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Learn how to effectively-and ethically-use new media to your benefit.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY LINDSEY BALBIERZ

Countless businesses, from software giant Microsoft to the humble Tasty Baking Company, have Wikipedia entries. With a readership in the millions and an anonymous system of editing, it's no surprise that some companies have been tempted to puff up their page. After all, no one knows who you are online-right?

Not so fast. Wikipedia vandals across the world got a harsh surprise last year, when a computer science student developed the technology to trace more than 34 million Wikipedia edits to specific companies through their ISP locations. The student, 25-year-old Virgil Griffith, then posted the data to the web. The goal, he says, was "to create a fireworks display of public relations disasters."

Did it ever. The information, available at WikiScanner (www.wikiscanner.virgil.gr), revealed that employees of dozens of companies had spun or put misleading information on their businesses' Wikipedia profiles. Forbes included one such instance in the year's "101 Dumbest Moments in Business," and Wired created a "Most Shameful Wikipedia Spin Jobs" blog.

New media outlets are a great source of publicity, and business owners naturally want positive coverage. But what ethical guidelines apply in the brave new world of Web 2.0? And how can businesses avoid the sort of public relations disasters that ensnared previous Wikipedia-meddlers? "The best way is to become a part of the community and understand the mores," says Amanda Watlington, co-author of Business Blogs: A Practical Guide. Speak with editors, read the site's policies and familiarize yourself with its cardinal rules, like neutrality. Until you're certain you meet the community's standards, don't post.

Even then, you should tread carefully. Just posting innocent facts-like the name of your company's CEO-violates the site's conflict-of-interest rules. "If you represent the business," says Wikipedia spokesman Jay Walsh, "you just aren't the right person to make that edit." Better to post the information to a verifiable third-party source-like your company's official website-and alert Wikipedia editors.

And with WikiScanner on the scene, anonymous edits are just a bad idea. "People want honesty and sincerity, opinions that are based on experience and good judgment, not those provided just to fill someone's bank account," says media ethics expert Miriam Smith. She warns that anonymous postings will only earn you public ire.

It's still possible to create a good name for your business on Wikipedia, though. "Go where you are an expert and add to the body of knowledge," Watlington says.

For example, if you run a company that gets rid of termites, identify yourself and add to the entry on termites. Provide photographs and link to articles. Readers benefit from new information, and your business will look more credible as a result.

Walsh concurs: It's a great idea to provide free, shareable images and facts about the company on your official website. The information is more likely to make it on Wikipedia-and stay there-if an editor posts it than if you post it yourself.

Josh Shabtai, a new media specialist with New York-based PR firm Ketchum, calls Wikipedia "tremendously useful from a market-finding perspective" and recommends monitoring discussion pages to see what posters say about your brand. But he says businesses should look beyond Wikipedia to networking sites like Twitter, Flickr and Facebook, which don't have conflict-of-interest prohibitions and reach nearly as many viewers. (Marketers should always be "totally transparent" about their online identities, cautions Shabtai.)

As an example of good internet marketing, Shabtai points to "Chinese Democracy When?," a Dr. Pepper-sponsored blog which promises everyone in America a free soft drink if Guns N' Roses releases its long-delayed album by the end of the year. Shabtai, who worked on the site, says it was flooded with visitors within days. "We'd never seen so many positive comments," he says. "People from Brazil and the UK were writing us and saying, 'Oh, man, they don't sell Dr. Pepper here-how can I get some?' And it was all built on a free blog."

If you want to use new technology, Shabtai suggests sticking to creative blogging and social networking. Web 2.0 is interactive, letting marketers dialogue with the customers they want to reach. It also allows brands to take creative risks, as Coca-Cola found when it developed a popular virtual reality game on Facebook. And, unlike traditional advertising, blogs and social networking sites are usually free-no small consideration for penny-pinched companies.

Indeed, the biggest winners in Web 2.0 may be small businesses. Traditional advertising is still king, but internet branding can help entrepreneurs with slim budgets get a foot in the door. With so many new media opportunities, Shabtai says, a company no longer needs a seven-figure ad budget to get its message heard.

10 COMMANDMENTS FOR WIKIPEDIA EDITORS

By Virgil Griffith, creator of WikiScanner

1 Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a collection of glossy press releases. Accept this.

2 You have no jurisdiction over an article about yourself, your group, your company or your pet idea. Once the article is created, you have no right to control its content.

3 Declare any conflict of interests on your user page. This alone will give you the benefit of the doubt if a quarrel arises.

4 Help Wikipedians by supplying high-quality photos, audio or video clips for your article.

5 It's OK to correct factual errors, especially if you have a citation supporting your change.

6 Do not create articles on a whim. If your topic fails to meet Wikipedia's notability standards, it will only be deleted.

7 Never remove documented facts, however critical, from your company's page. When people discover you've been meddling, you won't look good.

8 Underhanded tricks, such as editing anonymously from multiple locations or hiring bloggers to edit for you, will backfire. Wikipedia users have immense time and energy to spend sleuthing.

9 If in doubt whether an edit is okay, post your proposed change to the article's talk page and ask for feedback.

10 There's an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to answering your questions. Find it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wikipedia:coi#how_to_avoid_coi_edits

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