Poll: Do you use Wikipedia?

[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.

 

[War Penguin]

I use it a lot but not as a main reference. If I'm on the internet (which is most of the time) and I need to find out something, to Wikipedia!

 

[Rational-Delirium]

While the information may or may not be reliable, I use it as a starting point. The links provided are usually legit, and I can expand my research from there. It may be better to pouring hundred of hours into books searching for interesting things you can include in your research paper, but it's easier if you just play link tag and get your information that way. Sometimes they point to other books, which is good as well.

 

[Giraffle]

I think wikipedia is a good information source. Sure, its not always reliable because anyone at any given time can change it, but pretty much all the REALLY important stuff is locked up so no one can edit them. Other than that, its mostly reliable, since all the sources used to gather information is mostly legit.

 

[Jandau]

I reguarly look stuff up on Wikipedia since it's a fast and efficient process that 99% of the time gives me the information I need. I can understand why some might call it unreliable, but it's no more unreliable than a regular encyclopedia.

And even if we assume that it is unreliable, it's still a great starting point for research, since it'll provide you with a wide selection of search terms, links, refferences and give you with a understanding of what you're researching allowing you to better utulize other sources.

 

[Low Key]

I use it all the time. Because it is user created content, you have to take a lot of it with a grain of salt, but there are good sources to read for yourself.

 

[asinann]

Wikipedia is at best a secondary reference tool to be used after you have a couple of good sources.
Wikipedia by itself is not a reference tool. When a good academic university, or even my local community college allow it's use as a reference tool, I'll call it one.

 

[Puzzles]

For casual matters, definately, but just try and hand in an essay for school/uni with wikipedia as a reference , atleast around here it will get you a great big fail.

 

[The_Healer]

Of course! how else would i find out about everything!?
Although it has a reputation as an unreliable source, the articles are actually getting better over time... due to some awesome editing system they have.

 

[Deleric]

I don't use it for anything important...just summaries of TV show episodes or small tidbits of information to win tedious fights with.

 

[MagicShroom]

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

Yeah I also like the fact that after a trip through wikipedia, dipshits suddenly turn into e-geniuses (what the fuck happened to hard work and actually studying?)...

Seriously I only use it for recreational, I refuse to use it in debate, and actual research due to not being a fully reliable source.

 

[Some Fella1]

Yea, it is one of the first sites I go to when I want to know something. If someone doesn't believe me "because it's from Wikipedia", then I follow the references.

 

[Asymptote Angel]

Not for school or anything... but I use it if I randomly want information.

 

[SeventySeven]

how do we know that anything posted on the internet is true?

I sense a conspiracy theory coming on : P, although you have a point. I know alot of people who get their facts wrong because they have read it off the internet where as I can pull out a book that proves them wrong.

I normally go straight to wikipedia, read the introduction to get an idea then search around the net and look for common information, so then I know it is true. Too many times have I visited a website and its 'facts' have been wrong.