Wikipedia, Wikipedia Consulting
Wikipedia’s Notability Trifecta
Media Coverage is the Key
Last week I heard from a gentleman wanting a Wikipedia page about himself. He is an author of two books, and a former deputy officer of a governmental agency. These are notable accomplishments.
He had what he felt was the right combination of content and media sources for a page. But it didn’t yet add up to meet Wikipedia’s unique notability requirement — the Wikipedia trifecta!
Notability is a unique combination of:
- The right amount of coverage,
- From acceptable media sources, and
- Typically written by staff journalists.
Wikipedia’s notability test isn’t about all of your achievements, but rather who has covered those achievements in the media.
This is challenging to achieve.
We conducted a complimentary review of three articles he felt best met the notability criteria, and then provided an assessment of whether or not he was ready to move forward.
In this case, we recommended he acquire more media coverage, then reach out again.
Read more about what coverage is best for entries in our Notability Checklist, and see how your coverage measures up.
If you are interested in updating an existing entry or in seeing how a new Wikipedia entry gets created, contact our Wikipedia experts Dan Cook at dan@tothepointcollaborative.