Does your online image reflect you and your accomplishments?
When it comes to creating success, maintaining an aligned brand image is key. With today’s increase in technology this means not only keeping up appearances in your day to day life and face to face encounters, but also in the digital world. With one click of a button anyone can find almost every mention of you online - which can go either way, depending on what you’ve shared online and what has been published about you.
The online database is now so large that it can be hard to control, and this can result in articles that do not show you in the correct light or social shares from ‘that night’ out with friends 5 years ago overshadowing how you want to be seen or on the flip side, nothing at all showing up in online searches. The good news is that there are many ways to control this and make the internet represent you in the best possible light. Wikipedia is one of those ways.
If you have enough articles from reliable, third-party sources then you will be able to create a Wikipedia page that highlights you and your successes. Wikipedia has a strict publication policy that ensures its integrity and makes it a trustworthy resource. It is recommended to have at least four sources that mention you, in order to have your page approved. These can be a variety of sources, but they will be checked so they must be reliable and published by someone other than you. Wikipedia makes sure that their pages are not seen as advertisements, so information must be true and unbiased. This means that the information posted is neutral, the page does not appear to be either positive or negative; and all information is backed by sources.
A Wikipedia page adds a level of gravitas to your personal, professional or company brand that is globally recognized and hard to beat!
There are many challenges in creating a Wikipedia page for you, and neutrality may be the most vital yet most demanding challenge there is. Luckily there are ways to boost your chances for approval and one of the most effective methods is being mentioned in other people’s Wikipedia pages, as well as having multiple people submit edits on your page. With Wikipedia the more user activity on your page means the higher your chance of approval and remaining online (yes, Wikipedia pages can get taken down!). It’s also worth noting that whoever edits and publishes your page can have a lot to do with whether it is approved or not.
As with your business or career, building up credibility with Wikipedia is essential. This can be done by making edits on other people’s pages, or having your own pages approved. The more credibility built up with Wikipedia, the higher your chances of being approved. I often find that starting small with little information is the best way to get your page approved. After approval, you are able to edit and add more information as you like. With that being said, there is no guarantee that a page is published or that it will remain published and online forever. So it is best to build up a good reputation, have reliable third-party sources, and a credible Wikipedia publisher in order to increase your chances of approval.
Even if you have the right credentials a Wikipedia page is neither simple nor guaranteed but if your page is approved, it adds a level of gravitas to your personal, professional or company brand that is globally recognized and hard to beat!
If you're wondering how Wikipedia could work for your corporate career, we have some thoughts on that.
Author: Cole Faulkner
Brand & Marketing Freelancer - Connect on LinkedIn