Wikipedia and Public Relations

Wikis and forums

Wikis
http://commoncraft.com/video-wikis-plain-english

Using wikis
The New PR wiki
http://www.thenewpr.com/wiki/pmwiki.php?pagename=TeachingSocialMedia.HomePage

Wikipedia and PR/marketing
The best-known use of wiki software
Users have to register before they can create articles, but anyone can modify
Should a PR/marketing person create a page about the organization, product/service, or people?

Maybe!
It should be an item worthy of inclusion in an encyclopedia
Information should be independently verifiable from external sources
It should be presented from a neutral point of view (“fairly and without bias”)

Autobiographical articles
Wikipedia discourages writing about yourself or subjects in which you are personally involved
If the topic is important enough, eventually someone independent will write about it
But what if there isn’t an entry about your organization yet?

If you do create or edit an entry…
Start with Wikipedia’s own guidelines
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Policies_and_guidelines
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_rejected_proposals
Select one person who is in charge of doing any and all edits (inform others they cannot)
Be transparent, not anonymous – select a user name that shows you represent the organization

If you do create or edit an entry…
Correct any obvious inaccuracies about your organization and provide a verifiable reference to the new information
Add your organization’s Web site to the “external links” section when appropriate
Use the “watchlist” function so you know when someone has updated the pages you’re interested in
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Watching_pages

Assignment: edit Wikipedia
Select any current entry
Ideas: your high school, UGA page, your hobby or favorite TV show or movie, current events
Print it out as it looked before you edit it
Edit it
Not just a word or two
Add a section, paragraph, etc.
Print it out as it looks after you edited it
For the truly brave: submit a proposed new entry

Life 2.0

Wikipedia and Public Relations

by KarenRussell on Mar 05, 2008

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Wikipedia and Public Relations — Presentation Transcript