Do You Love Or Hate April Fools’ Day Online? [We Ask You]

It’s now April, which means the one day of the year which celebrates jokers, pranksters, and trolls is over for another 12 months. I am of course referring to April Fools’ Day, an invented holiday that falls on April 1 each year. Some people love it, others hate it; there is very little middle ground.

In the real world most people don’t bother playing tricks on people for April Fools’, a fact we should all be grateful for. But the Web is a whole new ball game. And it seems to be getting worse. As someone who works online and who needs to be able to sort the fake news from the real news, I notice these things to the nth degree, but is it the same for everyone? And if so, does it bother you at all? This topic forms the basis for this week’s We Ask You discussion.

This Week’s Question…

We want to know, Do You Love Or Hate April Fools’ Day Online? It’s a simple question, but one which is likely to prompt passionate opinions on both sides. This probably only applies to those who are addicted to the Internet, because the rest of the population likely just takes a break from the Internet for this one day of the year. At least.

Every April Fools’ Day is the same, with Google playing numerous pranks on the public across its many services. Other companies tend to also get involved, though to a lesser degree. This year saw the likes of Sony, Nokia, Microsoft, Twitter, Netflix, Roku, Toshiba, Virgin, Samsung, and Soundcloud all making an effort.

Some April Fools’ Day gags are easy to spot and shared across the InterWebs by eagle-eyed people. But others are either much more difficult to figure out or don’t get enough attention to be flagged as mere jokes. Here are 8 April Fools’ Day pranks you may have missed this year, but are they entertaining or just annoying?

Do you appreciate these efforts by companies both big and small to troll their users? Or does it instead wind you up to the point that you’d forego using the product or service that the prank is connected to? Do you think we should all embrace April Fools’ Day online? Or rally against it until the culprits are forced to cease and desist?

Drawing Conclusions

All comments will be digested to form conclusions in a follow-up post next week where we will detail what You Told Us. One reader will be chosen for the coveted Comment Of The Week, getting their name up in lights, the respect of other readers, and 150 MakeUseOf points to use for MakeUseOf Rewards. What more motivation than that do you need to respond?

We Ask You is a weekly column dedicated to finding out the opinions of MakeUseOf readers. The questions asked are usually open-ended and likely to necessitate a discussion. Some are opinion-based, while others see you sharing tips and advice, or advocating tools and apps to fellow MakeUseOf Readers. This column is nothing without you, as MakeUseOf is nothing without you.

Image Credit: Sean MacEntee

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