While looking at a Wikipedia page, have you ever wondered about how it would look to have a Wikipedia page under your name? A page that has all your information and tells the world who you are. We are sure that must be on the list of your Wikipedia dreams. But the real question is, are you eligible to be on Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is one of the most recognized websites on the World Wide Web and has a global reach of up to billions of views each year. It is home to millions of articles and is the go-to answer machine for billions of people globally. Whatever your question is, you can find your answer on Wikipedia, and well, that was the goal for the website. It has information about all things from non-living to living. From dead to living, all famous people have a page listed under their name on Wikipedia.
But is Wikipedia just for famous people? And if so, how famous do you have to be to get a Wikipedia page? First things first, you need to understand that being on Wikipedia does not always require having fame; sometimes, it is a game of how smart you are to follow rules and guidelines.
Here, Wiki Specialist Inc. has gathered all the information you would need about being eligible and famous enough to have a Wikipedia page to make things easier for you. Take a look;
Unraveling The Truth
The truth is, anyone can have a Wikipedia page. Whether you want to create a Wikipedia page for yourself or for someone, you can. The reason is that Wikipedia is an open-to-all platform where the reader and the writer both is the user. Anyone can edit and write on Wikipedia and have a Wikipedia page. All it needs is to follow the Wikipedia guidelines and policies in the best way and to the most accurate levels.
Once you have mastered that successfully, the element of fame will not be a problem for you. All you would need is to make yourself eligible as per Wikipedia, and you can have a Wikipedia page. And well, once you get the page, the fame will come along eventually. You need to understand that Wikipedia is not a marketing platform or a magazine that lists profiles of famous people of the world. It is an encyclopedia, a neutral source of information. It is a place where people find information about things, not opinions.
People come to Wikipedia looking for answers, and if you think you can answer people’s questions, you can be on Wikipedia. If learning about you will help the users and readers, and if you have done something worth mentioning, then Wikipedia is the right choice for you.
Let us tell you what you actually need to be on Wikipedia, and before we start; it is not about how famous you are!
Wikipedia Works With Notability
Wikipedia does not measure an individual’s value over how famous they are or how many people know them or follow them. Wikipedia measures people on the basis of how well the internet knows them. Once you start creating a Wikipedia page for yourself, Wikipedia will not go around asking people whether they know you or not, instead, it will run around the internet to see whether you exist in the digital world or not.
So, put simply, for Wikipedia, being famous in the real world is not a point of concern. But being notable in the digital world is what matters the most. And that’s what is stated in the principle of notability of Wikipedia. The notability policy is one of the most important policies in Wikipedia’s list of policies and can not be ignored in creating any article.
As per the policy, unless the subject of the article has enough secondary sources to back up the information added to the article or even to verify the subject’s credibility, Wikipedia will not allow an independent page creation. While we can use notability as famous in the Wikipedia dictionary, it is not the same. The reason is, here, fame is not determined by people.
Wikipedia notability guidelines ensure that the subject must have enough online presence that the readers would be interested in knowing about them. Not just that, but the notability tests the credibility of the subject and tells Wikipedia that the subject exists and is authentic.
So, the answer to your question i.e. how famous you have to be to get a Wikipedia page, is, that it is not about being famous in the real world; it is more about being notable in the online world.
Three Key Aspects
When checking whether your subject meets the Wikipedia notability criteria, you need to take a look at three major aspects;
- Is there any existing online visibility of the subject or not
- The sources where the subject has a presence, are those sources credible?
- The number of resources and amount of information.
Let’s look into these points separately to develop a better understanding of how things can work with notability and Wikipedia.
- Subject’s Online Reach
As we have emphasized already, to be on Wikipedia, you need to be on different online platforms. Online visibility does not just mean mention of the subject’s title on certain platforms. It also means having information about the subject on these platforms. You need to keep in mind that Wikipedia is an encyclopedia that has a strict policy against original research. Hence, all the information that must be added to a Wikipedia page must be sourced from secondary credible sources.
So, to make it clear, let’s keep things this way, if the subject will not have enough online reach, there will not be enough sources to back up the information you want to add to your Wikipedia page. That would directly mean that you cannot add anything because again no original research. So, if you will not have the content, how can you make a Wikipedia page? So, having enough online reach and meeting the notability standards set by Wikipedia is something that cannot be ignored at any stage of your Wikipedia page creation. Because at one point or another, you will need to verify yourself and the information you are telling the world.
