Do You Trust Wikipedia? [MakeUseOf Poll]

Rightly or wrongly, Wikipedia doesn’t have the best reputation for accuracy. However, is that simply a hangover from its early days?

Does it deserve this reputation, or is Wikipedia now as trustworthy as any other website presenting a version of the truth?

We’re keen to find out how people view the trustworthiness of Wikipedia, and we need your help in doing so. Welcome to this week’s MakeUseOf Poll!

Blank Friday

To answer this week’s question please scroll down the page until you see the poll staring back at you. But first, we need to look at the results from last week, when we asked, “Did You Buy Any Gadgets on Black Friday?”

Out of a total of 117 votes, 53% chose No, I Didn’t Want Anything, 29% chose Yes, I Got a Bargain, 7.7% chose No, I Tried and Failed, 1.7% chose Yes, But I Regret It, and 8.6% chose What Is Black Friday?

These results suggest that most of our readers didn’t head out on Black Friday determined to grab a bargain. Mostly because they didn’t actually want anything. Still, a fair proportion of those who voted in the poll did manage to pick something up, no doubt ensuring this tradition will continue on for many more years to come.

Comment of the Week

We received a lot of great comments, including those from James Howde, Patrick Balingit, and DzBnk. Comment of the Week goes to Mark Major, who earns our admiration and affection for this comment:

2 words… Cyber Monday, I got ever so slightly better online deals last year so I’ll try and see if I can repeat that this year.

We chose this comment because while it’s short, simple, and to the point, it could help explain why the popularity of Black Friday seems to be dipping. Why waste a day fighting through crowds to save $100 or so, when you can probably save more shopping online in your underwear?

Shopping online is now such a mainstream activity that we suspect Cyber Monday will end up becoming a much bigger deal than its bricks-and-mortar equivalent in the years to come. If it hasn’t already done so.

Wikipedia Worries

Wikipedia has been one of the foundations of the Internet for many years, providing a source of knowledge for children and adults alike. However, it has its flaws, one of which is the possibility of mistakes creeping into its pages. Its team of editors do a fine job, but no one is perfect.

With the news that Wikipedia has developed a new artificial intelligence designed to weed out bad edits, we thought it was worth finding out what our readers think of the online encyclopedia. We’re especially interested in finding out how much you trust Wikipedia, whether fully, partially, or barely.

Once you have voted in the poll above, please explain in the comments section below why you voted that way. If you trust Wikipedia, why? If you distrust Wikipedia, why? Have you had a good or bad experience using Wikipedia? Is there a particular Wikipedia page you have issues with?

The more information you can provide with your comment, the more accurate our conclusions can be based on the results. The best comment of the week will win our everlasting admiration and affection. At least until we all meet back here again this time next week with a new question.

Image Credits: Tom Morris via Flickr, Giulia Forsythe via Flickr