Wikipedia FAQ

Why should I care about Wikipedia?

Wikipedia is a massive and influential global presence: you should be aware of it and view it as a critical medium in your communication portfolio.

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Am I allowed to hire a consultant to write or update an article?

Yes. But only if the consultant abides by all Wikipedia policies, especially full disclosure of Conflicts of Interest (“COI”) on the discussion page for an article. Paid writers or editors who fail to disclose a COI when working on Wikipedia are violating the Wikipedia Terms of Use and potentially federal law prohibiting undisclosed, deceptive commercial promotions. WhiteHatWiki is one of the few consultants who fully disclose paid consulting on the internal “Talk” page of every article they work on.

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What’s the difference between a “white hat” and a “black hat” consultant?

WhiteHatWiki is one of the only “white hat” Wikipedia consulting firms. It’s why we’re trusted by some of the best known companies, organizations and individuals in the world.  A “white hat” consultant is paid, but still tries their best to abide by all Wikipedia’s complex policies, especially full disclosure of a Conflict of Interest. There are scores of other Wikipedia policies that come into play when doing COI editing.

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What are the risks of hiring a black hat practitioner?

Disclosure. Embarrassment. Content being removed (or restored) to articles. Less rigorously sourced material is more vulnerable to rewrites. Less rigorously written articles are more likely to attract the negative attention of editors. Even if not caught in the short term, “black hat” articles generally aren’t as good because of all the corners that are cut. So you’ll end up with a lower quality article.

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What are the advantages of hiring an expert?

Wikipedia’s policies are extremely complex. And just reading the rules is one thing. Actually applying them on real articles, reviewed by editors notorious for rejecting content that doesn’t meet Wikipedia’s standards, is far more difficult.

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How do I know if the person is really an expert?

Aside from previous experience as a journalist, academic or professional writer, there’s no substitute for having written and edited many articles published on Wikipedia. A consultant should be happy to share their previous articles with you – if they claim they can’t because of confidentiality, then they are a “black hat” practitioner. Their client work on Wikipedia should always be disclosed already or they are in severe violation of core Wikipedia principles. You should also check out the expert’s user profile page to be sure they disclose they are a paid editor. If they don’t disclose, they’re a “black hat” editor. See above for an explanation as to why hiring a “black hat” editor is a bad idea.

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What makes you an expert?

Our Wikipedia experts have impressive backgrounds as academics, journalists, executives and lawyers.  They’ll use their real names and credentials when they submit the article or edit for independent review, an extra layer of transparency uncommon on the mostly anonymous Wikipedia.  We’ll discuss the credentials of the specific expert assigned to you when we present you with a proposal.

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How much will this cost?

We provide a custom quote depending on the amount of work involved. We are going to be more expensive, in general, than “black hat” consultants because:

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Is it illegal to promote yourself on Wikipedia without disclosing you’re involved?

Sometimes, especially when it comes to companies. United States law on undisclosed advertising or promotion can be found here: Endorsement Guidelines. Laws in other countries vary.

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Do companies or people really get in trouble for not disclosing conflicts of interest or inserting anonymous promotional content on the Internet?

It happen all the time. For example, in 2015 dozens of newspapers reported on anonymous edits originating from inside the New York Police Department HQ. Some of the edits were about extremely controversial subjects involving the police department. When he criticized the practice, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was “outed” by the New York Post as having done the same thing himself, through his campaign.

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What’s the purpose of Wikipedia?

“Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a vanity press, or forum for advertising or self-promotion,” according to Wikipedia. In other words, the information shared on Wikipedia has to have educational value for the general public. That is the primary purpose of any article on Wikipedia. Of course, it will also be valuable for you or your business to share accurate information with the world. And you should always ensure that the information contributed by others to an article related to you is accurate.

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What qualifies someone or something to be in Wikipedia?

This is known as the notability test. Here’s the official test (abbreviated):

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If I don’t qualify as “notable”, what can I do about it?

Quality, independent sources need to write about you or your company or whatever the subject of the article is. These can be mainstream publications or credible trade publications. Once notability is established, the range of sourcing for other facts in the article is somewhat looser.

