Wikiality

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What Does Wikiality Mean?

Wikiality refers to an online phenomenon where something erroneous or unproven is posted to Wikipedia, referenced by other websites and then believed to be a fact from thereon. Wikiality is based on the common logic that if enough people believe a statement, it must be true. The coining of the term wikiality is often credited to Stephen Colbert, who featured it on his show “The Colbert Report.”

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Techopedia Explains Wikiality

The concept of a group consensus overwriting reality predates the term wikiality, but Wikipedia is the first realization of this concept on a global scale. Theoretically, anyone can add to and edit a Wikipedia entry, making it possible for them to alter past and current facts. To be fair, encyclopedias have always fallen prey to bias, even when compiled solely by academics. However, Wikipedia is susceptible to bias as well as outright vandalism, making its prominence as an authoritative source somewhat troubling.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.