How far can we trust Web 2.0?

Lately, there has been quite a fuss about Web 2.0. What is Web 2.0? Many pioneers in the area of computing have come with lots of definitions as an explanation of Web 2.0. Tim O’Reiley is one amongst them.

He prefers to describe Web 2.0 as a platform where, contrary to the traditional passive role that audience have had in absorbing information, they are now perceived as editors and content creators.

Web 2.0 is very interesting when considering user experience as users not only act passively but can participate more actively in generating content. However, this brings us to the question of if users become the content generator, how far can we trust the information provided by other users? For instance, the Wikipedia, is one of the largest bank of resources available on the web. Wikipedia is increasingly growing popular amongst web users due to its simplicity in delivering precise information, unlike many other websites. However, the extent to which one can trust the content is debatable. However helpful Wikipedia could be to someone, academic bodies strongly disapprove of Wikipedia as a grounding research.

Similarly, if the whole world of the World Wide Web increasingly goes 2.0, this means that more and more online content would be provided by users rather that an authoritative institution. With this trend, is web 2.0 a threat to the future of the long held perception that the internet is a powerful source of information?