It would be hard to imagine anyone in Virginia who has not heard of gubernatorial candidates Bob McDonnell and Creigh Deeds at this point. Our many House of Delegate candidates may not be so famous. While you’d like to think that the voters who are just now tuning into the election are pouring over the literature you left at their doors and reading every page of your web site, the reality is that they are more likely to behave like high school students assigned a history report due tomorrow – they look it up on Wikipedia.
Launched in 2001 and translated into more than 200 languages, Wikipedia is a free, online, encyclopedia that just about anyone can edit. In English alone, Wikipedia contains nearly three million articles. Due to the sheer volume of information contained in Wikipedia, it has become a go to resource for millions of Americans when they search for information online. According toAlexa, a premiere web traffic reporting service, Wikipedia is the 6th most viewed site on the Internet behind only Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Youtube and Windows Live. In the online world, it could be argued that if a person or subject is not covered in Wikipedia, it or they may not really exist.
If you are an incumbent. Chances are you probably already have an entry on Wikipedia orBallotpedia. You should review those entries for accuracy. If those entries contain false or misleading information, that information should be removed immediately.
If you are a challenger. Unless you meet Wikipedia’s “Notability” or “Politicians” requirements, you are not likely to have an entry. If there happens to be an entry on you already, you should review it for accuracy and have any false or misleading information deleted.
Notes of caution. Wikipedia cautions against people writing articles about themselves, and while Wikipedia is a fantastic resource, it is not exactly lauded for its accuracy. Since just about anyone can edit a Wikipedia entry, sabotage is an issue (e.g., Sarah Palin). Therefore candidates should review their entries on a daily basis between now and Election Day.
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