User:ReaderofthePack/Vanity awards

Per the Wikipedia article, a vanity award is an award in which the recipient purchases the award and/or marketing services to give the false appearance of a legitimate honor.

Awards and notability

Notability on Wikipedia can be established through a number of routes, one of which is by winning a notable, major award. The Nobel Peace Prize and the Academy Award for Best Picture are two excellent examples of an award that would establish notability on that basis alone, as the awards are extremely well known and very discerning.

Sometimes an award may not be as major as the ones mentioned above, but could help count towards notability when accompanied by coverage and reviews in independent, reliable sources. An example of this would be if a film received an award from a major notable film festival like London FrightFest Film Festival or Fantasiafest. These awards, while not as major as an Oscar, would still count towards some notability.

A third category are vanity awards. These do not count towards notability and should not be included on an article.

How to identify a vanity award

Vanity awards tend to have some or all of the following characteristics:

• Participants are asked to pay entrance fees: Vanity awards such as the National "Best Books" Awards given by USA Book News charge participants large fees to enter. While there may be some awards that charge entrance fees, many will not and those that do should be seen as suspect, particularly if the fee is steep.
• Participants are asked to pay for the award: Some companies require or otherwise ask winners to purchase items ranging from stickers and the right to use a logo to even the award plaque or statuette itself. The IndieFEST Awards (as of February 2021) charge participants $40 for a roll of stickers and over $400 for a statue. This is on top of an entrance fee of $60.
• Frequent ceremonies with many winners: Part of what Wikipedia looks for in an award is that they're discerning, meaning that dozens or hundreds may enter but only a handful will win. If the Academy Awards handed out a dozen or hundred Best Film Oscars 3-4+ times a year, then their prestige would greatly lower. If the company give out the award frequently and to very many, that's a strong sign that their award isn't discerning and that they likely give out an award to anyone willing to pay their price.
• The company has many awards under different names: The goal of vanity award companies is to make a profit. To this end some companies may have several different awards under different names. For example, the IndieFEST Awards shares the same address as the Impact Doc Awards, visible at the bottom of the site. Like the IndieFEST Awards, awards are frequently and heavily awarded.
• There is an extremely large emphasis on vision and benefits: Per WriterBeware, a sign of a vanity or scam award is when "An awards program touts its vision and independent spirit, and makes much of the benefits that prestigious awards can bring to your career." This plays back into the idea of paying for the award, as it gives clients more of an emphasis to buy the award. \
• Large amounts of categories: While it's not uncommon for awards to have many categories (the Academy Awards have 24 categories), awards that have many, even dozens of categories should be viewed with some skepticism. A common tactic of vanity award companies is to have as many categories as possible, as this allows them to solicit to more people, some of whom may pay extra to enter more than category.
• A lack of coverage for the award (obscurity): A lack of coverage in reliable sources is often a sign that an award is either a vanity award or at the least, non-notable per Wikipedia's guidelines. A notable award will typically have coverage of the awards ceremony and the organization. For example, Locus (a notable speculative fiction website and magazine) will list the winners of notable awards like the Hugo Award. If no outlets report on the awards or list the winners, then it's a strong sign that the award is non-notable and/or a vanity award. Now that said, be aware that some local papers will cover local people winning an award, regardless of the legitimacy or notability of the award. Some may reprint a press release provided by the winner. Others may briefly mention a non-notable or vanity award in relation to something else, as they are relying on info provided by a marketing company. None of these are usable in establishing that an award is either notable or legitimate, as in many cases the outlets are approached by the winner or are a case of local interest.
• No physical awards ceremony: If the awards ceremony or festival isn't held in person, then that's a strong sign that the award is likely non-notable or a vanity award. The COVID-19 outbreak has muddled the waters some, with some organizations holding ceremonies online, but ones that have never had a physical awards ceremony or hold them all virtually are suspect, particularly when taking the other criteria into consideration.

Who does it hurt?

Now some may be asking "Who does it hurt? If they're willing to pay, then isn't it on them? Why not list them?". Others may say that they purchased a vanity award and it increased their visibility.

The answer to these questions are as follows:

There are many people who are unaware of vanity awards. These companies like to prey on new, unsuspecting people who are keen to promote themselves or their product/company. These people may not have the money to spare for an expensive "award". We can't prevent people from potentially spending money on a vanity award, but what we can do is keep them from being listed on Wikipedia.

As for why they shouldn't be listed, there are multiple reasons. The first is that Wikipedia is not meant to be an exhaustive list of every award someone has ever received. Articles should be selective in what they list, limiting it to awards given out by notable, legitimate organizations. Keep in mind that the existence of an article on Wikipedia does not mean that the award or organization are notable or legitimate, nor that it should be listed. Another reason is that listing a vanity award on Wikipedia can make it appear to be more legitimate. This raises the chances of more people purchasing a vanity award.

For the concern about it raising the person's visibility, that is not any of Wikipedia's concern. Wikipedia is only concerned with including content on notable, legitimate awards. If someone's visibility is raised by purchasing a vanity award, knowingly or not, then that's really only relevant to them as an individual. Them gaining visibility doesn't make it not a vanity award.