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Suggest HN: No April Fools this year

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Suggest HN: No April Fools this year

#1
As you get near April Fools, and need to deploy your prank pages, perhaps reconsider doing it. As a general rule April Fools has become less popular on the web the more widespread it has become, and some people might take levity badly given the current world situation - I myself am among the party of people who think everything is open to mockery, but only if the jokes are good. Most April Fools pranks are tedious.

Obviously you may not have the ultimate say in what pranks are to be played at your company on the world, but perhaps you can push back on them and point out they might not be as well received as in years past.

Re: Suggest HN: No April Fools this year

#4
> As a general rule April Fools has become less popular on the web the more widespread it has become

Agree. Most are somewhere between tedious and boring. “Oh look, we changed our company name to [something amusing only to a pencil pusher]. Aren’t we funny. Buy our products.”

> some people might take levity badly given the current world situation

Disagree and fuck them. The last thing we need is doom and gloom [0]. Few situations ought to be handled with solemnity. Including funerals. We gain nothing and only make it worse. What we do need is levity. Some light-heartedness.

[0] Music genres of that name are encouraged though

edited for impact

Re: Suggest HN: No April Fools this year

#5
Hard disagree. We need levity now more than ever as we stare into the abyss, and there has been a growing trend to be less whimsical and more serious in hackerdom/technology business in general over the last few decades (eg the MSFT blanket easter egg ban).

Hoist the jolly roger, and give me your best jokes ever this year.

PS: DEFCON is cancelled

Re: Suggest HN: No April Fools this year

#7
post #5

Hard disagree. We need levity now more than ever as we stare into the abyss, and there has been a growing trend to be less whimsical and more serious in hackerdom/technology business in general over the last few decades (eg the MSFT blanket easter egg ban). Hoist the jolly roger, and give me your best jokes ever this year. PS: DEFCON is cancelled

Just avoid COVID-19 cure "jokes"

Re: Suggest HN: No April Fools this year

#8
Cmon it’s the most magnificent of corporate jokiness times. Always funny even when it’s not a global disaster. How can you bring down such a rich tradition in which corporations aim only to bring some light to your day?

Organized, planned, workshopped humor on an industrial scale!! What Ho!

Re: Suggest HN: No April Fools this year

#9
post #7
post #5

Hard disagree. We need levity now more than ever as we stare into the abyss, and there has been a growing trend to be less whimsical and more serious in hackerdom/technology business in general over the last few decades (eg the MSFT blanket easter egg ban). Hoist the jolly roger, and give me your best jokes ever this year. PS: DEFCON is cancelled

Just avoid COVID-19 cure "jokes"

And no "quarantine is over" type stuff.
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