Wikipedia.  A curse and a blessing.  As a PhD student, I would never dare to cite Wikipedia in my references.  Whether or not it is justified, Wikipedia is considered the bottom dweller of online information.  Better to have a simple citation of “Google Scholar” than to have a citation from Wikipedia. By why does this site get such significant use yet is branded as the “bad boy” of information.  This is simple, because much of the information found there can be erroneous.  This is thanks to the type of knowledge it offers.  It is a technological wonder of its own in the form of social construction of knowledge.  ANYONE can add, delete, modify or otherwise edit something on Wikipedia.  Nice concept but allows for errors to proliferate in the system.

Having said that, collaborative knowledge is truly a remarkable thing.  Most organizations not only encourage but require their employees to be a part of collaboration as they understand the benefits of this kind of learning and knowledge.  An excellent example of knowledge that is being lost at a faster and faster rate as society grows older is tacit knowledge.  This is the kind of knowledge that is held within and is difficult to quantify and capture in processes or procedures.  This kind of knowledge is very valuable and often leaves and organization when the employee leaves the company for one reason of another.  Other areas of social construction of knowledge that is a large benefit to all involved deals with international information.  There are many companies who perform similar or identical processes in different parts of the world.  Inevitably, each of their organizations must “figure out” how to complete these processes in the most affective and correct way.  If these companies collaborated, knowledge that has already been gained through process improvement or trial and error would be reduced or eliminated for those companies who follow in their footsteps.  This would drive down costs, reduce or eliminate error and allows resources to be used in ways that can benefit the company, employees and community.  Sadly, most companies hold tight to this kind of knowledge as they continue to maintain a competitive edge over the other companies.

As you can see, I am a firm proponent of social construction of knowledge.  In the end, all involved are successful.