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Annoyance of the Day(tm) — April Fools Day
I can think of no “holiday” more annoying than April Fools Day.
Valentine’s day is pretty annoying when you’re single, but can be kind of fun if you’re not. But unlike April Fools Day, it’s not maliciously annoying — no one is going out of their way to be a pest. People are all lovey, but they’re not doing it to make other people feel bad; rather, they’re just doing their thing and minding their own business. I’m cool with that.
April Fools Day is another story. Now, don’t get me wrong — I’m a big fan of a good prank. A well executed prank is a beautiful thing — even on April Fools Day. I used to write for a popular gaming site called the Gaming Intelligence Agency (GIA), and it was well known for having intricate and well-planned April Fools Day pranks. Of course, I was always the wet blanket on staff against posting anything that was purposely untrue was a bad idea. (My argument was that we wanted to be taken seriously, and “serious” sites like CNN.com, ESPN.com, etc. don’t partake in the shenanigans.) But at least the pranks were well executed. Every year, dozens of sites proclaim on April Fools Day that they’re shutting down. Ha ha! The GIA proclaimed that on April Fools Day, but actually did shut down. And didn’t come back up the next day, or the next week. I think that’s pretty good comedy.
My problem is with all the sites that waste my time and everyone else’s time with a haphazard and uninteresting “prank” posts, such as “hey! we’re closing down!” or “Look, the moon is made of cheese!” I’m going to put a rough guestimate of about 98% of English sites (most Asian countries are sane and don’t participate in the tomfoolery) having lame April Fools jokes. If you’re not going to do something creative with your prank, then please don’t bother. And if your prank is just annoying and not entertaining, don’t bother. Thanks.
That came out a bit harsher than I planned. I think I have some pent up rage on the subject, or something.
Tue April 4th, 2006 11:35 am
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I can understand where you’re coming from. The GIA set the bar so unbelievably high with the Final Fantasy Gaiden prank, that I can’t see myself ever being fooled again. I mean, if you’re going to do an April Fools prank, put some effort into it.
did u see google romance? it was a whole subsection of a fake dating service based on search engine-like criteria. It was humorous, and a pretty big effort. At least 10 pages of images, screenshots, and explanations.
Google Romance was very funny.
That sounds like a good prank, google romance — the thing is, I wouldn’t be surprised if within a couple of years Google actually launched such an animal.
They’re like Microsoft, but online — trying to get into every online market out there, like Microsoft tried to make every piece of software.
I didn’t think Google Romance was funny OR a good prank. I thought it was mean-spirited, tasteless, and sadistic. I was all excited, because I thought that this “great new service” would help me find my Heart’s True Hero, and when I went to post a profile and was informed it was just a prank, I thought my heart would crack apart from the disappointment. I think Google should have a GENUINE matching service to help the unpartnered find their Heart’s True Heroes (and SHE-roes)– not a Contextual Date or Psychographic matching thing, but a search function where you input what you want in a partner, combined with networking (sorta-kinda like MySpace, only strictly for unpartnered souls seeking relationships. Anyone else agree with me that this was a mean tick and that Google should have a real, working dating feature?
Sorry for the double post, but I made a typo I didn’t think Google Romance was funny OR a good prank. I thought it was mean-spirited, tasteless, and sadistic. I was all excited, because I thought that this “great new service” would help me find my Heart’s True Hero, and when I went to post a profile and was informed it was just a prank, I thought my heart would crack apart from the disappointment. I think Google should have a GENUINE matching service to help the unpartnered find their Heart’s True Heroes (and SHE-roes)– not a Contextual Date or Psychographic matching thing, but a search function where you input what you want in a partner, combined with networking (sorta-kinda like MySpace, only strictly for unpartnered souls seeking relationships. Anyone else agree with me that this was a mean trick and that Google should have a real, working dating feature?