Wiki wars

Everyone is guilty for seeking the wise words of Wikipedia at some point, whether it were fast facts for a late report, finding some basic information because you claimed to have liked a band (just to impress some stranger), or simply to kill time. After all, Google wouldn’t be claiming it as the sixth most visited site for nothing.

But a war is approaching. While common web-surfers view Wikipedia as a place to help make decisions and form opinions, PR companies are finding it more and more difficult to protect their clients from the hoaxes, mistakes and even false death claims cropping up.

The site promotes itself as a free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, but not including those with a conflict of interest, such as the PR companies in question. This seems all good and well so as to keep the ‘spin doctors’ out of community branding, but when anyone else is able to write anything, a PR rep’s reputation suffers.

Facebook group, Corporate Representatives for Ethical Wikipedia Engagement (CREWE) is a platform for discussion that is attempting to find middle ground within the dispute. With more than 130 discussers, including several Wikipedia editors and the founder himself, hopefully a resolution will be found.

All we know is, one dude managed to get away with publishing “HIS NAME HERE is the best” on his page. If he wrote that without detection, imagine what other misconstrued bits of information are floating around.