I'm a Wikipedia junkie. I'm even the frequent victim of a "Wiki-hole," hours at a time, reading one thing after another, only to find out it's way past my bedtime. It's an incredible site, rich with information, much of it trivial, but endlessly fascinating.
But Wikipedia has a credibility problem. It's biggest strength is that it is open, and able to be edited by anybody who might be knowledgeable on any particular subject. That is also its greatest weakness, as just about anybody can maliciously change a topic to render it biased, or worse, flat out wrong.
Several people and corporate entities were in fact busted, changing Wiki entries to suit their whims.
Fortunately, many enterprising web-heads seek out these problems and fix them, with some regularity. But ultimately, as it concerns this blog, that fact isn't really all that important.
I use Wikipedia for photo references, and background on stories. I do not use it to form my political opinions, or trust it to be 100% accurate on the important stories of the day. It is a wonderful source, if you want to see the history of Superman, for example. Who would want to alter that entry, and if they did, would it matter?
In short, use Wikipedia.org for what it is. A really good source for finding out little details you weren't really solid on. When was Ohio admitted to the union? What was that whole "Who Shot J.R." thing about? Why did Farrah Fawcett leave Charlie's Angels?
It's fun, and I am soooo glad it is there.
Wikipedia.org
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