Study: Wikipedia Errors Damage Brands' Reputations

Most of us rightly see Wikipedia as a flawed but unavoidable source of information; the fact that some of the site’s entries are less than 100% accurate doesn’t make it any less influential.

A recent study conducted by the PRSA, however, determined that errors on companies’ Wikipedia pages can significantly damage their reputations. Some key findings:

• 59% of those familiar with the pages of their own companies or their companies’ clients indicate that errors exist
• 28% of respondents believe that these errors could be “reputation-damaging”, while 38% who answered yes to that question believe that such mistakes have already taken their toll on the reputation of the company/client

This project was the second annual Wikipedia study conducted by Marcia W.