Talk:Lincoln–Kennedy coincidences urban legend

Hidden instructions

This article was created ten years ago with the following hidden instructions:

<!-- Please DO NOT expand this list. this is an article *about* the list, not a place to compile an ever larger list. this short list is meant to be illustrative of the more common elements found in the various circulating versions of the list. -->

<!-- Please DO NOT {{fact}} tag this list. The sources are listed in the References section. Many of the items on the list are untrue - this is noted in the text. The list is here to illustrate the nature of the Lincoln/Kennedy Coincidences urban legend. This is an article about folklore; these items are no more expected to be verifiable than the plot of a fictional movie would be, yet it is perfectly acceptable to include a movie synopsis in Wikipedia. -->

These instructions are still noted with the section called "The list", but I think they should be removed. Despite the instructions, the list has grown substantially since it was created but the number of references has only grown from 5 to 7. I think it is fair to assume that a lot of material has been added without a supporting reference, but the instructions not to tag the material make it very difficult to verify which coincidences have been reported on in reliable secondary sources. Furthermore, instructing editors not to tag certain statements goes against WP:BURDEN - Wikipedia policy - which is supposed to place the burden of demonstrating verifiability on the editor inserting information into the article. It shouldn't be up to readers to search seven sources to find which one is supposed to support a certain statement. Whether or not material should be added to the list is something to be addressed through consensus or WP:BRD. -Location (talk) 15:55, 28 April 2017 (UTC)

How can you cite proof for something that isn't true? Snitch ninja (talk) 05:34, 11 April 2019 (UTC)

The subject of the article is the circulation of the coincidences, not necessarily whether the coincidences themselves are true; however, I'd think that most reliable sources about the legends should also state which are known to be factually true, false, or in question. In any case, WP:BURDEN makes it the duty of the people adding items to the list, not the ones subtracting, to show that reliable sources consider the added "coincidence" (true or not) to actually be in wide circulation. The comparison that "these items are no more expected to be verifiable than the plot of a fictional movie would be" is misleading: The plot of a fictional movie is expected to be verifiable by at least the movie itself, and preferably by reliable secondary sources about the movie. "The sources are in the references section" also is not sufficient: If there aren't inline citations, readers can't tell which alleged sources verify the spread of which coincidence claims. So I'm removing "Please do not fact tag this list": It directly conflicts with the policy Wikipedia:Verifiability, which says "any material whose verifiability has been challenged or is likely to be challenged, must include an inline citation that directly supports the material." --Closeapple (talk) 02:14, 3 June 2019 (UTC)