week1--Do you think wikipedia is reliable? can you trust wikipedia? --WU WENHAO LATE POSTING - ADDED

WU WENHAO,2021080464 LATE POSTING - ADDED

Summary
  Wikipedia, as an open, user-edited online encyclopedia, has long been a focal point in academic and public discussions. Although it's widely used, easily accessible, and often provides concise and clear introductory information, its reliability has been questioned for years. Since anyone can edit its entries, the content can be biased, inaccurate, or even deliberately misleading. However, in recent years, Wikipedia has made significant efforts to improve the quality and accuracy of its content—by appointing "administrators," requiring citations, and limiting editing rights on high-risk articles.

Interesting Discovery
  I discovered that Wikipedia has a comprehensive and complex set of editing rules and a community-based monitoring system. For example, its "Neutral Point of View" policy requires all content to be as objective as possible, without personal bias. Last year, when I edited an article, some of my language didn't meet the neutrality standard, and an administrator contacted me and supervised my revisions. This experience showed me that Wikipedia isn’t the “anyone can write anything” space that some people assume—it’s actually a well-organized platform where quality is maintained by the community. This self-governing system gives it a certain level of structure when dealing with errors or controversial topics and changed my perception of how it's managed.

Discussion Questions
  Even though Wikipedia’s content is improving, we still need to ask: Is it suitable as a primary source of information? In academic writing or classroom discussions, should Wikipedia serve only as a starting point for knowledge exploration, or can it be used as a basis for conclusions?

  Take my experience editing a Wikipedia travel guide page as an example: If I were a local business owner, I could add ten neutral-sounding descriptions of local specialties and include recommended places to try them—naturally including my own shop. While the text may appear objective, I could upload only images of dishes from my restaurant. According to Dual Coding Theory, combining text and images helps readers remember information better. As a result, readers might form a stronger impression of my restaurant, effectively driving traffic to it.

  This example shows that even if the surface-level neutrality principle is followed, Wikipedia’s content can still be subtly manipulated. Therefore, we should consider: How can we guide students to read Wikipedia critically, recognize hidden biases and agendas, and learn to verify information through multiple reliable sources?

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