Wikipedia - My thoughts, its purpose, and business uses.

Wikipedia is a go-to site for me when researching a topic. Often, when I find something on Wikipedia, the article will have all the information I need in order to complete an assignment or just learn more about a certain topic. In high school, we were banned from using Wikipedia as a source for any papers we wrote. While it is understandable that the idea of "user submitted" information can be incorrect, Wikipedia is usually pretty good at verifying sources. For example, instead of actually citing Wikipedia as a source, I would look at the in line citation in the article, then find that source at the bottom of the page and use that as my source. I enjoy the fact that Wikipedia is a threshold of information that anyone can contribute to, from school kids to research teams at a University. As long as the information is correct, it will stay up. I think this gives the site a kind of "soul", like it's not just one persons thoughts and ideas flowing, but instead, a collective knowledge at our fingertips. To show how easy it is to create a login ID and a wiki page, I have don just that, and uploaded it here.

The purpose of Wikipedia is to be a collaboration tool for everyone and anyone who is willing to share their knowledge about any topic. While some people may contribute false information in order to prove how people shouldn't use Wikipedia; if the site is used properly, it can be an invaluable resource for information seekers.The site also verifies information submitted through sources provided by the user. Also, if people constantly are spamming the site with false information, their IP can be blocked and anyone on that IP will no longer be allowed to edit on Wikipedia. A funny story about that, my high school librarian was trying to prove a point and ended up getting the whole school blocked from editing Wikipedia pages, which was humorous to me, because she kept submitting false information as examples.

A business can use a Wikipedia page for project collaboration, social messages, logs, and many other uses. Since Wikipedia is free businesses should also use it to save on expenditures for similar software packages. While outside users may be able to see their information and even edit it, the site should not be a primary source, but can be used for simple message board posts. Overall, Wikipedia is a fantastic tool when used properly and has many possibilities for information and knowledge sharing.