Dear Wikify: Why is it so difficult to change the introduction to an article?

Hello friends, family, and readers around the world. Wikify apologies for the delay in fresh content, but summer vacation beckoned and it's hard to maintain a rigid editorial calendar when you're sitting on a beach in Phuket sipping Mai Tais. Rest assured, though, no matter where our travels took us—the historic district of Cusco, the stunning vistas of Cape Falcon, the booth in the back at Cracker Barrel—our favorite encyclopedia was always right there with us as one of the 30+ open tabs on our phone.?

And good news: we brought back an amazing issue of Wikify with us as a souvenir. Our focus this week is the introductory section of Wikipedia articles, which can be especially difficult to update if you're unfamiliar with the site's content guidelines. We also cover WikiProjects, which are not entirely dissimilar from the Gathering of the Juggalos in that they feature affinity groups of like-minded individuals interested in specific subject areas. Actually, forget we said that. Let's move on!?

Why the introduction is the absolute worst place to start improving a Wikipedia article

The first two sentences in a Wikipedia article are arguably the most impactful content in the entire entry because they pop up so frequently. For instance, Google Knowledge panels—the information boxes that appear when you search for prominent people, places, organizations, and things—display the two lines right at the top of the box, along with a link to the article in question. You can see an example in the Salesforce screenshot below. Many users will read a topline description like this, get the information they need, and then never bother reading the article.?

Siri, likewise, will also pull up the knowledge panel (or read from it) when answering a question about a topic.

Given the prominence of the article introduction, it might feel like the best place to start updating an article.?

Alas, it's really not.?

The introduction is actually the last section of a Wikipedia article that we suggest pursuing changes for. That's because Wikipedia introductions are intended to summarize the rest of the article's content. Every factual claim in the introduction should be supported by details and sources on the rest of the page. So if you want to change, say, how a business is described with regards to its business model ("cloud-based software company") or product or service offerings ("customer relationship management software and applications"), then that language needs to be substantiated by updates to relevant sections later in the article (usually History, Operations, Products, or Services).?

What's more, the overall description of your organization in that first line is based primarily on how you’re described in reputable media outlets. You can only suggest a change to that first line if your recent media coverage supports a different framing. So let's say Salesforce suddenly pivoted from CRM software to (hypothetically) augmented reality projection hardware. Salesforce couldn't just issue a press release and then expect the Wiki introduction to change. Such an update would only follow a substantial amount of media coverage which explained the pivot. At that point, Salesforce would probably be described as an "AR projection company that previously specialized in CRM."?

With companies, these kinds of pivots and rebrandings do happen frequently and changes to the introduction are relatively common. For example, here are the first two sentences from the Netflix article circa 2006:

• Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) is the first and largest major online DVD rental service, offering flat rate rental-by-mail to customers in the United States. Headquartered in Los Gatos, California, it has amassed a collection of over 60,000 titles and has around five million subscribers.?

And here are the first two sentences from the current article:?

• Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple languages.

Another useful example here is Kodak. In 2012 the company declared bankruptcy, and that filing and other financial struggles were prominently featured in the introductory paragraphs of its Wikipedia entry:

• Since the late 1990s, Kodak has struggled financially as a result of the decline in sales of photographic film, and 2007 was the most recent year in which the company made a profit. As part of its turnaround strategy, Kodak has focused on digital photography and digital printing. In the late 2000s, Kodak also turned to aggressive patent litigation in order to generate revenue. On January 19, 2012, Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and obtained a $950 million, 18-month credit facility from Citigroup to enable it to continue trading.

Since then the company has experienced something of a bounceback, and the introductory paragraphs now feature a more positive assessment:?

• In September 2013, the company emerged from bankruptcy, having shed its large legacy liabilities, restructured, and exited several businesses. Since emerging from bankruptcy, Kodak has continued to provide commercial digital printing products and services, motion picture film, and still film, the last of which is distributed through the spinoff company Kodak Alaris.

