Template:Did you know nominations/Joe Biden (The Onion)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Yoninah (talk) 22:44, 23 July 2019 (UTC)

Joe Biden (The Onion)

  • Reviewed: Gregory Gray
  • Comment: Given the political nature of this DYK—the real Joe Biden is, of course, currently running for POTUS—I've presented a few alt hooks. I want to balance the quirkiness/humor of the subject with the seriousness it warrants. I believe these hooks are grounded in uncontroversial fact while still stirring a reader's interest. ALT0, ALT2, and ALT4 are the main hooks; ALT1 and ALT3 are just slight tweaks that signal the connection to The Onion. I think the versions that leave out "The Onion" have a little mystery: saying "Joe Biden" twice, but with only one bolded, leaves room for curiosity and should encourage clickthroughs. On the other hand, clarity may be preferable to avoid seeming too flip (another idea is to label the first one "the real Joe Biden", to further clarify the fictional nature of the latter). Also, feel free to tweak the wording of ALT0 and ALT1 if you'd like—I originally wrote "was a fan of", but that seemed a tad colloquial and may have slightly overstated the case. —BLZ · talk 22:23, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

Created by Brandt Luke Zorn (talk). Self-nominated at 22:23, 2 July 2019 (UTC).

  • This article is new enough and long enough. The hook facts are cited inline and any of them could be used, the article is neutral and I detected no copyright or plagiarism issues. A QPQ has been done. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 06:41, 20 July 2019 (UTC)
  • Thank you Cwmhiraeth! Quick note: I just tweaked the wording of ALT0 and ALT1 from "Biden thought" to "Biden has said he thought". That way the sentence stays focused on his verifiable public statements about what he thought at the time, rather than trying to read his mind or know his true heart or anything like that. Plus, past-tense "thought" kinda suggests "used to think, but no longer does", which is another type of mind-reading and implies the article might have a dramatic twist that isn't there. Putting the changes out there so it doesn't seem like I'm trying to pull a switcheroo now it's been approved. —BLZ · talk 08:05, 20 July 2019 (UTC)
  • That's fine, and an improvement of the original hooks. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 10:28, 20 July 2019 (UTC)
(butting in) - strong preference for ALt 3; alt 1 is rather “so what”. Ceoil (talk) 22:35, 20 July 2019 (UTC)
I think that's probably right. I was going for a sort of "double take" effect with ALT0 and 1, but the not-very-inherently-interesting-in-its-own-right–ness of the fact dampens it. And the ambiguity in ALT2 is more confusing than it is intriguing. ALT3 would be best. —BLZ · talk 23:09, 20 July 2019 (UTC)
  • Hi, I came by to promote this, but I don't understand this thread. ALT3 totally gives away the joke. I'd like to promote ALT2 to a quirky slot, but a citation is needed in the first paragraph under Background per WP:DYKSG#D2. Thanks, Yoninah (talk) 22:04, 23 July 2019 (UTC)
  • @Yoninah: I'd still be OK with ALT2. I was leaning on the safe side, but if the joke's fine with coordinators then I'm fine with it too. Thanks for catching that uncited graf; it was such general biographical information that I figured I'd get around to citing later, but looks like it slipped my mind. I've cited it now using one of the longer, more "Real Biden"-focused articles that I'd already used elsewhere. —BLZ · talk 22:26, 23 July 2019 (UTC)
  • Thanks. Restoring tick per Cwmhiraeth's review. Let's make DYK humorous again! Yoninah (talk) 22:42, 23 July 2019 (UTC)