To go online and make a visible presence internet and have yourself or your business credited and verified would have sounded like a dream some years ago, but anymore. Today living in a highly digitalized world, there are ideal platforms that help in building online platforms. one of the world’s most acknowledged and esteemed platforms is Wikipedia, it was founded in the year 2001 by Larry Sanger and Jimmy Wales. Wikipedia is funded; by the nonprofit organization Wikimedia.
Wikipedia is the largest online portal with 1.9 edits per second made by the wiki editors. Wikipedia is considered to be the most visited site with around 18 billion views per month and has 27 million registered users. At first Wikipedia was only launched in the English language but later developed for other languages too. Wikipedia has a community of contributors and editors who can edit and changes articles accordingly, they are famously called Wikipedians or Wiki editors.
Getting your article or content published on Wikipedia is no easy matter there are rules and guidelines set by Wikipedia, that need to be cleared first. Wikipedia has been praised from its democratization of knowledge and unbiased content, Wikipedia does not support biased or controversial topics and the establishment of unique content. It has established itself as a part of pop culture as it has references to books, films, music, arts, and culture.
Neutral point of view (NPOV) is a set rule of Wikipedia and Wikimedia which means that the article should be written from a neutral angle and should be free from alleged controversies or biases. The other two principles are verifiability and no original research. These rules are inexpugnable and cannot be altered by any means. it is important to remember that to qualify and feature on Wikipedia you have to remember to follow all ground rules set by Wikipedia, these three rules Wikipedia was introduced from the first years of its creation. All these rules are set for the sake of citations and referencing and to deal with the problem of fringe theories and undue weight.
Guidelines Of Neutral Point Of View (NPOV)
To further understand the concept of neutral point of view as it decides if an article will be featured or not, here are some rules that need to be looked at;
- It is recommended to avoid the ‘opinion’ as the facts, Wikipedia asks to avoid opinions the opinions not be written in Wikipedia’s voice
- Do not state assertions as statements, if a source has stated conflicting assertions write their opinions rather than facts
- Try to avoid facts as opinions, any subject that is non-controversial and uncontested can directly quoted in Wikipedia’s voice, but any uncontested
- Include a non-judgmental voice on the article, avid to agree with a certain conflicting statement and write them in a disinterested tone
- Support the opposed subject by little support and do not give a false impression of equality
Why Is It Important To Become Notable For Wikipedia?
On Wikipedia it states that:
‘Notability is based on the existence of suitable sources, not on the state of sourcing in an article’
To meet the criteria of Wikipedia is important, getting on Wikipedia is a long journey where they are so many steps. The first and foremost step is to be notable, Wikipedia promotes a brand, person, or business that is notable and meets the criteria of Wikipedia notability. If there are articles written for you from credible sources there are chances to be considered to be on Wikipedia. anyone can become a notable name if,
- Have made a credible name in the industry,
- Have worked responsibly and as brought massive changes in your industry
- Have been innovative and created new ideas
- If your market performance has been excellent and has set the bars high, and are biggest in the competition
- Have built a good name over the years by hard work and efforts
Well, that it is clear that notability is an important factor and without it, there is no moving forward. It is not as difficult as it may seem to become notable, almost anyone can become notable by time. To achieve unbeatable notability, you need to have your articles written by reputable journalists. All of the references must be linked to verified and credible new channels and company websites. on the whole, it is all about what others have talked about you.
Lastly, it is vital to keep a check on how credible and authentic the sources are verifiable as they need to be verified from the reliable source
guidelines. Wikipedia does not consider a contributor to be authentic. The source can be in any language or on any media platform, all the sources should be independent, which means that they should not be affiliated; with press releases, autobiographies.
The Unbeatable Steps To Be Featured On Wikipedia
You need to fight against all the odds to be featured on Wikipedia. you need to accept the challenge and tick all the boxes and get yourself published on Wikipedia. Featuring on Wikipedia has its numerous benefits for everyone if it is an individual, business or a brand. As of 2021 there are 2.2 billion users of Wikipedia, so imagine the number of views you can have.
To be featured on Wikipedia here are some steps that you need to follow;
1- Start By Creating An Account
It is the easiest step of all, it does not cost an arm and a leg to create a Wikipedia account. Simply log on to the website Wikipedia.org and follow the steps, go onto ‘create an account’ and enter all the required detail. It is important to enter all the relevant information and confirm your account by email. Now, you need to verify yourself for your Wikipedia biography page or any other page.