All in all, the subject’s online reach is extremely important for creating a Wikipedia page, and you need to be famous enough to have an online presence that is independent of your own publications.
- The credibility of the Sources
The second key aspect of the subject’s notability is the kind of sources it has. You need to check whether the online reach your subject has is authentic or not. Because to be on Wikipedia, you need to source information from only credible and reliable online sources. You can’t just site any online resource and expect to meet the notability criteria and pass the verifiability test by Wikipedia.
The best platforms to source information from on Wikipedia are Forbes, The New York Times, The Business Insider, etc. All these platforms are considered the most authentic secondary sources because the information used on these platforms is published after first-hand research and experiences. Not just that, but these platforms are considered to be accurate and are accepted globally for the authenticity of the information displayed. If you have an online presence on any of these platforms, then creating a Wikipedia page will not be a problem for you.
- Amount of Information and Resources
After the credibility, the next on the list is to check how much information they have. As we have already explained that you can’t just rely on having your name mentioned on any online resources. You need to have enough information on these sources to formulate a full-fledged Wikipedia article. Because even though you can’t plagiarize, you will still use the information from these sources without adding any statement that might be of original research.
Moreover, having just one online page where you have limited information about the subject is not going to work for Wikipedia. You need to have more than that. The quantity of sources matters because the more sources you have, the more citations you can add to your Wikipedia page, which will directly impact the credibility of the page. If not many, the minimum you need is to get at least three to four online platforms with the information about your subject. Keep in mind that these are the minimum level you need to reach to be eligible to meet the Wikipedia notability level. There would still be risks of deletion and rejection associated with it.
However, if you have a higher reach and that too on all credible secondary sources, the chances of getting your page rejected or deleted will be low for you. Moreover, if you think that you can get away with it and create a Wikipedia page anyway, you need to make a U-turn because you are going in the wrong direction. Wikipedia does not let it go away because the lack of notability not just impacts your page’s credibility but also Wikipedia’s.
All pages requested on Wikipedia go through a notability test, and those who could not meet the standards set by Wikipedia have to go through rejection or deletion.
Primary Sources Are Not Accepted
One of the most common reasons why people get their pages rejected is the use of primary sources. By primary resources, we mean the online pages that are directly addressed to or linked to the subject itself, for example, your personal website. You can’t just create a web page for yourself and add your information on that and use that later on to create a Wikipedia page for yourself. Many businesses even make this blunder and use their online websites as sources of information on Wikipedia. This obviously gets rejected because Wikipedia does not allow primary sources; it works on secondary ones.
The reason behind this is that the primary sources have biased information about the subject. And Wikipedia does not allow the use of biased information. Wikipedia only works with a neutral point of view, and stating a piece of information from your own website would not check that box. Not just your own website, but a blog that you have published or a random review, all it is considered the primary resource and do not meet the authenticity required by Wikipedia.
You need secondary published sources or third-party sources to back up the information you want to use on your page by ensuring credibility and authenticity. Third-party sources mean authentic publications on neutral platforms. Anything that is independent of the subject will be counted as a reliable secondary resource.
While talking about primary and secondary sources, many people, while writing a Wikipedia page, often cite existing Wikipedia pages and consider them as authentic secondary sources. So, to make it clear, while you can cite already existing Wikipedia pages in your article, these are not secondary sources. The reason is that Wikipedia is an open-to-all platform where anyone can write and edit on the platform, so, the credibility of information could always come under the radar. Hence, citing Wikipedia as a credible and reliable source is not acceptable.
The credibility of the source is important to maintain the authenticity of the information you will be adding to the Wikipedia page, and it will also ensure low risks of page deletion and rejection.
The Bottom Line
You might get confused with all these notability restrictions, but these are the answers to how famous you need to be to get a Wikipedia page. Now that you know it, we are sure the next question you have would be what to do if you don’t meet the notability criteria or how to increase notability on Wikipedia. Well, the best way to do that is to take help from experts. Hire Wiki Specialist Inc. and let us do the job for you. Our team holds expertise in Wikipedia policies and guidelines that could help you build notability for your page. Contact us now and move forward with creating your Wikipedia page!
