Meta Wiki is written collaboratively by largely anonymous volunteers who write without pay. Anyone with Internet access can write and make changes to Meta Wiki articles, except in limited cases where editing is restricted to prevent disruption or vandalism. Users can contribute anonymously, under a pseudonym, or, if they choose to, with their real identity. The fundamental principles by which Meta Wiki operates are the five pillars. The Meta Wiki community has developed many policies and guidelines to improve the encyclopedia; however, it is not a formal requirement to be familiar with them before contributing.

Meta Wiki is a live collaboration differing from paper-based reference sources in important ways. Unlike printed encyclopedia MetaWiki is continually created and updated, with articles on historic events appearing within minutes, rather than months or years (sometimes). Because everybody can help improve it, Meta Wiki has become more comprehensive than any other encyclopedia. In addition to quantity, its contributors work on improving quality as well. Meta Wiki is a work-in-progress, with articles in various stages of completion. As articles develop, they tend to become more comprehensive and balanced. Quality also improves over time as misinformation and other errors are removed or repaired. However, because anyone can click "edit" at any time and add stuff in, any article may contain undetected misinformation, errors, or vandalism. Awareness of this helps the reader to obtain valid information, avoid recently added misinformation, and fix the article.