User:Keegan/Butterfly
 | 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. |
To truly enjoy Wikipedia, one should write about articles that they would not ordinarily be interested in. If you chose to write about your hobby or business or any other passion, you must be ready to work in a collaborative environment and learn from the other users as you can educate them as well. For example, instead of writing about your company, Foo/bar, work on the Butterfly article when you are beginning to contribute. This will help you to learn the process of working with other editors instead of getting emotionally involved and feeling anxious about not being able to contribute to the subject of your interest.
Company articles[edit]
People editing articles about their company frequently despair of Wikipedia: Why is it so hard to edit?
Such users are warned, complained at, and blocked; huge templates are placed on their articles. We complain about 'peacock terms', cautious use of primary sources; we question every detail.
It is hard because Wikipedia is not meant for advertising. It's an Encyclopaedia.
How easy would it be to get the company featured in Encyclopædia Britannica?
If they wrote about anything else at all, it'd be dead easy. No problem. Try it; edit some random article about a butterfly or something - add facts from a reliable source found in e.g. Google Books. It's a doddle, and it's fun.
First advice: you are very strongly encouraged to avoid editing Wikipedia in areas where there is a conflict of interest. That's because, if closely involved with a subject, it is so hard to remain neutral; most editors struggle mightily with the basic requirements.
It does not have to be this hard - if you edit articles that you are not involved with, it is all much, much simpler.
Before writing about your company/yourself/your band, etc, work on some other articles for a while - anything, from making minor edits and improvements, right up to writing an article - on any subject that you are not involved with. Try Wikipedia:Cleanup, perhaps.
It may seem odd that it is preferable to write about something you don't know much about - but it does actually make sense; if you wrote about e.g. some obscure animal (assuming you don't know much about it), then you'd have to be neutral, because you'd be relying on information found in reliable sources - which is why I, who also know nothing about them, was able to create Tanna japonensis - I googled, found a couple of books in the library, and it was great fun.
Wikipedia really is a wonderful place, but COI is probably the hardest problem; I hope you will give it more of a chance, and edit some other articles.
Lots of help is available, as long as you want to help improve Wikipedia, and your intention is not to try and promote.
Just put {{helpme}} in a new section at the end of your own talk page, and ask your question.