Wikipedia

Inogenius

Is WikiPedia doing something good for the world? It is an extremely useful site, and those who have access to the internet have the ability to immediately find articles, written by their peers. However, since there is no real fact checking and is self-moderated, it could potentially spread false information.

In my opinion, while WikiPedia is not an end-all solution, it's much like the media; it can be used to spark interest, but to use it to make yourself an 'expert' and list as a credible source is setting yourself up to fail. Of course, many things written can be traced back to an opinion. There's few things in the world that set in stone, but because the so called experts in the field, who sometimes are only called experts because they have a book published, the information is considered to be a fact.

barfly467

I like it cause it give synopisis of information. But schools have outlawed using it for references, and info could be false. So people have to take it for what it is.

God

Super Moderator

I use it to get the general idea of what i want to know. But not the whole story, i'll put more effort into that.

Blitzkrieg

Administrator

For all the shit that people give Wikipedia, I've never run into an article that wasn't almost entirely accurate. If something is false, someone quickly changes it back in most cases..

I use it a lot just for my own personal reading.. but I'd never use it as a source on say an essay I'm writing. Too risky.

CrasH - X

Remember the Spyda, dude ..

Inogenius

Yeah, both colleges that I have gone to have outlawed it as being listed as a reference. Certainly understandable why.

I agree though, it's a great site for getting a really brief understanding of something. Some of the articles, like on the TV show Lost or Radio show, This Week in Tech, are really well written with a lot background information.

The Stunner

I don't trust wikipedia too much. Reasons that have already been said throughout this thread. If I need facts for something I turn to a few other spots.

Boobpedia is the place to be. (NSFW)

Zar

I have used it to write history essays, but I used it to better understand a concept or to quickly find info on a person. I would then find a book in the library that supported this and list that book as my source.

Jackie Pies on Jackie Pies:
"Did I ever mention that I'm not really made of pie? Nor have I ever baked myself into a pie."

Invictus

Wiki is great to find references but not to use as a reference if you get what I mean. I don't allow my students to use it for their A Level essays but I encourage them to use to get a brief overview and use the references section as a place where they can find additional published works.

Most historical sections I have read have been on the money and accurate.