Wikipedia:Witness of exceptional events

Jimmy Wales & Arkady Volozh in Yandex, Moscow, 2016-09-14

Wikipedia is often approached by people who have become witnesses or participants in unique, exceptional events (actions of historical figures, their relatives, etc.) with a proposal to enter information based on these memories into Wikipedia articles. An excellent answer to such requests was given by one of our authors:

Finally, one more tip for many who want to help Wikipedia: if you have unique materials about historical figures, your relatives and in general, do not write about it to Wikipedians. In the vast majority of cases, this is useless and only teases: there is information, but it is impossible to use it. Instead, write articles, documentaries, short stories, novels, memoirs. And publish them in magazines, in local history collections, but anywhere, if only there was a decent edition. This will be the best help for Wikipedia on your part.

The same advice applies if you do not agree with the provisions of Wikipedia articles and want alternative information to be provided as well. Publish in decent publications with editorial control independent of the authors, and your publications will be referenced on Wikipedia.

Better yet, become yourself a reputable specialist. If you want to change something, make, as Vladimir Tarasov said, a horizontal career. Build your own potential, your knowledge and professionalism. Become an authority in your field. And then it will not be necessary to convince Wikipedia authors of something. They will come to you themselves.