Your company’s Wikipedia entry
I recently gave a talk about wikis and Wikipedia at a prominent international marketing firm in Hong Kong. Someone asked a question I get very often - “I added an entry for my company ‘X’ into Wikipedia and it got deleted shortly afterwards by the Wikipedians. Why?”
It is true that Wikipedia’s “Recent changes patrollers,” on the lookout for inappropriate material, can be quick on the draw to put things up for deletion. And most of the times, they are correct in doing so. There are companies that are obviously keep (Ford Motor Company), obviously delete (WOOHA YOUR MOM STINKS SUCKA!!, Inc.) and some that are not so clear (Full Nice Handbag is a famous example).
So you think your company deserves better? Here’s some advice. When writing an entry about your own company, keep note of these points in observance of Wikipedia’s neutral point of view policy.
- Keep it fact-based and useful to ordinary readers
- Dont’ use hyperbole or flowery self-praise
- Provide evidence of “notability” such as size, significance, accolades, unusual achievement or prominence within the field
- Put this “most notable” info at the top of the article (see inverted pyramid)
- Provide links to sites other than the company itself that provide evidence of the above
- Be transparent and open. Don’t attempt to evade dialog with other volunteer editors. Deception is the easiest way to lose trust with Wikipedians.
This is not to say Wikipedia will keep every company entry that follows these guidelines. They are necessary conditions, but may not be sufficient. If you are finding it hard to fulfill the above, it’s likely your company’s page shouldn’t be in Wikipedia, or you’re not the right person to edit it.
It comes down to this - if you’re someone with company ‘X’ writing about company ‘X’ in Wikipedia, you’re someone with a strong POV writing in an NPOV encyclopedia. (Ie. you’re a shill doing journalism). Adjust your style accordingly.
August 7th, 2006 05:53
Hi Andrew,
Whilst I agree with much of your article, it currently gives the impression that the “famous” Full Nice Handbag article was an example of an article ripe to be deleted because of NPOV problems etc. That is wrong.
You may remember that several years ago, I was the one who tried to have the FNH article kept. I had nothing to do with the company (and doubt I ever will). I re-wrote the article in an NPOV manner after its initial submission meeting all your and Wikipedian guidelines.
The deletion was all about notability of the subject. Yes I used that one article to crystallize a debate that I ultimately lost, and it is a good example of something, but not the subject of your article.
Yours,
Pcb21 (former Wikipedian, administrator and featured article author)