To Wiki or Not to Wiki

I have never really been a contributer to Wikipedia. I have often used it on occasion as a starting point for some basic starting information on a subject before researching elsewhere. I know some people though that love to write and contribute to it. I admire the idea of wikis but there is still a lingering doubt in my mind about the veracity of the information.

It go me to thinking about what other wikis are out there in the cloud besides Wikipedia. I went in search of some and found these.

My favorite by far is WikiHow. Billed as the "the world's collaborative how-to manual," it consists of exactly what it says - articles written by several contributers that show you how to do something. The design of it is much more sharp and clean than Wikipedia's and more pleasurable to read. The articles are actually quite helpful as they all seem to follow the same format: a list of steps accompanied by an appropriate illustration or picture. Interestingly, many of the articles are not about the obvious how-to topics such as how to paint a wall or how to grow flowers, etc. Many are about more abstract topics such as how to handle drama at school or how to flirt with a girl :)


Another interesting website I found is Wikia which is actually a wiki hub that collects wikis on specific subjects (do-it-yourselfers, recipes, children's books to name just a few subjects). These very specific subject wikis seem to be very limited though probably due to a lower number of contributors than the larger wikis but still interesting if you're looking for something specific.