Throughout high school and in some aspects of college, most of my teachers and professors have taken the stance that "Wikipedia is not a credible source." In a way this has kind of been ingrained in my mind. I have used it as a reference or as a go-to site when I start research on a topic that I don't know much about. Through Wikipedia, the posts give a sense of a broad overview and depending on the topic, go into detail. In this way that I've used it, it is a starting point for more in depth research. It provides some clear data and information so that you can go to other sites with a greater sense of direction.
The conversation with Jimmy Wales was interesting because it showed me more background on how the site was formed and how it operates. I was particularly intrigued by the software he talked about that was released on the German version. Through this, the Wikipedia community (those who contribute regularly to the postings and editing) has control over revising or even censoring each post for accuracy and tone before any of it is seen by the public. I think that this would help the volunteers of Wikipedia to eliminate the more inaccurate postings or posts by people who are insincere or rude. Therefore, the credibility levels of the site may rise.
I think that the creation of Wikipedia is a huge advance for writing in electronic environments. First, it is free and available to anyone worldwide with internet access. I was pretty surprised to hear the statistics Wales stated: that Wikipedia is available in over 250 languages and was (at the time of the interview) the fourth most popular website. Also, the idea that everyone can not only just access the web encyclopedia but also contribute to it is amazing. Not just professionals can have input here, but anyone with some experience as long of they know what they're talking about and the writing is quality writing.
There are many differences between the environments of blogs and wikis. The main one that I can see is the fact that the wiki is more of a community with many people contributing and working towards a common goal or wiki-argument while a blog is a single writer. While the public may comment on a blog or respond to another blog in their own blog, the public cannot go in and change features or posts of an individual's personal blog. The wiki is open to editing by anyone which makes the final outcome a true community collaboration.
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