Fluther isn’t a source. Answers come from individual users, most of whom are just ordinary people, some with special knowledge in a given field and others with a lot of guesswork. There is a very wide range of knowledge, intelligence, and reliability represented here. Fluther users may indeed give good answers, some of them, but you can’t always tell which ones they are. For any matter of fact, you’d best choose a verifiable source. A Fluther post might serve to point you there.

It doesn’t matter how many people say a certain thing; numbers don’t make a wrong answer right.

There are some amazingly intelligent and knowledgeable people at Fluther so, yes, I can just about always find an accurate, helpful answer here.

But, Fluther’s an internet message board, not a research source. You can’t cite Fluther as authority.

I recommend using Fluther as your starting point. If you find some information that seems valid and applicable, go to the library, confirm the information, and write down some reference citations.

Thanks @Jeruba and @SadieMartinPaul

Your teacher is correct.

Quick search:

Wikipedia states: San Marino claims to be the oldest surviving sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world This “fact” is cited as coming from the Republic of San Marino Unofficial Site

Unofficial. OK, so Wiki is no help.

Encyclopaedia Britannica cites “tradition” as holding the founding of the city-state in the 4th century, but states that it didn’t become a republic until the 15th century. Rome had already come and gone by that point. So, I agree with the teacher.

Fluther isn’t a legitimate source. It can be a great place to get some opinions and possibly some links to sources, but asking fluther is like asking a friend. As far as many sources being wrong, it can happen. Sometimes there is a popular belief that people think is fact, and it actually makes it in text books, and later we prove it untrue. But, for the most part we accept something as fact if many reliable sources agree.