I’m a closet Wikipedia user
Whenever I’m doing research for a blog post, writing project, or just curious about a specific topic, I find myself using Wikipedia more and more. The online encyclopedia that anyone can edit has grown in size and popularity, so it’s no surprise that a Wikipedia entry is among the first in Google’s search results for common (and even not-so-common) search terms.
My growing reliance on Wikipedia actually surprises me, considering that not too long ago I despised the site. I had my reasons. Chief among them were the idea that Wikipedia relies heavily on the honesty and integrity of those who write and edit entries. And as you well know, not everyone who uses the internet has the best of intentions. Stories have popped up in the news about Wikipedia editors having false qualifications, entries being unfairly biased one way or another, and in the worst cases completely fabricated.
So why have I been drawn to Wikipedia more and more? After carefully considering my reasons for using the site, I think it comes down to one main consideration: convenience! For example, if I’m looking up some obscure subject, I could scour the internet for hours trying to find a decent level of information. If there’s a Wikipedia entry for the subject, however, I can at least get a broad overview and "scratch the surface" in one place.
While I enjoy the casual browsing of Wikipedia for topics I’m interested in, there are times when I won’t touch that site with a ten-foot pole (sorry for the cliche’). When I was a student in college and had a research paper due, or even an essay for one of my many literature classes, I never even thought of using Wikipedia as a source for those papers. In fact, all of my professors gave stern warnings that they would not accept the site as an authentic source of information.
Like everything else, Wikipedia has its place. There’s a time to use it and a time to ignore it. Writing a major research paper for school, then you probably should ignore it. Betting you’re friends about the number of books F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote (hey, I’m sure debates like this are common), then you’re probably safe with Wikipedia.
However, this entire discussion of whether or not this site is a good source of information, brings about an entirely different set of questions. Does an open source encyclopedia really work? Would we be better off having professionals in their respective fields writing these type of entries? I don’t know the answer to these questions and I think we (as a society) are still working out just what kinds of questions need to be answered in the first place regarding how information should be disseminated over the internet.
Do you use Wikipedia? If so, what kinds of stuff do you research? If not, then what are your reasons for avoiding it? Please feel free to leave a comment with your "wiki-opinion" (sorry, I couldn’t resist). Inquiring minds want to know.
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