You have a research paper due and you’ve waited until the last minute to start. Now there is a lot of pressure on you to fill these pages with vast amounts of information and submit it in for marking. But, do you really trust the source from which you got your information from?
Wikipedia:
An online encyclopedia launched in January 15, 2001 is an open collaboration project. Reading this really blew my mind because I am guilty of referring to Wikipedia for many of my previous projects, despite the teachers specifically telling the class “Do not use Wikipedia as your source”. I had no idea anyone can edit Wikipedia post and insert any type of information they wish. For a while I thought about how people can trust Wikipedia, as there are a lot of trolls on the internet which will love for you to puts false information they write, into your assignments.
Counter vandalism:
Lucky enough, Wikipedia has a lot of measures that are taken to prevent false information from circulating. Such as automatic filters, IP bans and a lot more to prevent internet trolls from making a mockery of every students first source of information. There are computer programmed bots that can track when someone is vandalizing a wiki post and remove whatever they wrote, and or ban the person from ever editing again depending on the severity of the situation.
Personal experience:
Personally, I didn’t enjoy editing Wikipedia pages as it’s a lot of pressure. Your information has to be 100% correct and you have to provide all your sources. If you’re information is even slightly misleading, you could potentially affect the work of students or people reading what you submitted. Also, its very time consuming as much of your efforts will go unnoticed. Wikipedia editing it best for people who have vast amounts of knowledge they’re are willing to share for free, as well as having a lot of time on their hands.
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 