.com/2009/11/sidewiki-is-cool-but-reports-it-spells.html )

At first I said that Sidewiki was cool, but simply that I did not think it was any threat to PR as we know it. Indeed I believe it creates more opportunities. Looking more closely, though, I now think that it is clever but I am not so sure that it is such a good idea. Here are ten and a half reasons why:

1. Users need to know it exists and website owners are not likely to put a button saying ”click here to see uninvited and possibly hostile comments on this site”

2. You need to install the toolbar to see it, at least for now.

3. You need to remember to turn the Sidewiki on.

4. Turning it on slows down page loading so you turn it off.

5. Controversial sites will block it.

6. Well managed sites will find ways to bury bad comments.

7. All other site Sidewikis will probably be a mixture of spam and insults.

8. Comments will not track changes in page content.

9. Moderated commenting spaces within site will be easier to use, more readable.

10. Privacy loving users will not like that Google sees everything that they see.

10.5. And it isn’t a wiki anyway because you can’t edit the content written by others. Use your own Google guys, and try searching "define:wiki"!

Comments

ario said…
Hi Andrew, just thought I'd chime in that there's a Sidewiki bookmarklet you can use if you're not keen on using the Toolbar...

http://www.google.com/support/toolbar/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=164493
20 November, 2009
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