Why Wiki Works

• any and all information can be changed or deleted by anyone. Wiki pages represent consensus because it's much easier to delete flames and spam than indulge them. What remains is naturally meaningful.
• anyone can play. This sounds like a recipe for low signal - Big-Omega knows wiki gets hit by the great unwashed as often as any other site. But to make an impact on wiki you need to generate real content. So anyone can play, but only good players last.
• Wiki is not WYSIWYG. It's an intelligence test of sorts to be able to edit a wiki page. It's not rocket science, but it doesn't appeal to the Video-Addicts. If it doesn't appeal, they don't participate, which leaves those of us who read and write to get on with rational discourse.
• Wiki isn't realtime. People take time to think, sometimes days or weeks, before they follow up some edit. So what people write is generally well-considered.
• Wikizens are by nature a pedantic, ornery, and unreasonable bunch. So there's a camaraderie and understanding here we seldom see outside of our professional contacts.