WikiMedia - PR's untapped resource

2010-11-18T06:03:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, a chap called David Virgin came and spoke to our PR class about Wikimedia. Call me naive but I thought his presentation was based on a typo. It's different from Wikipedia - my only real experience of anything wiki-related - and is essentially a foundation, set up in 2008 that aims to collect as much information and content as possible on anything and everything to provide completely free, open source platforms (of which Wikipedia is one) to the global public. There are about 12 or so other platforms that are less well known (at least to me!) such as Wikispecies, Wikiversity and Wikiquote.

Sounds like a bloody good idea doesn't it?! All this information, collected, verified so as not to contain bias, or contentious issues without published evidence, and made freely available to billions. Sounds even better when you consider that the people behind this prodigious task are a not-for-profit, charitable organisation that rely soley on public donations to function. Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikimedia, surmised the organisations intent:

"Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access the sum of all human knowledge. That is what we are doing."

Laudable stuff. A bit too laudable for one person who asked what we were all thinking: Where's the catch? Refreshingly, there isn't one. "Content and volunteers", came Steve's humble reply. There really is no hidden agenda. And without wishing to tarnish the concept with my big, bad PR paint-brush that's dripping with lies, propaganda and corrupt manipulation, (clearly being satirical), there are certainly some wonderful PR opportunities to be, dare I say it, exploited…

Consider this: Jointly The wiki-platforms that Wikimedia are seeking content for already receive 400m unique visitors every month. 400m a month! That's representative of nearly 7% of the global population - a target audience that would otherwise see a PR executive selling his only son to have a opportunity to influence. This gives some idea of just how much Wikimedia, or more accurately, the platforms it finds content for, can do for you in a PR sense.

A very large percentage of the 400m unique visitors are currently tied up in Wikipedia - the global online encyclopaedia. So what’s to stop any semi-diligent, literate rank-and-file employee at any organisation doing a bit of research and writing a history of their company? Or perhaps adding an article of a high-profile company executive that doesn’t currently exist? The fact is, Wikipedia is open-source and thus anybody including you and I can edit it. Every user has just as much literary power as each other. By including pages about notable people within your organisation or the organisation itself you have the opportunity to hyperlink. And hyperlink you will because this forms just another way to boost your SEO – the holy grail of internet popularity. The prerequisite for Wikipedia pages to be ‘notable’ is the biggest barrier. The term ‘notable’, however is, of course, subjective and thus permeable. However, getting on to Wikipedia isn’t necessarily easy. The powers that be are striving for balance and neutrality and of course PR generated material tends to contradict these clauses. So perhaps it’s time to get savvy - to take a slightly less conventional approach. Here are five simple steps you can take to boost your chances of success:

1. Search your company name on Wikipedia

Sounds obvious but many people overlook this and don’t realise that there may already be pages created about their company. It’s much easier to add to an existing page than it is to create a new one.

2. Increase your company’s online visibility elsewhere

If your company doesn’t already have a large online presence, get it one. It’s not difficult and the vast majority of it is free. You and your company will be considered far more ‘notable’ and newsworthy with this in your armoury. With blogs, Facebook, Twitter you can create online communities that engage with your company. By uploading press releases to your website and hyperlinking effectively within your pages you can significantly boost your SEO and make your online prominence sky rocket. And if you don’t have a website, there’s a Wiki for that! MediaWiki provide totally free website creating software. There’s really no excuse!

3. Start small

Large 500 word + articles will probably be deleted instantaneously. Start with a few sentences to increase your chances of being published.

4. Volunteer

Contribute to existing articles that interest you – perhaps adding insightful information or simply tightening up the spelling or grammar. This will see your Wikipedia reputation shoot up and you will be looked upon more favourably when it comes to adding your own page.

5. Be thick skinned

Your Wikipedia entry is editable by everyone. And some people will take advantage of this. If you feel as though information is false, unverifiable or biased for whatever reason you can appeal to the Wikipedia community for help. Trying to re-edit an article can look like a desperate attempt at censorship – something Wikipedians are very much against.

There are a myriad of opportunities available to PR practitioners through the Wikimedia foundation. The biggest challenge is finding creative new ways to infiltrate this existing platform – and this blog post has only just scratched the surface…

Rhythmic Cynicism

WikiMedia - PR's untapped resource