this post was submitted on 01 Apr 2024
230 points (83.0% liked)

Unpopular Opinion

6078 readers
227 users here now

Welcome to the Unpopular Opinion community!


How voting works:

Vote the opposite of the norm.


If you agree that the opinion is unpopular give it an arrow up. If it's something that's widely accepted, give it an arrow down.



Guidelines:

Tag your post, if possible (not required)


  • If your post is a "General" unpopular opinion, start the subject with [GENERAL].
  • If it is a Lemmy-specific unpopular opinion, start it with [LEMMY].


Rules:

1. NO POLITICS


Politics is everywhere. Let's make this about [general] and [lemmy] - specific topics, and keep politics out of it.


2. Be civil.


Disagreements happen, but that doesn’t provide the right to personally attack others. No racism/sexism/bigotry.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Shitposts and memes are allowed but...


Only until they prove to be a problem. They can and will be removed at moderator discretion.


5. No trolling.


This shouldn't need an explanation. If your post or comment is made just to get a rise with no real value, it will be removed. You do this too often, you will get a vacation to touch grass, away from this community for 1 or more days. Repeat offenses will result in a perma-ban.



Instance-wide rules always apply. https://legal.lemmy.world/tos/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

The only person laughing is usually the person who made the joke and it's generally just irritating to everyone else who just wants to get on with their day. I might feel differently if we like, got the day off work for April Fools Day I guess

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 28 points 4 months ago (2 children)

It was great before all the companies started getting in on it, when it was just people pranking each other. I feel like at some point within the past 10-20 years, most “hip” companies come out with their own version of an April Fool’s day press release that are always so goddamn stale and expected now. They’ve just sucked all the fun out of what should be a spontaneous holiday between individuals, because you know those releases probably took weeks to craft and went through X levels of management to get approved.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago

It’s absolutely gotten way worse the past 15 years or so.

As someone who works for a newspaper: the days leading up to and directly following april 1st tend to be very frustrating because of this.

Usually starting on the 30th, we get the first ‘funny’ press releases, with most showing up on the 31st. Which means you have to be extra careful not to use something that SEEMS plausible enough not to warrant extra suspicion on days other than april 1st.

As journalists, we’re perhaps more aware than most regarding potential pranks. We’re always taught to question sources. Which makes it all the more annoying that so many companies and organisations try to pull one over on us. Making reliable, accurate news is difficult enough as it is without all these fuckers trying to poison the well.

Basically, companies and organisations who do it usually get their press releases trashed for a month afterwards on principle. Waste my time? Welcome to the trash bin.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

I feel the other way. I find the individual aspect of it annoying but like the corporate stuff. It gives them a chance to do some kind lighthearted joke that's occasionally in an unexpected direction. I don't even mind when companies jokingly tease a new product or feature to gauge public interest.