Rock Products is the aggregates industry's leading source for market analysis and technology solutions, delivering critical content focusing on aggregates-processing equipment; operational efficiencies; management best practices; comprehensive market
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Something Wiki This Way Comes Some Websites Continue to Grow in Importance, and Wikipedia is One You Should Keep Your Eye On. By Thomas J. Roach Over the last five years, Wikipedia has consistently ranked in the top 10 most popular websites. Its competition is search engines Google, Yahoo and MSN; the current social media fads Facebook and Twitter; and shopping sites Amazon.com, Ebay and Craigslist. In that group it is the only general ref‐ erence work. This means that in the digital century, Wikipedia has the status of The Encyclo- pedia Britannica, Webster's Dictionary, and the Guinness Book of World Records combined. When customers, legislators, community groups and potential em‐ ployees want information on a com‐ pany, Wikipedia may be the first and only place they look. Unlike Facebook and LinkedIn, where subscribers control what is posted and can limit access, information in Wikipedia is collaboratively and contin‐ ually edited. From a public relations perspective, the process makes Wikipedia not only a source of informa‐ tion, but also a forum for public debate. Monitor Content Professional business communicators, therefore, need to monitor and partici‐ pate in the process of posting and edit‐ ing information on their own organizations and on issues that affect their organizations. There are currently more than 4 mil‐ lion articles posted on Wikipedia in English, and the number will continue to grow. Most companies in the aggre‐ gate industry do not have entries on Wikipedia, but as the site matures the information net will reach smaller and smaller operations. 34 The entry on Permanente Quarry in Cu‐ ROCKproducts • OCTOBER 2012 pertino, Calif., has approximately two pages of information and pictures. It tells readers what the quarry mines, who owns it, when it was founded, and notes that dumped quarry waste materials are "degrading the aesthetic value of the adjacent Rancho San An‐ tonio Open Space Preserve." The article also details controversies with the Sierra Club and the County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors, and mentions the incident in 2011 when a disgruntled employee killed three people. Easy Access Wikipedia articles can usually be edited by anyone with access to the site, but access is defined differently for different language editions. Only registered users can create articles in the English edition. It is considered inappropriate to edit an article on your own organization, so most public relations professionals rec‐ ommend suggesting edits of Wikipedia content to editors who are called Wikipedians. Companies can usually expect fair treat‐ ment in the editing process. Wikipedia notes that a 2005 investigation of its sci‐ ence articles published in Nature claimed that it had a rate of accuracy and serious errors roughly comparable to that found in The Encyclopedia Bri- tannica. Wikipedia footnoted Britan‐ nica's claim that the study's conclusions were flawed. While entering and editing information on your own company is not recom‐ mended, it is still useful for anyone with public relations responsibilities to be‐ come a Wikipedia contributor. Becom‐ ing a Wikipedian and contributing to other articles is the best way to learn Thomas J. Roach, Ph.D., has 30 years ex- perience in communication as a journal- ist, media coordinator, communication director and consultant. He has taught at Purdue University Calumet since 1987, and is the author of "An Interview- ing Rhetoric." He can be reached at thomasjroach@gmail.com. the process. Currently, Wikipedia has over 100,000 active contributors. Going Deeper For those who want to go deeper into Wikiculture, there is an annual confer‐ ence for users sponsored by the Wiki‐ media Foundation. It is called Wikimania. There is also a social gather‐ ing in major U.S. cities called The Great American Wiknic. The most important fact to understand about Wikipedia is that it is designed to grow and has nothing to constrain the scope and depth of its coverage. The comparison of Wikipedia to The Ency- clopedia Britannica is especially instruc‐ tive because of what the two encyclopedias do not have in common. The old Britannica, with its physical footprint, had to limit its content to what it could fit onto pages and into books that were shipped in a box and stored on a shelf. Wikipedia has no such limitations. E www.rockproducts.com