Businesses Editing Wikipedia
It is no secret that the Internet is a great place for businesses to acquire new customers. Millions of people are surfing the Web every day, so there is almost an unlimited potential for publicity. While many companies decide to spend money in order to advertise online, there are also other ways to reach customers without spending a penny. One technique is to use business cards. Another technique is to make sure your company is listed on free sites like Wikipedia, which already have a huge number of visitors. While making sure that information about your business is listed in Wikipedia is not a wrong thing to do, some businesses are doing things that are considered to be far less ethical. I am talking about editing Wikipedia entries in order to make sure that their company is presented in a positive light. This often includes deleting entries about facts that the public has the right to know. For example, a business may delete an entry about a chemical disaster, any criticism about the company, and any information about side effects of drugs. All of this is possible, because anyone can edit entries at Wikipedia. Many businesses that are not concerned about ethics are clearly benefiting from this whole situation. However, it is the public that suffers, as we might not have access to all of the important facts.