• Is it age appropriate?

  About our ratings

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  Not age appropriate for kids under 11, age appropriate for kids over 15; suggested age 13.

• Is it any good?

  3.0

• Common Sense says

  Sometimes-iffy wiki teaches collaboration -- and skepticism.

Why We Rated This for Ages 13–15

The good stuff

• Educational value:

  Kids can learn a lot by both reading this site and contributing to it. Many of the thousands of useful how-tos are kid friendly such as how to snowboard and do magic and science tricks. Kids who like to write and share what they know can post a how-to with a couple of clicks and receive constructive feedback. Not all how-tos and exchanges with others are positive but mature teenagers can handle the negative bits. 
• User-created content:

  Any wiki with 50,000-plus entries and a content policy similar to Wikipedia's is going to have turkeys such as "How to look at porn without getting caught".  Overall, however, the site is rich in well-written tutorials that help people solve practical, social and emotional problems.
• Messages:

  This site promotes respectful collaboration and can give kids a sense of accomplishment. It's to be commended for fostering teamwork and banning sexually explicit how-tos and any that promote hate, violence, illegal activities or profanity. However, the quality bar could be set a little higher. Though they are
  in the minority, the articles Wikihow allows that do glorify irresponsible, immature or negative behavior keep it from the highest rating here.

What to watch out for

• Violence:

  No murder or mayhem, but some of the how-to fight articles teach mild vigilantism, such as “How to beat up a bully.”  How to kill characters in popular video games is also covered. 
• Sex:

  Sexually explicit and sexually “charged” how-tos are prohibited, but this still leaves plenty of room for some dicey stuff; for instance, numerous variations on “How to be a hot girl.”  Videos are not overtly sexual but can have adult content including one in which a young woman uses a cucumber to demonstrate the correct way to put on a condom. In another, a nude female with strategically placed long hair teaches “girls” how to “look good naked” when sitting and walking.
• Language:

  The site seems pretty clean, in keeping with the no-profanity policy, but some strong language slips through in how-tos that contain modern song lyrics (e.g. “F--k me on the dance floor”) and in the forums and article discussion pages where user exchanges can get heated. Discussion pages that contain swear words such as asshole carry reader warnings but there is no profanity filter option. Ironically, the site features how-tos on circumventing profanity filters by inserting punctuation or running words together.
• Consumerism:

  Advertising is not intrusive but the Google listings can be X-rated. For instance, clicking on an article about blocking Internet porn generates a gaggle of Google links leading to porn sites. We don’t normally recommend that kids register with a site if they don’t have to, but registering here is a no-brainer. It doesn’t require sharing any personal information and it hides all ads except the 30-second spots that play before some of the how-to videos. These all seem to be G-rated mainstream commercials for yogurt and the like.
• Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

  How-to articles on recreational drug use are banned but drinking and smoking entries are not. The majority of the these are of the admirable "how to quit" variety, but some promote dangerous behavior ("How to chug beer") or spoof bad habits (“How to drink beer while running a marathon.”)

How safe is it?

• Personal privacy:

  Kids can remain anonymous, even if they submit entries, and block emails from other users. If they write a how-to they would later like to remove, they can do so if it's within a day or so of posting. If the entry has already been edited by others it can't be deleted, but authors can remove their bylines at any time.
• Online interaction:

  The site’s goal of producing high-quality how-to articles encourages contributors to support and treat one another respectfully as they trade edits. Peaceful collaboration seems to be the case for the most part, but kid contributors might have to deal with the occasional dustup including rough or angry language.  
• Parental controls:

  Though kids as young as 13 are allowed, this site provides no controls for parents.

What Parents Need to Know

About Wikihow

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