Wikipedia is a completely web-based, free-content, encyclopedia-style database. The content within the site is posted, managed and monitored entirely by its community of members. Membership is free and all it takes is a new account registration―no special degree, knowledge or skill required. The site currently lists the following statistics for its English/U.S. version:

	It has 3,441,658 articles and 21,846,302 pages in total.
	There have been 419,699,957 edits.
	There are 852,581 uploaded files.
	There are 13,225,989 registered users,
	Including 1,758 administrators.

Being managed entirely by the community that supports it means that Wikipedia offers a great degree of accountability. Once content is uploaded, it is immediately scrutinized by self-appointed editors. These individuals grade the submitted information against a set of guidelines that all new and existing wikipages must follow. If it is determined these guidelines have not been followed, the page is marked for potential deletion if the issue isn’t correctly addressed.

The fact that Wikipedia is managed by public opinion IS its power. Its users are the ones determining what content is worthy of posting and lack of information is a negative indication. In fact, there are groups that exist that carry the following mantras:

"If It’s Not On Wikipedia, Then It Doesn’t Exist."

"If It’s Not On Wikipedia, Then It’s Not Worth Knowing."

So, if you’re a business owner and your company, product or service has yet to make it (or make it and remain) on Wikipedia, this should be one of your top priorities.