If you want to be an author and you want to write amazing books, there's one thing you have to know and keep in mind at all times: Wikipedia is not a source. Really, that's all you need to know. But there are some people out there who are going to want to know why they can't use Wikipedia to research their stories. For those people, I'm writing this post.
Public Opinion
Wikipedia passes itself off as an encyclopedia, and it's incredibly attractive. You can type in almost any name, any book, any movie and learn more about it. I know this better than most, because I can go to Wikipedia and suddenly spend an entire hour checking up on sitcom stars from the 1950s (don't ask). It's full of links and there's a lot you can find out, and that's all amazing. But there's a fly in the ointment. Wikipedia is not all that it appears to be. And there's one strong reason that no writer can use Wikipedia as a source at any time: it's not accurate.