Getting Yourself Listed On Wikipedia

In the age of the internet – almost anyone can be famous, to some degree.  If you are working as a blogger, and intend to grow your business, making a name for yourself will certainly help you reach a certain level of notariaty.

This can be done in several ways.  The first is to get featured in major media outlets.  You can get your articles featured on well-established websites, or even convince someone working for one of them to write an article about you.  The second method is to take the necessary steps in order to have a Wikipedia page created about yourself or your business.

While this may sound easy, ensuring that the page is not deleted by the administrators is quite a challenge.  The reason why we don’t see everyone create Wikipedia pages about themselves is that the platform’s administrators filter, edit and/or delete them.  Those which are tagged as having been created only to cater to one individual’s personal needs are deleted due to reasons of “vanity.”

Wikipedia representatives have also specified that managing to have an article about yourself posted on the website may backfire, due to the fact that anyone can contribute with information to the wiki page.

In essence, if a company has a Wikipedia page, and gets caught up in a scandal, there is a big change that someone will write the new information in the article.  This may, in turn, lead to a lot of negative press.

Another issue that you may have is to discover that there is a page about someone or some other company that shares the same name with you.  This can be potentially troublesome as it can lead to a lot of confusion, and could affect your popularity negatively.

Having said that, Wikipedia has several conditions that a page must fulfill in order to avoid deletion.   The information presented on the page must be neutral, verifiable and come from reliable sources, and it must be about a notable subject.

In essence, the page must neither be negative, nor positive, in terms of both writing style, as well as facts.  The information also written must be backed up by official, legitimate third-party sources, and the person or company must be “notable”.

Out of all these conditions, the most difficult one is the “notable” attribute.  However, there are several ways through which a business or an individual can ensure that their dedicated page will not be deleted.  Unfortunately, most of them depend on the support of other Wikipedia members.

One thing that you can do in order to increase your “notability” is to get referenced in other Wikipedia pages.  The more pages that mention or reference you, the more support you will have.  Also, try to get mentioned in as many third-party sources as possible.  Start a PR campaign and make yourself, or your business known to magazines, newspapers and any kind of media outlet that you find.

As for the “neutrality” condition, this means that you cannot write about yourself as it would be viewed as being biased.  Try writing a “stub” at first, and then wait for other Wikipedia members to contribute and expand the article into a proper page.  Administrators are less likely to delete a stub, especially one that is being expanded by the community, than a page written entirely by yourself.

If the edit history of your page shows that several REGISTERED users have contributed to the article, then the page will be ok.  However, the users must have an account, or the administrators will not be able to verify their identity, and your article will lose credibility.  Furthermore, it is a lot better if those who expand your page also work on other articles on the website.

Another thing that you need to take into consideration is the need for references.  Include as many of these as you can, that will show the information on your page is supported by other sources.  These can be both internal (other Wiki articles and pages), or external (other websites).

You should also encourage active discussions on the page.  If users are engaging in a conversation based on the information found on your page, this will show the Wiki community that people consider said information to be important, thus increasing your notability.  Furthermore, this will also enable individuals to share their various viewpoints, which will help with your page’s neutrality.

While you can influence some of the aspects above, most of them are in the hands of other people, and the rest of the Wikipedia community.  As a warning, keep in mind that none of the above is a guarantee that your page will not be deleted.  However, as long as you get people interested in yourself, or your business, their focused attention will help you tremendously.

There is no restriction regarding who can be listed, as long as the page fulfills the conditions mentioned above. YouTubers, bloggers, businessmen, game developers, and even minor internet personalities, all have Wikipedia pages.  There is nothing preventing you from having one as well!