Of course there is Wikipedia, the all-knowing Britannica killer whose crowd-sourced volumes we all cautiously adore. But clever developments in social media have opened the flood gates to the namesake of a humble Honolulu shuttle bus.

Remember the 90’s? That wild time for web? It was then that the term “Wiki” was coined by the creator of the first such site after being told to take the Wiki Wiki shuttle to a Hawaiian airport. (This, of course, is according to Wikipedia. And for the record “Wiki” basically means “quick.”)

Since then the concepts of crowd-sourcing and collaborative web have taken on many forms. We have made mention of some of the most interesting and B2B-applicable ventures before, but the compellation includes:

Quora – We are covering it again because, well, I’m addicted. Being able to “follow” topics and questions of interests serves to both to feed only relevant content while truly leveraging the community concept.

Wikibon – Just one example of a specialized wiki, Wikibon provides a forum for technology professionals “dedicated to improving the adoption of technology and business systems through an open source sharing of free advisory knowledge.”

Qwiki – Still in Alpha phase, Qwiki is a crowd-sourced collection of topical storytelling. Think: full-color, narrated Wikipedia. The multimedia facets of Qwiki make it one of the more entertaining and accessible reference tools on the web.

And this list doesn’t even mention variances of the Wiki approach available through any number of Content Management Systems (CMS) vendors for use on your own public site or private intranet.

The lesson here? Leverage the content and resources you have. Content is king and it may take a village to cultivate. If you can facilitate relevant content or discussion for your target audience you align your brand to the current and affirming online exchanges.

Finally, something to mull over. Wikipedia, the 5th most trafficked site in the world, employs less than 100 people.

UPDATE: A timely feature on Gizmodo has pointed out the first Wiki is still live and available for reference. An interesting history lesson of the WikiWikiWeb.