User talk:2601:147:4001:1AA0:F590:6FCF:6002:8A5

October 2021
Hey, I don't know if you'll read this, but I want to let you know that I've been made aware of your incessant complaining about the Beach Boys' articles here. I want to remind you that if you think you've found inaccuracies or discrepancies, simply point out them out on the article's talk page and someone will assist you. You could also make the changes yourself and provide an explanation for your corrections in the editing summary (as you recently did on Radiant Radish, thank you).

Since you appear quite frustrated with these articles, despite the countless hours of work that have gone into researching and tediously building them, I feel I should clarify some things. Wikipedia is for sourced material. It's nothing more than a website that aggregates details collected from various published materials, like news articles and books. Don't think of Wikipedia as a place where random people publish their own independent research. Think of it as a repository of links to biographies, journals, interviews, etc.


 * Wikipedia does not publish original research. Its content is determined by previously published information rather than the beliefs or experiences of editors. Even if you are sure something is true, it must be verifiable before you can add it.


 * To demonstrate that you are not adding original research, you must be able to cite reliable, published sources that are directly related to the topic of the article, and directly support the material being presented.

If these policies aren't followed, then the articles are usually deleted by admins. Don't like it? Then start your own Beach Boys website where you can post who played marimba on which song to your heart's content, and you won't have to be beholden to silly things like "editorial consensus", "peer review" and "administrative oversight".

Wikipedia is also collaborative. I do make mistakes editing these articles occasionally, but that's partly because I follow what the sources say to a T, which, as I've explained, is part of Wikipedia's core premise. (A bigger reason for why I make mistakes is that I'm just one human being with a limited amount of free time, and hardly anyone else knowledgeable about the BBs bothers to oversee my contributions.) If the sources themselves are wrong, then provide solid arguments or evidence to refute them. ("Trust me bro" is not an argument.)

No one can make corrections to these articles if they aren't aware that there are corrections to be made. For example, I did not catch that someone randomly altered Craig Slowinki's personnel credits for Aren't You Glad with no explanation whatsoever. If you noticed this mistake, then it's not Wikipedia's fault for letting it slide, it's YOUR fault for not fixing it yourself.

TL;DR if you're upset with these articles, then stop being lazy and do something about it. In any case, I appreciate the feedback, especially since I rarely get any. Thanks again. ili (talk) 20:23, 18 October 2021 (UTC)