February 27, 2010 at 16:25Financial Times: companies must play by Wikipedia
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Your attention is invited to the translation of an article by the Financial Times , one of the oldest (published since 1888) and authoritative business newspapers in the world.
However companies might have problems maintaining their own websites in order, now they are also forced to take care of their Wikipedia pages.
Wikipedia has become an important part of the company profile: the Wikipedia site regularly appears second or third in the list of search results and for many people this will be the most affordable way to find out about the business.
Companies are still avoiding interfering with what is said about them on Wikipedia - a global online encyclopedia written and edited by its users - after high-profile incidents with organizations that corrected articles about themselves to make them more supportive. Reputations were tarnished as soon as changes were discovered and made public.
Advice on how to maintain such a delicate relationship with a website that insists on being independent and neutral is given by Lundquist , an Italian communications consulting firm.
She conducted a study on how firms are represented on Wikipedia. She made a rating of the 500 largest world companies in an order showing how much information is contained on the pages of the encyclopedia, its presentation and ease of navigation.
Apple is at the top of the list, followed by BT, Nokia, Royal Dutch Shell, Ford and Toyota.
Lundquist offers ways in which companies can improve their Wikipedia profile without risking breaking the rules when editing articles about themselves.
She says the popularity of social media means that it is now vital that organizations play an active role in monitoring what is being said about them; they must follow the rules of open Wikipedia; when updating a Wikipedia article, they must leave a note explaining the changes made; and they must participate and help interested parties in their fields.
“Companies are not encouraged to make large, substantial edits on their own. But users can interact with different groups on Wikipedia to ask for help with their article, ”says the Lundquist board.
However companies might have problems maintaining their own websites in order, now they are also forced to take care of their Wikipedia pages.
Wikipedia has become an important part of the company profile: the Wikipedia site regularly appears second or third in the list of search results and for many people this will be the most affordable way to find out about the business.
Companies are still avoiding interfering with what is said about them on Wikipedia - a global online encyclopedia written and edited by its users - after high-profile incidents with organizations that corrected articles about themselves to make them more supportive. Reputations were tarnished as soon as changes were discovered and made public.
Advice on how to maintain such a delicate relationship with a website that insists on being independent and neutral is given by Lundquist , an Italian communications consulting firm.
She conducted a study on how firms are represented on Wikipedia. She made a rating of the 500 largest world companies in an order showing how much information is contained on the pages of the encyclopedia, its presentation and ease of navigation.
Apple is at the top of the list, followed by BT, Nokia, Royal Dutch Shell, Ford and Toyota.
Lundquist offers ways in which companies can improve their Wikipedia profile without risking breaking the rules when editing articles about themselves.
She says the popularity of social media means that it is now vital that organizations play an active role in monitoring what is being said about them; they must follow the rules of open Wikipedia; when updating a Wikipedia article, they must leave a note explaining the changes made; and they must participate and help interested parties in their fields.
“Companies are not encouraged to make large, substantial edits on their own. But users can interact with different groups on Wikipedia to ask for help with their article, ”says the Lundquist board.