The body of the article contains additional details about the company's recent history and current product and service offerings. The introduction, per our explanation above, summarizes these key points and reflects the general tone and framing of recent media coverage about Kodak.?

With public figures or controversial organizations, it can be much harder to justify a substantial reworking of the introductory language—especially if you're requesting that a reference to criticism, scandal, or other negative information be removed or pushed down.

Consider the first two sentences from Sam Bankman-Fried's Wikipedia article:?

• Samuel Benjamin Bankman-Fried (born March 5, 1992), commonly known as SBF, is an American entrepreneur who was convicted of fraud and related crimes in November 2023. Bankman-Fried founded the FTX cryptocurrency exchange and was celebrated as a "poster boy" for crypto.

SBF probably wishes the whole "convicted for fraud and related crimes" bit were not quite so prominent! But from a Wikipedia editor's perspective, that conviction is the most notable thing about him, as reflected in the enormous amount of media coverage surrounding the charges, trial, and sentencing.?

It's possible, though, that once he's released from prison and becomes involved in other entrepreneurial or tech-related ventures, the conviction details will be pushed further down in the introductory section. These ventures would likely have to be extremely successful for this to happen, but again it's possible.?

In some cases the introduction—particularly the first two sentences—will become more "balanced" as the article expands and there are additional details to summarize. The Wikipedia entry for Tonya Harding, for instance, was initially a stub that simply stated the following:?

• Tonya Harding is a figure skater from Portland, Oregon who became famous in an Olympic scandal for allegedly conspiring to harm the career of competitor Nancy Kerrigan in an attack.

The article eventually expanded to cover her early figure skating career and celebrity in greater detail, and the introductory paragraph (a single sentence) now reflects that:?

• Tonya Maxene Price (née Harding; born November 12, 1970) is an American former figure skater, retired boxer, and reality television personality.

The attack on Nancy Kerrigan is still covered in the intro, of course, but not until the third paragraph.?

Again, the way Wikipedia describes a brand or individual in the introduction—and particularly in the first line or two—will primarily be based on how the subject is commonly mentioned in reputable media outlets. So if you're hoping that Wikipedia editors update the introductory sentences of your brand's entry to reflect a recent shift in business model or even executive leadership, the best thing you can do is pursue media coverage that summarizes these updates in detail. And once you've achieved that coverage, you can then suggest updates to the body of the Wikipedia article and eventually to the introduction itself.?

Wikify Glossary: WikiProjects

WikiProjects are collaborative groups of Wikipedia editors who share an interest in a particular encyclopedia subject area (for example, WikiProject Science or WikiProject Popular Culture), a specific part of Wikipedia (for example, WikiProject Disambiguation), or a specific task (like checking new pages to ensure they align with content guidelines). These groups work together to improve articles related to their focus area, ensuring that content is robust, up-to-date, and well-sourced.?

Wikipedia doesn't maintain a ranking of WikiProjects by membership, but in our experience some of the more popular ones are:?

• WikiProject Sports: Dedicated to improving Wikipedia's coverage of all things athletic. This one is tricky because so many athlete and team articles require frequent updates to account for season developments.?
• WikiProject Politics: Another tricky one due to the frenetic pace of political news.?
• WikiProject Companies: Covers all things corporate, and thus might be of special oriented to brand reps reading this newsletter ??

Each WikiProject has its own page where members can discuss ongoing tasks and share resources. These pages also include guidelines and templates to help maintain consistency across related articles. WikiProjects play a crucial role in setting standards for article quality, from determining reliable sources to establishing notability criteria.

For Wikipedia editors, WikiProjects serve as a support network. New editors can find mentorship and guidance, while experienced editors collaborate on larger projects, such as improving underdeveloped articles. By working together, members of WikiProjects help ensure that Wikipedia remains a reliable, comprehensive, and up-to-date resource for readers worldwide.

(Pro tip, if you've followed our advice and made properly disclosed edit requests on your brand's talk page but aren't getting any responses from editors, find a relevant Project Page and post there—still stating your COI—to see if any editors may be interested in reviewing your request.)

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