Although it can be good information, the problem is that anyone can just change the information, and you do not know whether or not the information that you are seeing is true. The only pages that you can trust are locked pages, pages that people cannot change, but only a few pages are actually locked.
Very helpful and addicting when you're wanting to do research on a particular subject. Make sure you verify the information presented as it can be edited and is therefore not 100% correct in any case.
I will as always say AWESOME OK?
So...AWESOME website but not all the information there is 100% reliable but Wikipedia checks them and tell if they have problems but then again ANYONE can create/edit articles so Wikipedia is 50% actual fact and 50% actual fiction but then again so is the whole of the Internet :P
For those that think "child safety" is horrific, either you never went through junior or high schools , your a terrible parent, or you're trying to waste our time with your site--which is probably a phishing/scamming site (since that seems to be the category always used). Lastly, right off the bat, if we could, you'd have a "citation needed" above your head till you die.
For the rest of us it is a near incomparable tool. Some information has holes and there are spots that need "citation needed". Many of the problems mentioned have been fixed by the time of this post.
The content, oversight (without heavy-handed approaches, which destroys the entire point of Wikipedia), and users able to interact with their medium is what makes Wikipedia so special.
It's also useful for ANYONE that wants to use it and is available (nearly) 24/7 from almost anywhere on the planet. It gives the summation of information freely and sometimes it gives a summation of the same information in different ways.
Wikipedia is easily one of the most useful resources we've got and it eclipses everything that tries to emulate. Information that is free, but kept under watch will always be better than information that is cloistered away and biasedly presented to us.
It's nature is much like freedom. It must always have people ready to fight for it. There will always be the need for vigilant eyes to keep it in check. Information & knowledge will always be a key to a great and happy civilization.
Useful and informative for the basic knowledge, but needs confirmation for a lot of information especially historical data, advance scientific explanations, etc.
Anyone who uses the excuse that "anyone can edit wikipedia" or that "it's never reliable," has obviously never used it. If you edit wikipedia, you either have to have an account or your IP address is recorded, which most people also don't know.