Wikipedia has opened the virtual floodgates allowing nearly anyone the opportunity to create and edit content that is viewed by throngs of people worldwide. However, with this form of communication and knowledge-building comes several cues online marketers must take into consideration.

Take into account that Wikipedia has become engaged in a back-and-forth war with spammers who are constantly developing software to combat Wikipedia’s anti-spam efforts. As a result, Wikipedia takes your credibility into very serious consideration when deciding whether or not your edits will remain on the site. As a social networking site, individuals have taken various measures to combat spam. For example, the Wiki Scanner is a program that scans Wikipedia for anonymous edits. The anonymous edits are tied to an IP address that is sent to a database that subsequently blocks that IP address from making any more edits. Several large corporations, including Google who had employees post anonymous edits to bolster the internet conglomerate’s Wikipedia page, have been “busted” by the Wiki Scanner.

As a result of their intense efforts to block such content, Stephan Spencer, founder of Netconcepts, suggests that you do several things before attempting to establish a brand on Wikipedia. First, it is essential that you develop a Wikipedia profile. Posting anonymous edits without a profile sends a red flag to those who are looking to rid the website of spam and pure marketing content. Second, your profile must be established for some time before you engage in edits for your company. A long history of credible edits under your profile tag will heighten your credibility. This is especially true if your edits are on pages that have absolutely nothing to do with your business. An individual operating a Wiki Scanner is less likely to tag your edits if they see that you have a long history of performing virtuous edits such as deleting spam, fixing typos, etc. Finally, once you have created a profile and have developed a solid reputation behind it, you will find it much easier to not only edit material surrounding your particular company or industry, but also to create your own Wikipedia page. Pages are more likely to remain on the site if the profile attached to the page has demonstrated a long history of contribution to the Wikipedia community.

Keep in mind that Wikipedia, like all other social-networking sites, is one that follows certain cyber-cultural traditions, values, and norms. Presenting yourself as someone who is sensitive, understanding, and pro-active in maintaining these traditions, values, and norms will maximize your potential in harnessing the power of the site for your benefit.

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