 | This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Wikipedia is not the place to promote a topic with which you have personal involvement. See Wikipedia:Conflict of interest and most specially Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not. |
While we're happy that you have chosen to contribute to Wikipedia, you need to remember... Wikipedia is not about you.
Sure, you see Wikipedia articles on all sorts of individuals, films, companies, projects, etc., but it is strongly urged that those articles not be written by involved persons. Yes, it can be tempting to write about yourself or projects in which you have a strong personal involvement, and perhaps you might feel your personal knowledge uniquely qualifies you on the subject, but that involvement and that personal knowledge reflect a conflict of interest. That you might "know" something is fine, but for inclusion in Wikipedia, we require confirmation that the world at large already knows about it too.
Cautions
editDon't write about yourself, your friends, your website, your company, your business, your family, a band you're in, your teacher, a word you made up, a story you wrote, your hamster, or anything else you're closely affiliated with. If the subject is too close to you, it falls under scrutiny as a conflict of interest. If your username is Big Blast and you write about Big Blast, the musician, or Big Blast the Demolition Company, or Big Blast Pancakes, you'll catch the immediate eye of editors whose chosen task is to investigate and curtail conflict of interest or blatant advertising, which is contrary to the purpose of Wikipedia.
If "Big Blast", the musician, or "Big Blast Pancakes" are worth writing about, you should wait until someone else writes it. If Big Blast is actually not you, then perhaps starting with a different username will prevent the appearance that it is. Conflict of interest is a big deal on Wikipedia, as Wikipedia strongly discourages any attempt at self-promotion. So choose something else that interests you and that will itself be of interest to others.
The best encyclopedic articles are written by those editors who can maintain perspective and a neutral point of view, which is difficult when writing about yourself or about projects close to you. Creating overly abundant links and references to autobiographical sources is unacceptable. See Wikipedia:Autobiography, Wikipedia:Notability and Wikipedia:Conflict of interest.
What is found at "Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not" outlines many of the types of content which are considered inappropriate for this encyclopedia.
If you DO want to write an article, you might consider visiting Wikipedia:Most wanted articles. Each of the redlinks listed there is an article just waiting to be written. YOU could write it!
Wikipedia is not a means of promotion
editWikipedia is not a soapbox, a battleground, or a vehicle for propaganda, advertising, and showcasing. This applies to usernames, articles, drafts, categories, files, talk page discussions, templates, and user pages. Therefore, content hosted on Wikipedia is not for:
- Advocacy, propaganda, or recruitment of any kind: commercial, political, scientific, religious, national, sports-related, or otherwise. An article can report objectively about such things, as long as an attempt is made to describe the topic from a neutral point of view. You might wish to start a blog or visit a forum if you want to convince people of the merits of your opinions.[1]
- Opinion pieces. Although some topics, particularly those concerning current affairs and politics, may stir passions and tempt people to "climb soapboxes", Wikipedia is not the medium for this. Articles must be balanced to put entries, especially for current events, in a reasonable perspective, and represent a neutral point of view. Furthermore, Wikipedia authors should strive to write articles that will not quickly become obsolete. Wikipedia's sister project Wikinews, however, has "opinion" pages allowing commentary on articles.
- Scandalmongering, promoting things "heard through the grapevine" or gossiping. Articles and content about living people are required to meet an especially high standard, as they may otherwise be libellous or infringe the subjects' right to privacy. Articles must not be written purely to attack the reputation of another person.
- Self-promotion. It can be tempting to write about yourself or projects in which you have a strong personal involvement. However, remember that the standards for encyclopedic articles apply to such pages just like any other. This includes the requirement to maintain a neutral point of view, which can be difficult when writing about yourself or about projects close to you. Creating overly abundant links and references to autobiographical sources, such as your résumé or curriculum vitae, is unacceptable. See Wikipedia:Autobiography, Wikipedia:Notability and Wikipedia:Conflict of interest.
- Advertising, marketing, publicity, or public relations. Information about companies and products must be written in an objective and unbiased style, free of puffery. All article topics must be verifiable with independent, third-party sources, so articles about very small garage bands or local companies are typically unacceptable. Wikipedia articles about a person, company, or organization are not an extension of their website, press releases, or other social media marketing efforts. External links to commercial organizations are acceptable if they identify notable organizations which are the topic of the article. Wikipedia neither endorses organizations nor runs affiliate programs. See also Wikipedia:Notability (organizations and companies) for guidelines on corporate notability. Those promoting causes or events, or issuing public service announcements, even if noncommercial, should use a forum other than Wikipedia to do so. Contributors must disclose any payments they receive for editing Wikipedia. See also Wikipedia:Conflict of interest § Paid editing.
Non-disruptive statements of opinion on internal Wikipedia policies and guidelines may be made on user pages and within the Wikipedia: namespace, as they are relevant to the current and future operation of the project. However, article talk pages should not be used by editors as platforms for their personal views on a subject (see Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines).
Notes
edit- ^ Wikipedia article pages (and various navigational pages: categories, navboxes, disambiguation pages, etc.) are off limits for any advocacy. Talk pages, user pages and essays are venues where you can advocate your opinions provided that they are directly related to the improvement of Wikipedia and are not disruptive.