Create a unique title page and make sure that it does not exist before. the title should be unique and should be searchable. you need to check if the name you are proposing is available or not. Wikipedia allows you to check it through the red and the blue link. all of the guidelines on ‘how to create a page’ are easily available.
2- Collect All The References
Reference speaks volumes, it is important to collect and, it requires more than two references. References should be verified, from public records or on government websites. All the facts need to be verified by well-known publications. One of the important factors to look at is that primary sources are not acceptable, it sometimes is written by the subject itself, which is not acceptable as a reference. All the third-party sources are considered reliable and verifiable. They are secondary sources that are usually from authentic sources and they are literary articles. news sites, and cited journals.
3- Establish Yourself With Existing Data
Establish a prestigious name on the platform! you can do that editing all the existing data available. update the existing content by adding reliable data and stats. according to the guidelines of Wikipedia that if you have more that 10 edits is likely to become an autoconfirmed users. Auto confirmed user allows to upload images and moving of images.
Once you become an autoconfirmed user it gives you credibility and you become familiar with the Wikipedia content managements system. It also helps in showing that how ill interested you are in conflict of interest (COI).
4- Be An Active User
It is important to be active and be vigilant, once you have created and been verified by Wikipedia, try to become an active member of the group. When you sign up you get access to talk pages. The talk page is an elite service of Wikipedia that allows the editors to gather and can talk about the articles and improve them.
When you are an active member, thoroughly reading and improving the existing articles shows that you want to grow and learn, it gives you a more credible status. This is one of the aspects to get featured in Wikipedia
5- Write A Draft Of The Article
When you consider writing, try to create a draft before getting your hands set on the article so, your 1000’s words do not in vain. Wikipedia has set its writing style that how should be an article written. Learn all the referencing styles of Wikipedia so, that you are fully equipped and ready when it comes to writing the final draft.
Cite all the references at the end of the article, your article should avoid self-praising phrases, as Wikipedia does not promote it. Take a glance on how all the published articles look and how they are fitting themselves into the criteria, but do not copy them! Make your content outstanding by;
- Writing a unique and simple article that is free from slogans and jargons
- Be neutral, do not use controversial phrases, terms, or quotes.
- All the articles should be from verifiable sources, as per the guidelines of Wikipedia
- All the articles should be sources from the authentic site and the data that is entered should be available on public records.
6- Use The Sandbox Editor
Sandbox is used in the editing process from where you can directly paste your article and submit it of the review. you can write and practice all the articles on thew sandbox, so that you are more familiar with the process of Wikipedia and its tools. Keep writing and checking out if you are being able to counter all the criteria of Wikipedia.
You can also write on the document sheet and past it on the sandbox and check out the interface of your article and how it looks before publishing.
7- Properly Format Your Article
A well-formatted article takes to the next level, a well-cited, referenced look is neat and clean and it is also guided by Wikipedia citing sources. You need to give valid data to the article; it is an encyclopedia so it is important to cite all the content you are adding to it. it is crucial to remember that all the cited data should be from third-party sources.
Citation helps in building credibility and giving more visibility. Wikipedia also does not promote the content this is written without citation. so, if you are writing without proper citation expect your article to be rejected.
8- Be patient
You have to be patient and work hard if you are willing to get featured on Wikipedia. After all the steps from creating the account to drafting the article, here comes the most crucial step, you need to ace which is called the article for the creation process. After submitting the review, the Wikipedia reviewers to read it and approve it. It takes days to review the articles and may take weeks or months. so, be patient and wait for the contributors to get back to you.
This part could be daunting as you may not know that what the editor might like not. The editors reply with their critique, they may ask to edit or delete. Honor their feedback and do as they ask to, it shows professionalism and potential chances of getting your page approved.
Keep On Going
It does not end here; you have to keep on going and work hard till the end. Even if you have achieved your desired goal of being featured on Wikipedia, keep improving and try to get on the top of the search results. Make sure that your pages are SEO friendly as it will bring more users to your page and will create more traffic.
Make sure that you are up to date with all the policies and guidelines of Wikipedia. Set your steps into the game, work hard, and make sure that you are abreast and are prepared to tackle everything.
