I feel like I have such a love/hate relationship with
Wikipedia — the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit. I love how it's easy to access and offers quick facts about everything and anything, but I'm wary about trusting it as a credible source of information. I think most of you feel the same way as me, since 66 percent of you said you
trust it to an extent.
Today John McCain announced he has picked
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. In its morning broadcast, NPR reported that McCain's choice showed up on Wikipedia (and the AP) before it had been officially confirmed as fact.
Google has just launched a new product called
Knol, a website which contains a few hundred articles actually called "Knols." It's similar to Wikipedia in that it's open to the public and encourages "experts" on various topics to
contribute their knowledge online, although it differs by making the author of the Knols sign their real names — unlike the anonymity of Wikipedia.
Google will actually go to the trouble of verifying a
writer's identity, either by credit card or phone, which is said to only take 20 seconds.
Say what you will about Wikipedia, but it's become an utter must-have site. Whether I'm at home or at work, if I'm at my computer, I visit Wikipedia a few times a day, at least, to look up a person, thing, whatever. Now, Apple has made it more convenient to get to —
you can access it from the Dictionary application!
The biographies of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are under siege. Whether we like it or not, tons of us turn to Wikipedia for digestible background information. Because any of us can edit an entry, we all hold the power of truth in our hands.
Last week, I was headed to the grocery store and drove past
one of the best Bloody Mary spots in the city. I saw the line of people and knew I had to have one. So while at the store, I picked up some tomato juice, celery, and olives — I was positive I had everything else at home — and rushed straight home.
With 7.9 million articles in 253 languages and a tag-line that reads "the free encyclopedia that anyone can change," it is pretty much guaranteed that all Wikipedia edits and content changes cannot be monitored.
According to
The New York Times, there were unexplained edits to a
Wikipedia entry including the SeaWorld theme parks to change the word “orcas” to “killer whales," which was considered more accurate. These changes were found to originate from the computer of Anheuser-Busch, SeaWorld’s owner.
All you college students better start thinking twice when looking for research sources online! The
AP recently reported that Middlebury College history students are no longer allowed to use Wikipedia in preparing class papers. Apparently, the school's history department recently adopted a policy that says it's OK to consult the popular online encyclopedia, but that it can't be cited as an authoritative source by students.
I don't know how I lived life before downloading the
Wikipedia widget. I am sure it sounds extreme, but I use Wikipedia for all things kitschy, for serious research and to pass the time. There isn't a topic I've researched in vain on the site, and I adore the fact that their content is user-generated.
