You may or may not have noticed the square dance calling wiki I set up here: Lion Kimbro’s thoughts on this, from an interview:

“Wiki is *terribly* important because it’s the first public communication system that is DOCUMENT based.

“Instant Messaging, E-Mail, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), Online Message Boards, all this stuff-

“It’s all *MESSAGE* based.

“It’s a “quick signal.” You send a message to someone, and they do something different than they would have done before. “Someone.” Sometimes even a group of people. Maybe you’re on a mailing list, or something.

“After the message is done, it’s *spent.* It’s indexed by google, and someone looking for something can find your message amidst a sea of messages, and try to apply it to their situation.

“But wiki is *totally* different. It’s *document* based. The fundamental element of a wiki is the *document.* It’s not a one-off message. (Though, you CAN attach messages to the bottom of a wiki page. Very common.) It’s something that people can use, and refer back to, time and time again.

“It’s made to exist across time.