As the years pass, April 1st becomes decreasingly relevant, especially where news is concerned...
'April fools' were a neat thing when you're a child, an excuse to play tricks on people and be almost completely absolved of any consequences, just because of the date. As an adult, April the 1st is just a painful waste of time - even though it's just for one day. I'd like to go to a news site and not have to second-guess the validity of the articles, I'd also like to not have to cope with weeding subtle jokes from real content based on their timezone (who decided that the jokes are only valid before midday anyway?).
The worst part of it all is that a plethora of search engines will record and archive this misinformation, regurgitating it later when you're not prepared to deal with it. The more subtle a joke is the more likely it'll slip past you. Eventually, a few months down the line, a journalist will pick it up turn it into headline news for your local tabloid, stirring everybody with an opinion into a frenzy. Nobody will apologise when they figure out the truth either.
It's just not worth it.
- "Strawberry jelly causes blindness in goldfish!", says anonymous internet scientist... |
