BLUF

Wikipedia is twenty years old and is probably the best place to get a quick overview—and find source references—about almost anything.

Summary

This article from Wired magazine notes the following:

 

  • Wikipedia is the eighth-most-visited site in the world. 
  • The English-language version recently surpassed 6 million articles and 3.5 billion words.
  • It is a free encyclopaedia that covers the whole range of human knowledge.
  • Its articles are written almost entirely by unpaid volunteers.
  • Most articles contain references to the source(s) of information.
  • It is the only not-for-profit internet site in the top 10.
  • Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Wikipedia's product is de-personified, collaborative, and for the general good. 
  • Wikipedia, due to constant editing, is usually kept up to date.
  • One reason for Wikipedia's success is the number of facts in the universe keeps on growing.
  • Using crowdsourcing ensures that consensus is reached relatively quickly.
  • As platforms like Google and Alexa work to provide instant answers to random questions, Wikidata will be one of the critical architectures that link the world's information together.
  • Wikipedia uses an AI to cross-reference and link its articles.

Think about how often you use Wikipedia and whether you can trust the information you obtain from Wikipedia.

Learn more about Wikipedia

References