Everything You Wanted to Know About Wikipedia But Were Too Embarrassed to Ask

Here’s a paradox: Everyone wants a Wikipedia page for themselves, their C.E.O., or their organization, yet few people know what it takes to create one.

In this workshop, I’ll explain how to bridge that gap. Specifically, we’ll run down the six rules of Wikipedia sourcing.

Transcript

1. EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT WIKIPEDIA BUT WERE TOO EMBARRASSED TO ASK
2. MY CREDENTIALS
3. The Continental Pool Lounge Arlington, Virginia 2007
4. 18 That’s how many years I’ve been helping clients navigate Wikipedia.
5. 5 That’s how many services I offer. 1. Create 2. Improve 3. Monitor 4. Consult 5. Train
6. WHY WIKIPEDIA MATTERS
7. Reason #1
8. Reason #1
9. Reason #2
10. Reason #3
11. The Bottom Line
12. THE 6 CRITERIA FOR SOURCING
13. Pillars Policies Guidelines RULES STANDARDS BEST PRACTICES
14. Wikipedia Is Not a Crystal Ball Verifiability There Is No Deadline Conflict of Interest Consensus Wikipedia Is Not a Newspaper Manual of Style Sock Puppetry Edit War Username Policy Wikipedia Is Not the Place to Post Your Résumé Advocacy Articles for Deletion Citation Overkill Vandalism Assume Good Faith Please Do Not Bite the Newcomers
15. G.N.G. N.O.R. R.S. N.P.O.V. U.P.E. General Notability Guideline No Original Research Reliable Sources Neutral Point of View Undisclosed Paid Editing To qualify for a Wikipedia page, your media coverage must be extensive. Every fact on your page must be footnoted. Your footnotes must be trustworthy. The editorial tone of your page must not contain any biases. If you have a conflict of interest, you must disclose that fact. Jargon What It Stands For What It Means
16. 1.Neutral Point of View WP:NPOV
17. Apple revolutionized per- sonal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. How Apple Describes Itself How Wikipedia Describes Apple Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services.
18. 2. Reliable Sources WP:RS
19. “Unreliable”
20. MEDIA COVERAGE
21. Are you notable? Create Improve Are your sources reliable?
22. CRITERION #1 Your Media Coverage Must Come From a Media Outlet
23. “Unreliable”
25. “Unreliable”
26. Q&A
27. Q&A Press Release
28. WAIT!
29. “Are you saying there’s a blanket ban on all Q&As?”
30. Interview “I employ 600 people.” Q&A “I employ 600 people.” Reported Article “According to Rick, he employs 600 people.”
31. WAIT!
32. “Does this mean that all broadcast hits are useless?”
33. Television
34. Podcasts
35. Interviews Reportage
36. WAIT!
37. “What about the text before the Q&A?”
38. Q &As
40. CRITERION #2 Both the Outlet and the Content Must Be Independent From You
41. FreeEnterprise.com O utlets
42. Content
43. Forbes “The Forbes.com article, posted in 2013, praised Epstein as ‘one of the largest backers of cutting-edge science around the world’ while making no mention of his criminal past.
44. CRITERION #3 The Media Outlet Must Be Notable
45. ARLnow.com Patch Local Pubs
46. The Executive Communication Report The Washington Business Journal P.R. Daily Nextgov Trade Pubs
47. WAIT!
48. “Trades are arbiters of the given trade; nobody knows me better than my peers.”
49. The M ainstream M edia
50. To be part of the mainstream media, an outlet needs to do three things: 1. Employ editors. 2. Disclose conflicts of interest. 3. Issue corrections when it makes a mistake. “Reliable Sources”
51. A reliable publication is reliable because it has a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy. In general, the more people who are engaged in the following three activities, the more that readers can trust that publication: 1. Checking facts. 2. Analyzing legal issues. 3. Scrutinizing the writing. “Reliable Sources”
52. CRITERION #4 The Coverage Must Focus on You
53. 3,500 Words 6,000 Words 11,000 Words Individuals
54. 3,500 Words 4,000 Words 9,000 Words Com panies
55. “What about an article that quotes me — even extensively — or cites my work?” WAIT!
