We already know that the opportunity for interaction through forums, comments, or chat has changed the way we find information and read news outlets, travel sites, and consumer reviews (among others). But what if every site had this feature? And what if the site didn't control it? Google's sidewiki is a new feature that allows any google account holder to make comments on any page. To see the comments, you just need to install the small sidebar add-on. The entries are ranked based on an algorithm of usefeulness, including user rankings and how many posts the commenter makes.
As Sarah Robbins noted, the potential for Sidewiki is huge - every site could become a social networking site. There's also a risk of those comments being personal attacks or descending into flame wars, without any control or moderation by the site owner. Does sidewiki, in a sense, give users complete control over the interactive function of the site?
See http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/help-and-learn-from-others-as-you.html for more details.
I think it would be very interesting to see what comments people leave on political sites (ex: DNC or RNC), especially when the owner of the site has no control over the comments. I wonder if this will end up being useful or simply being used for flaming. I do like that it at least uses some algorithm to rank the posts. It will be interesting to see what happens with this.
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