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.
