Panel Name: Edit Me! How Gamers are Adopting the Wiki Way
Panelists: Moderator: Jake McKee, Chief Ant Wrangler, Ant's Eye View
Angelique Shelton, GM of Wikia Gaming, Wikia Inc
April Burba, Community Mgr, NCsoft
George Pribul, Lead Admin, WowWiki.com
Jake McKee, Chief Ant Wrangler, Ant's Eye View
So what’s a wiki? It’s a community-created database of information. That’s it. Nothing more. Really simple. It can also be incredibly powerful as a consumer and brand research tool, a community building tool, and even a marketing tool.
You know Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia created and maintained by the “wisdom of the masses.” You probably use it several times a week. It’s also one of hundreds of wikis: Wowwiki, Lostwiki, Jerichowiki, Conservapedia, Muppetswiki, Biblewiki, etc.
Now you probably have lots of questions, so fire away.
You: I can’t believe anyone would take the time to write a wiki.
Me: Wikis are out there, so someone’s doing it.
You: But why do people do it?
Me: To celebrate their passion with like-minded folks. To be a leader of a community. To build social currency. To feel important. To be proud of something they’ve built. To get noticed. To discuss ideas and develop new ones.
You: I’m just not comfortable with some knucklehead defining my brand.
Me: They already do every time they talk about you, use you, recommend you, or pan you. With a wiki, you can help control how people discuss your brand by giving them a direct line to the horses mouth. They want the 411 on a new product, give them as much as you can. They want the actual names of the colors your product comes in, give ‘em up. The more you give, the more excited your fans get and the more they become guardians of your brand.
You: Doesn’t my current website do the same thing as a wiki?
Me: Nope. Think about this: how long does it take you to update your site? How many layers of review/approvals are involved? What about the costs? Wiki communities never sleep. They make constant updates and can react instantly to new news. Plus, a wiki costs you nothing.
You: What if someone flames us or gets the facts wrong?
Me: The wisdom of the masses to the rescue. Wikis are incredibly self correcting. Remember, the people that “own” the wiki love you. They want to see you succeed. You’re their girl and they’re going to protect you from the bad guys.
You: Say I do this, what’s in it for me?
Me: Well, for starters you get a highly motivated community of advocates. You also get an exhaustive research tool that interested customers can tap for free. Plus, Google searches will hit on your brand more frequently because more content on the web has your name on it. Finally, and possibly most importantly, you can gain market research from the community: demographics, what’s hot/not, what’s working/not, what they think of your rivals, etc.
You: So can any brand do this?
Me: No. You need a passionate community. You need to feel comfortable anointing a few of those people as leaders and relinquishing all control to the community. You need to be able to pledge resources to the community to keep it alive and thriving.
You: Hmmmmm. Interesting.
Me: Imagine the possibilities.
