Because of its high ranking in the search engine results, Wikipedia has become as necessary a place to be listed as the phone book. But a user-edited source can backfire when unfavorable information pops up in those same results, especially if the information is untrue.
And so, we have a new beast to tackle: Wikipedia reputation management. For all that's been said about the site, for all the colleges that have banned it, it's a powerful, powerful presence.
Wikipedia administrator (more like fact cop) Duvora, who makes a habit of confronting naughty editors, has put together what might be considered the canon of Wiki-rep management.
Those who feel they have been the victim of malicious vandalism aren't helpless, there are numerous ways to go about fixing the problem. The obvious answer is edit the entry yourself, but that can be, potentially, problematic, as it can get you flamed by users or land you in an edit war.
Duvora, in two lengthy posts at SearchEngineLand detailing cases where editing and counter-editing were both necessary, explains that there are numerous channels that those with online reputation concerns can go through.
The first line of defense, she says, is to email the Wikimedia Foundation directly or via the Open Ticket Request System.
After that, here are seven options search marketers and reputation managers should keep handy:
1. Put the article on the Watchlist
2. Notify the appropriate WikiProject
3. Notify the Counter-Vandalism Unit
4. Request Page Protection
5. Contact Administrator Intervention Against Vandalism
6. Refer to Biographies of Living Persons Noticeboard
7. For urgent problems, notify Administrator's Noticeboard/Incidents
Duvora goes into great detail in both her posts at SearchEngineLand.
Publish A Comment
| Popular WPN Business Resources |
-

What's Next for Twitter API?
Although Twitter's homepage gets a tremendous amount of traffic, it... -

The Rise of Horizontal Content Sites
Over the last year, the search industry has seen a large rise in... -

Reaching Your Audience Through Online Video
Internet video is continuing to grow by leaps and bounds.
iEntry 10th Anniversary
RSS
Newsletter
Advertising





















Thanks for the comments,
Thanks for the comments, Jason. I'd like to clarify how important it is to ask Wikipedia volunteers to watchlist a client's site. Many of them are glad to help. They'll clear up current problems and solve future ones quickly, which saves a lot of time and worry for reputation management pros.