It could be that a lot of people are too dumb or lazy to look for the information on Wikipedia...
... but since they have to write out their questions and post them and then take the time to come back to get their answers on WikiAnswers, dumb and lazy can't be the answer.
I think part of the reason many people come to WikiAnswers instead of going to Wikipedia is due to the fun, community aspect of WikiAnswers. It's fun to meet other people and it's even fun to ask your question and get your answer. It's also possible that a person wants a narrow piece of information and does not want to search through a long article to find it. Yet another reason might be because they've looked on Wikipedia and did not find the information they were looking for. I know that sounds crazy and far-fetched since Wikipedia has millions of articles, but it's a possibility.
And lastly, the reason thousands of people go to Wikipedia and other thousands come to WikiAnswers might simply be personal preference.
No, it gets it's answers from people who know the answer to the questions. These answers CAN be retrieved from wikipedia, yes.
Why do people ask questions like this that can be easily found in a web search or by going to Wikipedia?
The people that own Wikipedia think smart adults will answers these questions. But they don't. For example! I am a tween and just answered a TON of questions!
I am sure that is most users. Answers is one resource of many, and if someone is serious about finding answers, they will have multiple information sources.
Different people answer a questions, so the answer is MANY people answer your questions you post.
No. The answers to questions are not programmed; the answers come from people that want to give their time to give the answers to questions.
The answers are put in by the members and users of this website.
The reason is because we don't have a system that answers questions. How the answers get there is by people. By asking and answering questions. So since people give the answers it might be days or weeks or more till you get an answer because we have 2,000,000 members and 10,000,000 questions so there are a lot of questions to go through and answer them all but eventually your questions will have answers.
This website is similar in style to Wikipedia and uses the wiki format. The overall goal is also similar in nature with our's being "to become the Internet's best place for people to find and share answers to questions."
Wiki Answers does not answer questions. It only provides a place for people to answer questions asked by other people.
The book Bankruptcy for Dummies answers most of the important questions people have about bankruptcy.
Other people answer the questions.