YOUNG ADULTS' CREDIBILITY ASSESSMENT OF WIKIPEDIA

Abstract

Wikipedia, a publicly edited online encyclopedia, is accessed by millions of users for answers to questions from trivial to high-stakes topics like health information. This new type of information resource may pose novel challenges for readers when it comes to evaluating the quality of content, yet very little is known about how Wikipedia readers understand and interpret the material they find on the site. Do people know that anyone can edit the site? And if so, what does this fact lead them to believe about the reliability of Wikipedia or particular articles therein? This study analyzes the information-seeking behavior of a diverse group of 210 college students from two Midwestern US universities as a first step towards addressing these questions. This paper found that a few students demonstrated in-depth knowledge of the Wikipedia editing process, while most had some understanding of how the site functions and a few lacked even such basic knowledge as the fact that anyone can edit the site. Although many study participants had been advised by their instructors not to cite Wikipedia articles in their schoolwork, students nonetheless often use it in their everyday lives. This paper lays the groundwork for further research to determine the extent of Wikipedia knowledge in the broader population and in additional diverse contexts.

Keywords:

• web
• skill
• credibility
• Internet
• digital literacy
• trust
• Wikipedia

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Elizabeth Anderson, Eva Bognar, Waleeta Canon, Jessica Diamond, Gina Walejko and Heather Young for their help with data collection. This paper would not have been possible without the research assistants and staff of the Web Use Project group from 2007 to 2009. Coding assistance from Emily Hoffman, Jessica Diamond and Cassi Saari was especially significant. Daniel Russell, Lindsay Fullerton and Kristin Thomas provided helpful input. The authors acknowledge the generous support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which made this research possible. The helpful support of Ann Feldman and Tom Moss is also acknowledged. The second author also thanks the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University for its support. This paper draws on material from a larger study led by Eszter Hargittai on college students' Internet skills.

Notes

Some Wikipedia pages restrict editing to experienced contributors, usually for a brief period of time. To view Wikipedia's current policies for protecting articles, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Protection_policy. To view the policies in effect as of this writing see http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Protection_policy&oldid=299499966

For a critique of the source credibility literature, see Sundar and Nass (2001) further discussed below.

The reasons for Wikipedia's rise in search engine rankings are complex and will not be discussed here.

From the page Wikipedia:About http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:About&oldid=265268506 last accessed 20 January 2009.

Some wikis require users to register or seek approval from the wiki owner before editing.

Wikipedia does have policies that temporarily restrict editing of certain disputed pages and/or confine editing of the home page to certain users.

For Wikipedia's list of policies, see http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:List_of_policies&oldid=290289363 last accessed 18 May 2009.

Pretesting of the question suggested that this level of detail would be helpful for this question. First, the question concerns a third party so that no personal choices or preferences on behalf of the respondent in such a situation are assumed. Second, timing is the summer late at night so that regular health services on campus are not an option and neither is simply calling a doctor. Third, the location is one where there is no Planned Parenthood so as to elicit responses beyond sending the friend to the local PP facility.

For example, educators at EDUCAUSE published a guide called ‘7 Things You Should Know About Wikipedia’ available at http://www.educause.edu/ELI/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAboutWikip/161666. Also, there are several software-based projects that aim to inform users about the reliability of wiki content (e.g. Adler & de Alfaro 2007; Suh et al. 2008).