Poll: Do you use Wikipedia?

[darthzew]

Yeah, it's just so convenient! I don't use it for any official means though.

 

[messy]

Not for main research, if it's something education related I try and avoid it or for an argument/debate I can't afford to get wrong.

 

[esperandote]

yeah you could say is my main source for general knowlege.

 

[Hitman 43]

Only a very few times in my life.

 

[Hazy]

I use it for research. Unless our teachers tell us we can't, then I.. well, I don't (Obviously.)

 

[Takoto]

If I need to look something up quickly, I'll use Wikipedia.

 

[chronobreak]

every once in a while.

Wiki is not a valid source!!!

Is any source valid? Have there been mistakes on television, in books, newspapers, all of those? Of course! I don't see how you can immediatley discredit wikipedia.

 

[Saylek]

when i see i unfamiliar word...wikipedia
when i see a funny looking thing with a name tag...wikipedia
when i need a new book based on a movie vice versa... wikipedia

wikipedia is taking over the world...but in a good way *wink*

 

[NotMePleaseIgnore]

If I'm vaguely interested in something I'll think

"I'll wikipedia that later"

And then if I remember I do.

It's a pretty interesting read...

 

[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.

actually you're wrong on both your points and missed my point totally and i'll explain it in basic english

it IS a reliable source of information because of the fact that everyone can edit and change it.

they've actually done several blind tests against the encyclopedia britantica and to everyone's surprise wikipedia actually came out on top in a couple of the tests and was more accurate than britanica is.

also that little parable doesn't come from wikipedia, it actually comes from nova science now

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/0301/04.html
or here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-FonWBEb0o

It's the same fact that makes Wikipedia vulnerable to tampering and I will not rely on it to do something important (e.g. research paper, debate, etc.)


I will tell you something straight up I rather do the hard work and research in a library so I know my resources are more reliable.

 

[Akai Shizuku]

Wikipedia is freaking awesome. I often look up things I already know about, and rarely is it wrong.

 

[NBSRDan]

I use Wikipedia constantly. It is a very useful tool, allowing information on many subjects to be obtained in one place.
I avoid citing Wikipedia as a source in debates though, due to the stigma of unreliability ascribed to it, but it is in fact very reliable - more so than the average documentary, newspaper, or textbook.

 

[ZZ-Tops89]

Wikipedia, as has been mentioned by many others in this thread (and probably others)(hopefully)(Three parentheticals in a row, [edited]!) is acceptable for getting a basic overview of a topic area and sometimes links to useful sources, but should NEVER be cited in any sort of actual, serious situation (like an academic paper). There are many reasons for this which I'm too tired to explain, but to see them in action just check out edit histories on some of the more controversial wikipedia pages.

 

[letsnoobtehpwns]

I use to but, now I have found a magical site called Encyclopedia Dramatica.

 

[Randomeaninglessword]

Only for games and when there are absolutly no other sources available.