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The crushing lameness of April Fools Day on the Internet.

news.ycombinator.com

11–20 of 175 posts

Re: The crushing lameness of April Fools Day on the Internet.

#12
> How are we going to attract and recruit the best engineers unless we've got a reputation for the very best and most foolish April Fools trickery?

I would actually discourage anyone from taking a job from any company that takes April Fools too seriously. Having to put in extra hours to get the April Fools out in time is the only thing that's more soul-crushing than the stupid corporate joke itself.

Re: The crushing lameness of April Fools Day on the Internet.

#13
I used to be into online retail sales before I got fed up with all the money grubbing. It was all about Black Friday and if you weren't ready with a major production by then or at least Cyber Monday you'd miss the boat on a huge influx of potential revenue. If your Black Friday effort went viral you'd be riding the gravy train all holiday season. I get the sense April Fools has become the Black Friday of social media. If your joke goes viral you've got a huge opportunity for viewership and brand awareness. No thank you. My site doesn't celebrate any "holiday".

Re: The crushing lameness of April Fools Day on the Internet.

#16
post #8

> It seems every single company and publication that communicates via the web has a corporate communications department or something that thinks it's a corporate priority to come out with something for April Fools. It's not really the lameness of April Fools Day, it's the lameness of internet businesses, social media marketing, or marketers and salesmen in general. They need to take over, trivialize, devaluate and de…

What if April Fool's jokes were actually funny ...

I think half the annoyance is most of the time, unfunny people reveal themselves on this day.

Re: The crushing lameness of April Fools Day on the Internet.

#17
post #8

> It seems every single company and publication that communicates via the web has a corporate communications department or something that thinks it's a corporate priority to come out with something for April Fools. It's not really the lameness of April Fools Day, it's the lameness of internet businesses, social media marketing, or marketers and salesmen in general. They need to take over, trivialize, devaluate and de…

Yep, this is it. Neutered culture intended for mass consumption, right down to the utterly safe, whimsical April Fool's Day gag -- "wow, $CORP is so random!"

Re: The crushing lameness of April Fools Day on the Internet.

#18
post #8

> It seems every single company and publication that communicates via the web has a corporate communications department or something that thinks it's a corporate priority to come out with something for April Fools. It's not really the lameness of April Fools Day, it's the lameness of internet businesses, social media marketing, or marketers and salesmen in general. They need to take over, trivialize, devaluate and de…

What if April Fool's jokes were actually funny ... I think half the annoyance is most of the time, unfunny people reveal themselves on this day.

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