Anybody else fed up with people simply putting a wikipedia link to answer a question? I mean, whats the point? Is it to increase points, honesty on the part of the poster or does the poster really think this an intelligent way to answer an aruguement/question/debate?
2006-10-24 02:46:22 · 9 answers · asked by AaronO 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Other - Education
Im not aruging against people using wikipedia as a source but those who answer a question with a link. Id rather hear personal debate, though admittedly based on facts.
2006-10-24 03:47:01 · update #1
Yes, I agree with you about people who just post a link, or worse copy-paste massive amounts of mostly irrelevant information - drives me nuts that one (instant thumbs down from me!)
I do use wikipedia occasionally to check information or research something further, but I always summarise what I've found or add additional information - after all, I assume most people here know about wikipedia, so presumably they ask the question because they're looking for something a bit different. When I do that I'll post wikipedia as my source, but not usually in the main body of the entry.
I don't really know why people do it - combination of desire for points combined with laziness I reckon.
2006-10-24 12:02:56 · answer #1 · answered by lauriekins 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
For some questions information on Wikipedia can be helpful. For example, if you are looking for aggregated data about something (e.g. how many students attend Ivy League schools), Wikipedia can be helpful, because it has collected links to all the relevant Web sites. It is especially valuable if the Wikipedia entry has pointers to the original sources so the reader can verify the information.
However, if the question concerns people's opinions and if it is for the purposes of a less factual debate then Wikipedia will likely have limited use. Moreover, if the Wikipedia entry does not have verifyable information then one should be extra careful about taking the presented information for granted.
Not everybody knows about Wikipedia, so for some people it may be helpful to see the pointer.
2006-10-24 02:53:01 · answer #2 · answered by Ladida 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
More to the point, why do so many people ask questions here that they could easily answer by looking them up in Wikipedia?
I don't think there's anything wrong with quoting Wikipedia as your source, as long as it's obvious you do actually know something about the question you're answering. A one-liner is just laziness.
2006-10-24 02:52:53 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I agree, YA is loosing its way.
Its big advantage was that real people would answer questions, sharing thier expereince and knowledge. If they are just going to copy Wikipedia answers then the person might as well look there first ( and I think they should google or wikipedia first anyway)
Similarly, some people just copy the question, paste it into google, and post the first link as an answer.
pointless, YA is becoming a lazy persons search engine
2006-10-24 02:59:05 · answer #4 · answered by Michael H 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The reason that so many people use websites, is that they have no clue about the problem and simply rush forward to put in two cents. Many questions have no logic, and most answers are vague and inappropriate.
2006-10-24 03:01:37 · answer #5 · answered by Frank 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's right. I'm also a user of that too.But somtimes they are limited and they can't answer. So create an article yourself.
2006-10-24 02:59:21 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
They just don't know the answer themselves. They're lazy.
2006-10-24 02:54:42 · answer #7 · answered by JT 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think it is because it actually has a ton of good information.
2006-10-24 03:00:36 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
yea
they're all limited
even 'spell check'
2006-10-24 02:48:36 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