Last month, Wikipedia celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the founding of its English-language website, an online encyclopedia that can be edited by anyone. Today, Wikipedia has more than 55 million articles available in over 300 languages, in addition to the original English. It says that 1.7 billion unique visitors come to its websites every month. For many people, it's the first stop on the Internet when you want the answer to "What is…?", "Who is…?", "Where is...?", "When … [Read more...] about Civilising Wikipedia
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FIR 196: Speak up, Twitter
The June 2020 episode of The Hobson and Holtz Report features Neville and Shel discussing… Their appearance on Joe Jaffe’s broadcast showA report on the all-virtual IABC World ConferenceTwitter’s move to let users record and tweet audio (but only on iOS for now)Three new blockchain developments of interest to communicatorsFlipboard’s new Storyboard featureA user email that prompted Merriam-Webster to update a dictionary definitionHow Wikipedia became a battleground for racial … [Read more...] about FIR 196: Speak up, Twitter
IABC raises more awareness of PR and Wikipedia
Yesterday, the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) published its latest edition of CW Bulletin, the monthly online supplement to CW, the association's printed monthly magazine for members. Each edition of CW Bulletin presents articles, case studies and additional resources on timely topics in communication. The September edition is no different, with its focus on the issue of Wikipedia and public relations: [...] the complexity of connecting with this online … [Read more...] about IABC raises more awareness of PR and Wikipedia
What if Wikipedia was a bit prettier and more usable?
Imaginative, well thought out ideas - they definitely make Wikipedia prettier - which I'm interpreting as meaning far easier to understand the structure and navigate it to the things that interest you. I'd argue that usability would be improved, too (I wonder what Jakob Nielsen would make of it?). Huge kudos to Lithuanian agency New! who is behind it. They're open for discussion on their ideas - only an email address on the site, though - and it will be interesting to see what people … [Read more...] about What if Wikipedia was a bit prettier and more usable?
The journey begins: guidance from the CIPR on PR and Wikipedia published
It's taken quite a while but it's finally here - Wikipedia Best Practice Guidance for Public Relations Professionals: version 1 of a document that sets out a formal picture on how the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) believes public relations practitioners should behave when it comes to content on Wikipedia. The most controversial view clearly stated in the guidance - the concept of which has been in the doc since its earliest public incarnation as a draft made available in May … [Read more...] about The journey begins: guidance from the CIPR on PR and Wikipedia published
Add your voice to the PR and Wikipedia conversation
Here's a plea to PR practitioners this Jubilee Bank Holiday Monday and Tuesday - give just 15 minutes of your time in contributing your thoughts to the online discussion about public relations and Wikipedia being spearheaded by the CIPR and some members of the Wikipedia community. The discussion is focused on the CIPR's draft Best Practice Guidelines for Wikipedia that Philip Sheldrake and I outlined in a concise presentation to the Wikimedia UK annual general meeting in London last … [Read more...] about Add your voice to the PR and Wikipedia conversation
QR codes at the heart of Monmouthpedia
An interesting experiment gets its official launch this weekend when Monmouthpedia formally kicks off today. The Welsh town of Monmouth is the focus of this Wikipedia project that aims to create physical connections between places throughout the town, and events in its history, with respective content on Wikipedia. According to the description on Wikipedia: [...] The project aims to cover every single notable place, person, artefact, plant, animal and other things in Monmouth in as many … [Read more...] about QR codes at the heart of Monmouthpedia
Your time, your place, your opportunity
In the Wikipedia and Public Relations presentation to Wikimedia UK that Philip Sheldrake and I did last weekend when we participated in the Wikimedia UK annual conference in London, a significant aspect was sharing some content from a draft document prepared by the CIPR that's designed to help CIPR members understand more about the Wikipedia community and how to engage with them. It's good to see that the draft text has quickly been posted to Wikimedia and is openly available for anyone with … [Read more...] about Your time, your place, your opportunity