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Duality Of Wikipedia Essay

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The site I chose to write about is Wikipedia.com. I chose Wikipedia.com because many people use the site as a guide for new research avenues, which is at the heart of the internet’s origins. The duality of Wikipedia is that while it may aid users in their research projects the content on the site can be added and edited by almost anyone that views the page. This editing ability can lead to erroneous information being passed on to the researcher as if it were fact. While Wikipedia is a great resource for knowledge and ideas, this information must be taken with a grain of salt.
A) The purpose of Wikipedia is to act as a global, freely accessible internet based encyclopedia. Wikipedia attempts to bring large amounts of information from all over the world and many different subjects to once central, searchable place. While not all information …show more content…

There is no age requirement nor is there any bias towards any one group based on region or language. The site itself has a translate feature that allows it to be read in a vast amount of countries all over the world. It is intended to be used by everyone that is searching for knowledge about specific topics.
C) I completely believe that Wikipedia reaches its intended audience. When searching for a specific topic using a search engine, often there will be a link about the topic in question connected to a “wiki” page. Even though the editability of a wiki page usually disqualifies it from academic pages, Wikipedia tends to be a major starting point for most researchers.
D) I quite often use Wikipedia for quick research topics. If I ever have a question about something I may have seen on TV or in a movie, Wikipedia is the first place I start my search. When searching for information about school projects or a hobby, Wikipedia helps to point me in the right direction. Even though the content can be questionable, usually there are references that can help lead me to a creditable information

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