My internship projects at a PR agency handle business development for three gaming technology clients, two of which have their own Wikipedia entries. The third client, a fairly new game artificial intelligence company from Germany does not. Our project team thought it was an issue while many competitors have presence on Wikipedia. "Why wasn't it there though?" I had this question. The computer-science-professor-turned CEO was very technology savvy; the company embraces social media- it's on Linkedin, Twitter, Youtube and Facebook; so, why isn't it on Wikipedia?
Then the project with this company got a major focus away from social media use, so my question hasn't got answered yet, but below are some possibilities when an organization is not Wikipedia ready:
1. Not 'Notable' Enough
Wikipedia has a special rule on notability- For a topic to be considered worthy of its own article, it must be considered “worthy of note”. In the case of organizations and companies:
"An organization is generally considered notable if it has been the subject of significant coverage in reliable, independent secondary sources. Trivial or incidental coverage of a subject by secondary sources is not sufficient to establish notability. All content must be verifiable."
It is obvious that Wikipedia emphasizes the importance of verifiable, non-editorialized content for organization entries. Thus, press releases issued by the organization itself are not considered a credible resource. Organizations need to include several external references and cite as much as possible in the entry, which can be quite a challenge for small start-ups.
2. Not the Best Platform
Some wiki platforms can handle robust file types, while others can only support text or HTML files. If organizations need to use complex file formats, Wikipedia may not be the best choice. Also, since types of wiki are very diverse and specified, Wikipedia as the general one, may not be the best wiki that meets users' objectives. For example, the game artificial intelligence discipline actually has its own professional wiki.
3. No Time Taking Care of it
It takes efforts to manage the use of wiki. Constant monitoring, editing, and maintenance are required, which again can be quite a challenge for smaller-sized start-ups.
In sum, though having presence on Wiki, or specifically Wikipedia is tempting, organizations need to self-check readiness- what are the needs, possibilities, pros and cons, etc.
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I assume for quite a few organizations, Wiki is not part of their strategic plan.
ReplyDeleteThey have to invest time and labor in creating wiki entries and maintaining them. Besides, their target audience may not be the major Wiki users.
Good post.
Jean, wikis are one of the most difficult of social media tools to manage which causes organizations to be more cautious about this tool.
ReplyDeleteThe gaming client you mentioned perhaps are waiting to create some positive buzz in traditional media before creating their Wikipedia page but I would argue that organizations can opt for the other direction as well.
Perhaps if you could analyze the traditional media coverage that they have garnered so far you will have an answer to their choice.