Wikipedia is number one for many search results - but can it be trusted? Writing in yesterday’s Guardian, Charles Arthur is concerned about the Wikipedia for a very specific, search-related reason: because it is number one for so many common search terms. That means that the majority of people searching for more information may be directed to the community-edited encyclopedia as their first port of call for reference information.
If you don’t feel comfortable about Wikipedia being top for the rankings, you may be concerned to hear that the situation is likely to be compounded as next generation search engine algorithms will take into account user data - i.e. what people click on for any given search term - which will make some existing top results even more secure at the top of the rankings.
Looking at it another way, if Wikipedia dominates reference searches through search engines, perhaps that will help it to become more accurate.
If anyone has a stake in people knowing accurate information about “trans fat”, “mona lisa” or “Holy Roman Empire” (examples Charles Arthur gives in his article) then perhaps checking Wikipedia and helping make it and keep it accurate will be something you would do as a matter of course.
