Wikipedia: Can it be Trusted?

I use Wikipedia all the time for information. In fact, there has only been one occasion where I found something that was incorrect. It's one of those times where you have to use discretion when viewing a source like Wiki. Of course, I never use it as a source for academic papers because most teachers think it is unreliable. In my experience it has been very helpful, but I understand why others are a bit hesitate to use it.

Virgil Griffith, the inventor of Wikipedia Scanner, talks about how his invention can be used to track the people who edit/change the online encyclopedia. All of the articles about this topic were very interesting. I didn't realize that so many corporations and politicians contribute to the Wiki source. My only issue with the scanner is that it doesn't seem to be dependable. It seems ironic that there is a controversy over the reliability of Wiki when the scanner isn't that much better. For example, I could go into a Starbucks coffee shop and write all these great things about the coffee. Someone like Griffith could come along, and say that it must be an employee from Starbucks trying to boost their image. By the way, I'm not an employee for Starbucks even though I do enjoy their coffee. Overall, the scanner is an interesting idea, but it's going to need more tweaks to the system.

Bottom line: When using a source like Wikipedia be mindful of what your reading, and use discretion.