From: Mark Pellegrini
<mapellegrini(a)comcast.net>
I'm more than a little suprised that no one is angry about the fact
that
companies admit to subtle PR-pushing on Wikipedia. ("planting of viral
information in entries, modification of entries to point to new
promotional sites or 'leaks' embedded in entries to test diffusion of
information.") Where's the outrage? Why aren't people upset about
this?
I personally think that the co-opting of Wikipedia for commercial and
promotional purposes is a real danger to Wikipedia.
I am especially concerned about the articles we get about movies,
software, games, concert tours, reality TV shows, etc. that are
_about to_ be released within the next couple of months, always with
the assertion that they are certain to be very notable.
I have tried to get acceptance of a firm statement of policy about
this into WP:NOT under the rubric of "Wikipedia is not a crystal
ball," but it is one of those areas where there is, I fear, no
consensus. The articles are in most cases seem to be written not
directly by promoters, but by fans who identify with and buy into
everything the promoters say or promise. I recognize that the
existence of tens of thousands of excited fans in the present is a
fact, but it is a generic one; hundreds of movies will come and go
and each of them will be preceded by a wave of publicity that will
carry enthusiasts along with it, always insisting that the particular
wave they happen to be riding is a tsunami.
I think articles of this kind damage Wikipedia in a way that articles
about generic elementary schools, streets, minor characters in Harry
Potter, etc. do not.
--
Daniel P. B. Smith, dpbsmith(a)verizon.net
"Elinor Goulding Smith's Great Big Messy Book" is now back in print!
Sample chapter at
http://world.std.com/~dpbsmith/messy.html
Buy it at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1403314063/