Is Wikipedia just someone's opinion?

College Life
21

<p>i think i’ve used it as an actual source before, but usually i usually use it to just quickly look up background info on a subject.</p>

22

<p>7112 - there are documented attempts at putting wrong info / playing jokes on Wikipedia. That’s why some entries are frozen.</p>

<p>I believe one was putting a picture of Emperor Palpatine as the pope? Or as someone famous…</p>

<p>If you find something in an encyclopedia, you should be able to find it elsewhere without much trouble at all.</p>

23

<p>My friend posted this: <a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama_Ass_Whuppin’[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama_Ass_Whuppin’&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

24

<p>You can find older entries in the history (there is a reason for citing the dates of web sites in internet citations).</p>

25

<p>Ok, whether wikipedia is accurate or not, it’s an encyclopedia, which means it’s not meant for indepth research on any given subject. So it really shouldn’t be cited in papers. It’s meant to provide an on-surface look at the subject matter rather than specifics - which is actually why I don’t think it should matter whether individual statements within articles are true or false. I think it was said before; it’s a good starting point, but certainly should not be a part of the final works cited (bibliography I guess would be different).</p>