76.202.64.12

August 2023

Hello. This is a message to let you know that one or more of your recent contributions, such as the edit(s) you made to Shiny Happy People, did not appear to be constructive and have been reverted. Please take some time to familiarise yourself with our policies and guidelines. You can find information about these at our welcome page which also provides further information about contributing constructively to this encyclopedia. If you only meant to make test edits, please use the sandbox for that. If you think I made a mistake, or if you have any questions, you may leave a message on my talk page. There is already discussion regarding the material you wish to delete at the article's Talk page. Please feel free to join the discussion there to form a consensus in favor of deleting that content. DonIago (talk) 13:11, 17 August 2023 (UTC)

Hi Diango – thanks for the note. The article's Talk page does indeed have comments, going back many years, pointing out that the "Chinese propaganda" interpretation of the song has never been stated, verified, or endorsed by the band itself. This line, in the article's first paragraph, is flatly untrue: "The singer, Michael Stipe, said he took the lyrics from Chinese propaganda following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests." Stipe has never said this, and there is no link to back up the claim. Similarly, this line in the "Music" section is also untrue: "The R.E.M. singer, Michael Stipe, said he took the phrase "shiny happy people" from Chinese propaganda posters used after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests." Again, Stipe has not said this, and the source article at the link (Far Out Magazine) simply repeats the (unverified) claim circulating widely online that he said it at some point.

It is bad to see the "Woozle effect" in action, and I don't understand the logic around keeping this misinformation in the article. 76.202.64.12 (talk) 16:37, 17 August 2023 (UTC)

I don't really have a horse in this race; I just perused the Talk page and didn't see a clear consensus on the matter. Getting one laid-out in writing is better than edit-warring over the article. I'd recommend pinging other editors who reverted you, as the thread you replied to is a few years old. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help! DonIago (talk) 17:35, 17 August 2023 (UTC)

Thanks! I believe you were the only editor who reverted me(?) Looks like I've had a productive discussion at the bottom of the Talk page about a way forward (i.e., referencing the "fan theory" with a link to a Vulture interview discussing it, while removing the unverified claims). 76.202.64.12 (talk) 17:53, 17 August 2023 (UTC)

I think there was at least one other, but I could be wrong. Glad it's being talked through! DonIago (talk) 19:47, 17 August 2023 (UTC)

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