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How do you work with clients who want a new article on a subject?

Right off the bat, we’ll do a notability review. If we don’t think your subject will qualify as notable, we’ll explain and what has to happen before that might change.

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How do you work with clients who want updates to existing articles or the removal of misleading or false information?

The strategy for updates, especially the correction or removal of misleading or false information, can be very complex, even for straightforward requests for updates of out-of-date information. First, we’ll assess whether there is adequate reliable sourcing to support the update. Then we’ll write the updates, with citations, on a document for your review for accuracy. The next step is submitting to an independent editor to review the proposal. The discussion page of the article, for those with an existing interest, is a standard starting place. The official Wikipedia queues for review of proposed edits by COI editors can be turned to in other cases . We also can help manage situations where multi-editor discussions and voting on proposals become necessary — often involving highly technical arguments over obscure Wikipedia policies. e.g. what constitutes a “Coatrack”  (extraneous content) in a biography of a living person (“BLP”)   In these situations, more experienced editors often can intimidate less experienced Wikipedia editors with technical jargon. Unless you have an experienced Wikipedia editor very familiar with Wikipedia policy working with you, your position might not be properly represented.

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What do I do if someone with an agenda is attacking an article about me or my organization?

It can be extremely frustrating if someone who seems to have an obvious agenda to hurt your reputation is adding misleading or false information to an article about you. In severe cases, the situation is akin to a crisis. You might be tempted to reverse the change yourself, only to find the editor(s) reverse your reversal. Following our advice can seem like a hassle, since we’re going to do a COI disclosure and seek independent review of our proposed changes. That said, in some cases, we’ve managed to get information that obviously violates Wikipedia policy removed in just a matter of hours. In less clear cut cases, or where there are a group of editors coordinating an attack on an article in violation of Wikipedia policies, it can take several weeks (or in the worst case scenarios, several months) to get a resolution. Consensus discussions, bringing in more editors to weigh in, votes, mediation, and appeals can require a great deal of time and expertise. We’re honest in assessing what can be accomplished. Our goal is to involve editors who are very experienced on Wikipedia to bring order to the disorder and chaos created by agenda editors, who are not interested in creating fair encyclopedia articles. When you stick with the process, reason will eventually prevail, although article monitoring might be required for an extended period of time.

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Will Wikipedia really notice if I try to sneak in a promotional article or edit?

Yes. On April 5, 2015, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales told 60 Minutes there are more than 100,000 core volunteer Wikipedia editors. Sue Gardner, executive director of Wikipedia, 2007-2014, explained how they work: “There are folks… that vandalize the encyclopedia. They insert false information, they insert bias. But the core Wikipedia community, the people doing most of the work, consider themselves to be defenders against wrong, unhelpful, outside influence… Editors patrol articles. They patrol what we called “recent edits”, They are monitoring edits that are coming in. And they flag ones that they think are a little suspect or aren’t properly supported. Most vandalism is fairly obvious.”

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What’s Wikipedia monitoring and why should I bother?

Anyone can change a Wikipedia article at any time. It’s a completely open content and editing platform. Wikipedia monitoring is real-time monitoring of articles by WhiteHatWiki. We can set up your article so we receive alerts if anyone changes the article. We can then review the changes and send you a notice and recommendation for action in the event the changes violate Wikipedia policy. We can begin a discussion with the user who has changed the article and/or initiate an appeal or administrative review.

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How long does it take for a new entry or new content to be reviewed and approved?

Typically, anywhere from a week to two months, although we’ve even seen some turnarounds in one or two days. It depends on how interesting an article is to the volunteer editors. Changes to an existing article can be much faster than the review and approval of a new article.

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What do I do if my new article gets rejected?

WhiteHatWiki will only accept an assignment for a new article if we are sure it will be accepted. As of early 2018, we had a have a 100% success rate with publication of new articles we determine to be notable because we are so discerning. Some articles have to be resubmitted if more sourcing is requested. We decline about 75% of client requests for assignments. If we think the subject you are proposing is borderline, we will explain this to you, advise you on the reasons why and what you can do going forward.

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