Online wiki-dictionary Wordia could become a new front for online reputation managers to fight on. Wordia allows users to upload their own definitions of words in the form of video clips – and is set to be as revolutionary to the printed dictionary as Wikipedia was to the Encyclopedia Brittanica. Based on an open-source model much the same as Wikipedia’s, this new dictionary could see brand-related slang reaching a wider audience, and entering common parlance.
Michael Birch, founder of the social networking site Bebo, is behind this new dictionary venture, which presents an Impression Management issue similar to that associated with the rise of wiki sites – that brands will need to pay closer attention to their name online, particularly if it could be used in an entry on Wordia.