Poll: Do you use Wikipedia?

[Haydyn]

Anything that has to do with games or wrestling. If I ever get called on it, I just back it up with other sources.

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

The information IS edited...at least by other users...Well anyway I do use it. Very often infact, I mean obviously not as a reputable source to back my point in a debate, or any scenario like that, but for general information. Especially for looking up bands and their discographies.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

I use it, but not as my main reference. It is helpful, though, for the less common history and science needs.

 

[Supreme Unleaded]

my school acually banned it because the information can be wrong, so i just google stuff.

 

[bob-2000]

naw, it's generally not very reliable.

 

[Akai Shizuku]

It's easy access to information that's more reliable than what you're likely to find using a Google search. I'm all for it.

 

[Toaster Hunter]

Its how I got through college.

 

[Noamuth]

I use it for research, but generally I'll double check things from another source as well. It saved my arse in highschool. XD

EDIT:

Spoiler: Well, it's relevant! Yay for re-reading comics.

 

[Cypher10110]

If I want to know the gist of something I'll look it up on wiki. However, if the information is important (like I intend on using it for project work) or I want to know specifics, or maybe have it explained in an easier to under stand way; nothing beats picking up the right book from the uni library. Sometimes Wiki can even suggest books for you to use.

 

[megapenguinx]

I use it as a main source most of the time, but I like to dig around a bit before I make up my mind to believe it or not. But then again facts are just words people tell you, so who knows if anything is right.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

wikipedia has a fun law of averages thing going. the fact that everyone can edit it actually helps make it more accurate. i do find it funny when people try and discredit your argument cause "you used wikipedia" it shows how little they actually know about the process

there was a philosopher that said that lower class people shouldn't vote cause they were stupid and didn't have the ability to rule properly. so he proposed a test to show that he was right. he had them guess the weight of a cow. now no one single guess was correct, however if you took the average of all the guesses they got it right.

the fact that the not one person was correct but the whole group was correct

 

[dubious_wolf]

Well you see, Wikipedia has these cool references... click on the number and it will take you to the bottom of the page. if it says "citation needed" it probobly isn't to reliable... and if the reference doesn't check out well there you go. Wikipedia is a double edged sword, if you use it incorrectly, it can bite you in your ass. Check your references, simple as that.

 

[barryween]

I use it first, because 1)it's usually accurate, 2)it's quick and easy and 3)there's no chance of stumbling upon something horrible (usually)
If that fails I go to Google.

 

[lee1287]

who does not?

 

[Aschenkatza]

If I wanna actually understand what I'm looking up, yes. Google only helps so much..

 

[Christemo]

if i got something at school i must research, ill do it there. one of my friends sometimes say you cant believe everything on the site, but thats mainly because its made by people, and not some geeky expert on stuff.

 

[jboking]

Wikipedia is fun to use for random research, however, when it gets to the serious stuff I will go there to look at the references. I'll follow the references read the page(s) and decide if I should use Wikipedia's sources that way.

 

[A random person]

There was a time when I was absolutely addicted to Wikipedia, and it's a lot more reliable than most people seem to think.

 

[Goldbling]

Now from what I have been told, Wikipedia is not a reliable sourse for information because of its user generated content. So my question is, when you do research, do you actually research or do you just Wiki it?

That's just stupid.

99% of everything on the internet is user-generated content.
At least with Wikipedia, if someone screws up, someone else will probably correct it.

So yes, I do. It's pretty easy to tell when something has been vandalized anyway.

Cathode Ray Tubes:

penis

yea, that was pretty hard to tell.

 

[RAMBO22]

Absoulutely. People always groan about how wikipedia is innacurate and can be user edited when I have hardly ever found it to be even slightly innacurate. However, I will say that the few pages I have viewed that were innacurate were ludicrously inaccurate and in that case I say it's your fault as the user to not recognize the difference between a joke and hard work.