Do you trust Wikipedia?

Do you trust Wikipedia?

  • Yes

    Votes: 128 47.2%

  • No

    Votes: 78 28.8%

  • Other

    Votes: 65 24.0%
  • Total voters
    271
Yes, but T's & C's apply.

It's a good way to get a good general picture but would use other sources to verify certain info still
 
SlinkyMike said:
I think a lot of people miss the point of Wikipedia.

If you stop using it as an end in and of itself but rather as means to read further, i.e.: you are focused not on the Wiki article but rather the often numerous citations as a means of reading further and then drawing your own conclusions, then you can start to see the value of it.

It's a great pillar of the modern web and one that very closely reflects the aspirations of the early internet. It is a shame that conservatives have sought to poison the well, especially considering their tendency to distrust official channels. You would think that a crowdsourced knowledge base is the perfect answer.
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The problem is that a biased article may have little to none of those citations for one side and if it does those are chosen to be biased against that side so brings us right back to square one.

buchanan8 said:
When it comes to politics and war, Wikipedia is corrupted. A good example would be in relation to the Syrian dirty war where Western journalists like Eva Barlett and Vanessa Beeley (who have actually lived in Syria and reported from there) get labelled as "conspiracy thorists" for publishing the facts. Wikipedia has notorious "editors" eg. 'Philip Cross' and 'BobfromBrockley' who go in and smear anybody who contradicts the official US State Department narrative.
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Not to mention people being labelled AIDS denialists for speaking out against the incorrect practice back in the day.
 
Swa said:
The problem is that a biased article may have little to none of those citations for one side and if it does those are chosen to be biased against that side so brings us right back to square one.
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Yes, that's not how doing your own research works. I don't think it's going to be productive for us to discuss this. I have a glimpse of what you consider adequate ito research and I can assure you that we define "adequate" quite differently.
 
SlinkyMike said:
Yes, that's not how doing your own research works. I don't think it's going to be productive for us to discuss this. I have a glimpse of what you consider adequate ito research and I can assure you that we define "adequate" quite differently.
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If it's not supposed to give you the sources you want and you still have to find your own then what's the use?
 
Swa said:
If it's not supposed to give you the sources you want and you still have to find your own then what's the use?
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Bit weird to have to break this down to this level but ok: you use it to find your own sources.

"Give me the sources that I want" is the opposite of doing your own research. The "own research" part in there demands that you get them yourself, using the tools at your disposal.
 
Mostly, Wikipedia, I trust. Always balance and corroborate the information with other sources.
 
Chunk20 said:
What do you mean mybb is the greatest source of information you have engineers, farmers and paramedics sometimes they are the same delusional poster.

But those are straight up facts when its a friend of a friend who knew someone.
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It is you that is deluded. I am all three. Additionally I am a registered mariner and military veteran. I have several more I will not mention here as just what I have mentioned is incomprehensible to those here that have not lived life and have sat staring at a screen instead.

So sorry your life has been so boring and limited..
 
rambo919 said:
The comments and the results seem to differ in general

EDIT: and either I accidentally read the poll the wrong way around or it flipped in between posts.....
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That seems to be the norm for MyBB polls. One poll had over 50% of respondents (70+ Persons) saying they got their Covid information from medical research papers...

Which means they have access to and can understand medical research papers...
 
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MeestaR said:
Ja, und nein.
Depends on the topic, for technical stuff like HDMI standards or i2c, etc. yes. Stay out of the political pages and topics of Wikipedia. Carl Niehaus's Wiki page is a good example on why Wikipedia is bad for politics.

Who remembers Dugeot's Mieliestronk? Still going strong, I see.. since 2001! It seems that the site was around 10 years old when the webmaster transferred it over to Media24. (December 2011)
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For highly technical topics like Bayesian Statistics or Boolean Algebra which are scientific and not political, it's excellent. When it comes to stuff where opinions can be inserted, it needs double checking.
 
Swa said:
Not to mention people being labelled AIDS denialists for speaking out against the incorrect practice back in the day.
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Denying that the HIV causes AIDS and the cure was beetroot and garlic? Or Dr Raath's vitamin pills? Those AIDS deniaists? Thabo Mbeki and Manto Tshabalala- Msimang? The laughing stock of the world?
 
Swa said:
So pointless then...
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Look, if all your information need to be spoonfed by Facebook mom groups and woo-science alt-medicine networks then you'll end up.. uh, like you. A bunch of bollocks beliefs about pseudoscience and antivaxx conspiracies.

I'm not surprised to learn that you cannot even understand how a tool like Wikipedia might be used much less actually use it yourself.

For shame.
 
Other: It really depends on the article, and the change history of the article. Do your research and use common sense.

The question betrays a misunderstanding of how Wikipedia works, because it implies that Wikipedia has any control or oversight over the articles there. They don't. Unpaid volunteers of various levels of experience, commitment and diligence do, to a degree... but since they're unpaid, they're really not under any obligation.

I've edited my fair share of Wikipedia articles, and started a few, and the quality of those (even if I do say so myself) varies greatly.
 
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