Unlike what its name may imply, Ekşi Sözlük is not a dictionary in the strict sense; users are not required to write correct information.

As an online public sphere, Ekşi Sözlük is utilized by users for information sharing on various topics ranging from scientific subjects to everyday life issues, but also used as a virtual socio-political community to communicate disputed political contents and to share personal views.

[4] Ekşi Sözlük was launched by self-taught coder Sedat Kapanoğlu in 1999, for humorous information sharing and communicating with his friends, as he was inspired by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Informers are usually the older generation authors who voluntarily report any bad content to moderators for examination.

[citation needed] An official application for Ekşi Sözlük has been released in 2017 for iOS and Android platforms.