But I trust Wikipedia!

Had a rather strange Wikipedia-experience last evening. We were having dinner with some friends a their beach house. Their teenager was expounding on all sorts of things, and giving the Wikipedia as a source.

I volunteered that I found the Wikipedia a great first-look resource, but not as a quoting source. His mother looked up and said: But don't they check all the information? I think it is a very reliable source.

Then the son chimed in with the history of the Wikipedia (sort of) and that they do have people checking facts, and that there is now a media collection called Wikimedia.... so I had to step in and correct: history, fact checking, Wikimedia (which is the Verein in Germany). He didn't believe me, after all, he is a teenager. I volunteered that I am, actually, a founding member of the Verein (and have actually shaken Jimmy Wales hand). But really, what do I know?

I'm kind of shaken that the average Joe does, indeed, trust the Wikipedia more than other sources. We have a lot to live up to.