56. CRITERION #5 Your Coverage Must Be Available Online
57. Wikipedia is what economists call a “lagging indicator.” A topic is Wikipedia-worthy only if the outside world has already taken notice of it. “No Original Research”
59. CRITERION #6 Your Coverage Must Be Sustained
60. Recentism occurs when a Wikipedia page has an inflated or imbalanced focus on recent events. A recentist page lacks a long-term, historical view. “Recentism”
61. “Wikipedia’s stated goal is to be an encyclopedia, not a newspaper, which generally means the project should focus on the information that will be historically significant for the long term.” —STEPHEN HARRISON “Wikipedia Is Not a Newspaper”
62. APPENDIX A Cheat Sheet
63. Source Significant? Independent? Reliable? Pass /Fail? Is the coverage of you in the given article significant? Being cited or even quoted a few times in an article is not particularly helpful. Being quoted extensively is better, but still not a deal maker. What you’re looking for are full-fledged profiles where you’re the focus. Is the publication completely independent from you? This rules out news releases, sponsored content, and Q&As. Does the publication have a reputation for fact- checking and accuracy? Does it employ editors, disclose conflicts of interest, and issue corrections when it makes a mistake?
64. Source Significant? Independent? Reliable? Pass /Fail? Is the coverage of you in the given article significant? Being cited or even quoted a few times in an article is not particularly helpful. Being quoted extensively is better, but still not a deal maker. What you’re looking for are full-fledged profiles where you’re the focus. Is the publication completely independent from you? This rules out news releases, sponsored content, and Q&As. Does the publication have a reputation for fact- checking and accuracy? Does it employ editors, disclose conflicts of interest, and issue corrections when it makes a mistake? Remy Tumin, “How M.T.V. Broke News for a Generation,” New York Times, May 11, 2023. Yes Yes Yes Pass
65. Let’s Recap Criterion #1: Your media coverage must come from a _____ outlet. 1/6
66. Let’s Recap Criterion #1: Your media coverage must come from a media outlet. 1/6
67. Let’s Recap Criterion #2: Both the outlet and the content must be ___________ from you. 2/6
68. Let’s Recap Criterion #2: Both the outlet and the content must be independent from you. 2/6
69. Let’s Recap Criterion #3: The media outlet must be _______. 3/6
70. Let’s Recap Criterion #3: The media outlet must be notable. 3/6
71. Let’s Recap Criterion #4: The coverage must focus on ___. 4/6
72. Let’s Recap Criterion #4: The coverage must focus on you. 4/6
73. Let’s Recap Criterion #5: The coverage must be available ______. 5/6
74. Let’s Recap Criterion #5: The coverage must be available online. 5/6
75. Let’s Recap Criterion #6: The coverage must be _________. 6/6
76. Let’s Recap Criterion #6: The coverage must be sustained. 6/6
77. QUESTIONS YOU DIDN’T KNOW WERE QUESTIONS
78. QUESTION #1 Isn’t Media Coverage a Flawed Gold Standard?
79. 📝 Editors ⚖ Lawyers 🎯 Fact Checkers
80. QUESTION #2 Can I Work on a Page for a Client (or, for That Matter, My Employer)?
81. QUESTION #3 Must I Subject Myself to the Disclosure Gauntlet?
82. N.Y.P.D. Caught Trying to Edit “Police Brutality” Out of Its Wikipedia Page North Face Forced to Issue Grovelling Apology After It Was Caught Editing Wikipedia Pages to Boost Its Results on Search Sites Political Staffers Tried to Delete the Senate Scandal (and Other Bad Behavior) From Wikipedia Congress Banned From Editing Wikipedia After Staff Caught Trolling Senator Doug Mastriano Caught Editing Wikipedia Page With Sock-Puppet Accounts
83. QUESTION #4 Can I Cite an Award We Won or a List We Were Named To?
84. QUESTION #5 Why Does Another Page Do Something You Said We Can’t Do?
85. QUESTION #6 Will My Page Be Vandalized?
86. QUESTION #7 Is Wikipedia Trustworthy?
87. Should We Chat? hi@jonathanrick.com