Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
The best-known microblogging platforms are Twitter, Tumblr, and
Google+. Video and photo-sharing sites Vine and Instagram can also
be thought of as microblogs, because users generally post a photo or a
video clip with a caption and then invite comments.
Smartphone and tablet apps for microblogging sites enable users and
followers to view new posts and get notifications about them or about
replies to their own posts. Relevant and interesting posts are reposted by
followers to their own followers, thereby helping to promote the origi-
nal post. A particularly significant tweet from a prominent public figure
might be retweeted thousands of times.
Wikis
A
wiki
is an online database of information that any user can copy or
amend using a web interface. Wikis are usually set up so users can col-
laborate and share information and knowledge. If someone has addi-
tional information related to the wiki's content, he can add it to the wiki.
Wikipedia is the best-known example of a wiki; it is a form of online
encyclopedia created by and edited by web users. Figure 9.7 shows the
Wikipedia web page that describes a wiki.
wiki
A web-based application that can be edited
by anyone and that is usually informational or
instructive in nature.
Figure.9 7
A wiki is an online database used for collaborative projects.
Newsgroups
Newsgroups
were created long before the web and were the forerun-
ners to the web-based forums we use today. These groups are part of a
system called
Usenet
, which is a global distributed discussion system.
Usenet users read and post messages to various categories known as
newsgroups. Discussions are stored as threads, which follow a particular
topic. Posts are not stored on individual servers; they are stored on a set
of distributed servers that form part of the Usenet network. Newsgroup
servers are connected to each other to form a network. Newsgroups have
their own protocol for accessing the posts, called NNTP (network news
newsgroup
An online discussion group.
Usenet
A global distributed system of servers
that host public newsgroups.
