[WikiEN-l] Use Wikipedia as a Marketing Tool

[MuZemike]

The only reason companies and organizations strive to use Wikipedia as a 
marketing tool is because of its high visibility on Google, which is 
attributed in turn from Wikipedia's immense popularity. I would argue 
this would not even be discussed if WP was not in the ten 10 most 
popular websites in the world.

That being said, I am not necessarily worried about companies having 
their own articles on Wikipedia, assuming said topics meet our 
understands and plays by our community norms and policies. What I am 
worried about, though, is that these companies want to control and "own" 
these articles and block out anybody else who wishes to contribute, 
edit, or cleanup by any means necessary including threatening legal action.

It's like with paid editing - once money or professional reputation get 
involved, things turn a lot more ugly when something does not go right, 
and that's when the threats start flying.

-MuZemike

On 12/7/2010 10:31 AM, Fred Bauder wrote:
> http://www.inc.com/managing/articles/201001/wikipedia.html
>
> '“Wikipedia is a complex culture, and sometimes it can feel like the free
> encyclopedia everyone can edit -- except me,” acknowledges Jay Walsh, a
> spokesperson for the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organization
> that oversees Wikipedia. He notes that Wikimedia has only about 30 paid
> staff, and that Wikipedia is edited by a huge number of volunteers. And
> he says, though it’s not an absolute rule, people are strongly
> discouraged from creating articles about themselves or their
> organizations because the site strives for neutrality.
>
> If you want your organization to be listed in Wikipedia, Walsh and others
> who’ve succeeded recommend the following steps:...'
>
> Fred
>
> User:Fred Bauder
>
>
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