Wikipedia defies logic. Put simply, it shouldn't exist.

Starting a web site is easy. All you want is really a computer with a modem and a net connection. But, running a big website is really a whole different ball game. Even minor websites require tens and thousands of dollars each year, just to help keep them online wikipedia. Most websites earn money by showing ads. However, Wikipedia is non-profit. It generally does not show ads. Instead, it runs on donations. Google has close to a million servers and Yahoo has almost 17,000 staff. Wikipedia is the sixth most visited website on the internet, however it only has 5,000 servers and less than 200 staff. The reason Wikipedia still exists is really because each year, adequate people decide to offer just enough.

Why is Wikipedia unique is the manner in which it's run. All the information on Wikipedia is user submitted and user edited. Basically, Wikipedia provides a platform for the users to fairly share information with each other. When Wikipedia first came online, plenty of people thought it would not work. After all, how do a web site hope to maintain quality standards when literally every user on the internet is free to create changes?

Yet Wikipedia works. Not just can it be still online, it's the sixth most visited website on the internet and the biggest and most widely used general reference work with the internet. It can also be considered a great source of news because articles related to new events are manufactured so quickly.

Having said that, Wikipedia is not perfect. Because the articles on Wikipedia are creating by ordinary users and not experts, their accuracy is at times questionable. Furthermore, Wikipedia has often been criticized for the systematic bias and inconsistencies.

Underneath line is, Wikipedia has over a thousand times more info than an ordinary encyclopedia but is just about 90% as accurate. That doesn't sound such as for instance a bad tradeoff if you ask me so long as you remember that Wikipedia has its fallacies.