2nd Half of Wikipedia

In the second half of The World and Wikipedia, it discusses why people are using it, why they “love” it, why people do not trust it, and why they should trust it. As I was reading I could not help but notice how often the author brought up occurrences where there were articles written in a libelous nature. Granted a lot of these articles were edited or corrected, but this further shows the “dangers” of Wikipedia and why people are so hesitant to trust it. I was somewhat perplexed as to why these amateur editors would go out of their way to vandalize the pages of the website with false information. Do they have nothing better to do? But then I thought of the psychology that goes behind it and for some of the editors it is like playing God. They can easily change information on pages and hide behind a fictitious username. Many feel their identity will be concealed and can get away with their acts of vandalism. But is it not a great deal of justice when these culprits are caught? Oh, the wonders of technology and tracing.

            As it matures, however, Wikipedia is earning some respect. Its use is being seen in courts as well as the news. “Wikipedia has sometimes suffered from the self-editing that is intrinsic to it, giving rise at times to potentially libelous statements. However, inherently, I cannot see that what is in Wikipedia is any less likely to be true than what is published in a book or on the websites of news organizations. I consider that the evidence from Wikipedia can be taken at face value.” (p.197) This quote from a UK court case pretty much says it all when it comes to the website. You know going in that the site is constantly edited and re-edited by users all over. Users of whatever information just need to peruse the site with the “buyers beware” mentality.