For this weeks topic of the week, we were asked to describe widgets and badges and the differences between them
A widget, according to Wikipedia is, “is a stand-alone application that can be embedded into third party sites by any user on a page where they have rights of authorship.”
A badge, according to Wikipedia is, “is a small image used on websites to promote web standards, products used in the creation of a web page or product, or to indicate a specific content license that is applied to the content or design of a website.”
Widgets and badges can be confusing at first and one might not be able to tell the difference between the two. After doing some research, I found out more information about both widgets and badges, and believe that I can tell a few differences between the two. Widgets are more like applications that you can add to your computer, desktop, page, or phone. A badge is sort of like an advertisement for people to see and (hopefully) click on.
Badges are fairly easy to create and a lot easier to create than widgets. Widgets have coding involved and are much more complex. Creating badges and widgets can be beneficial for an organization because it helps to get more customers and people involved and aware of an organization. For example, if a organization such as, Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) made badges and widgets for people to be a part of and click on, then people would be more likely to access their information more and their applications or web pages more often.
Widgets and badges are somewhat new in social media, but they are growing fast. It is important for companies and organizations to be up to date on everything that is new and up and coming in the social media realm.
Examples of Widgets (left) and Badge (right):
AllieSchlumper's Blog 
When I first started researching widgets and badges, I was really confused. I had heard people talking about them before but I had no real idea what in the world they were talking about. Research showed me the badges were used mainly for advertising purposes. That part, I got. Badges are on almost every website in some form or fashion. Widgets, on the other hand, still confuse me. The closes I got to actually understanding them came in the form of an analogy: Widgets are to websites what applications are to iPhones. Ok, so widgets are like iPhone apps. Well, that doesn’t really help me because I don’t have an iPhone so I don’t understand apps. Who knows? Maybe one day I will get an iPhone or at least get a better understanding of what a widget actually is.
I was confused with widgets and badges. Widgets are like apps that can be on your homepage or website without having to navigate away from that website. I agree with PRSSA using widgets and badges. It will make our PRSSA organization more organized than what it already is and have more participation from our members.