Maybe the wikis back then weren't as quick ('wiki' means 'fast' in Hawaiian) and easy to use as everyone had thought. Public interest in wikis as a technology greatly diminished and perhaps even the most loyal users were a little disappointed that not everyone wanted to share their knowledge freely. However, by the end of 2008, hardly any of the initial euphoria remained, as it had reached the 'trough of disillusionment' stage in Gartner's Hype Cycle. The wiki hype exploded around the turn of the century, promising knowledge for all, willingly provided by everybody. Gartner's Hype Cycle illustrates the different stages of how technologies are received and adopted Only once the hype subsides is it possible for the technology to steadily build until it reaches a healthy 'plateau of productivity'.

This is what they found: after initially peaking on a wave of public excitement, the hype then always breaks and descends into disillusionment and disappointment. IT business consultants Gartner have analyzed the hype that has surrounded multiple different technologies throughout their lifecycles, and used their findings to develop the Hype Cycle model. When exciting new technologies are released, they are often hyped to the extreme, rapidly gaining public awareness and building up unsustainable levels of enthusiasm. Our guest author found six reasons why this isn't a contradiction and may have unearthed the secret recipe behind Confluence's trend-bucking success. And yet, the enterprise wiki Atlassian Confluence is more popular than ever. The time of wikis' widespread popularity are long gone – one might even say that wikis have been proclaimed dead. This post was written by our guest author Martin Häberle, product marketing manager at SoftProject GmbH.

How to use confluence wiki