Monday, April 28, 2008

Wikipedia

What is Wikipedia? Wikipedia is a kind of encyclopedia online. People can upload and edit information easily so that there is a lot of information, and it’s very useful. However, because of this reason that anyone can make information, some people think Wikipedia is unbelievable. There is an argument nowadays.

I think it’s not such a big problem that people can make some wrong information. Wikipedia is useful for people recently.

There are many users. According to Meredith Byers’ article (Byers, 2008), “Approximately 38 million people visited the English language version of the site in December 2006. Wikipedia is also easy to find; it frequently appears at the top of many goole searches and access is completely free” (para.3). It is used by many people for free, and it has kept changing because of these people. An important thing is that people keep using it usefully, and if there are some wrong information, it should be changed by people.

It is not necessary that all information is right. Jason Wolverton said that there is an argument that Wikipedia doesn’t have much correct information and it can destroy internet culture, among scholars (Wolverton, 2007). However, I think it doesn’t matter that some information is wrong, because information can change anyway. There is no eternal truth in the world.

It is a people’s choice. Nicole Martin said, “Seven per cent of all internet users now visit the site every day” (Martin, 2008, para.13). I know about that there are 200 countries using Wikipedia. It’s a very natural situation. People are not that stupid as your thinking, it is a reasonable that if many people use it.

In conclusion, Wikipedia has become popular in the world. People think it is a useful, and indeed, even though there are some wrong information. I think it’s the passage and needs of the period. Who can control to change the flow? Now, we have to watch the development of events.


Byers, M. (2007, March 8). Controversy over use of Wikipedia in academic papers arrives at Smith. Smithsophian. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from http://media.www.smithsophian.com/media/storage/paper587/news/2007/03/08/News/Controversy.Over.Use.Of.Wikipedia.In.Academic.Papers.Arrives.At.Smith-2765409.shtml

Martin, N. (2007, Sep. 20). Wikipedia clamps down on ‘unreliable’ editors. Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/20/wiki120.xml

Wolverton, J. (2007, Jan. 22). Wikipedia Wisdom. Valley Vanguard. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from http://www.svsu.edu/clubs/vanguard/stories/1141

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