Comments on: April Fools’ Jokes Just Fun and Games? 5 Components of a Viral Linkbait Prank

By: Pituitary Gland

Pituitary Gland — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 12:44:46 +0000

Haha, yeah, I noticed that – it was Syed Balkhi from balkhis.com – it was a stupid prank though

By: MLDina

MLDina — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:12:02 +0000

April Fools pranks are hard to pull off, especially online. People come to expect them after the first one.

I think both Shoemoney and John were trying to have some fun- they fooled a few readers along the way, but the main purpose was to give readers a good laugh (and get some buzz, which since we’re talking about it, I guess worked).

By: Mike Huang

Mike Huang — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 23:40:02 +0000

Both John Chow’s and Shoemoney’s were NOT believable as they even mentioned about their “APRIL FOOLS” prank a week or more beforehand.

The reason why they received so much controversy is because they have the readers base that does all the work.

Just imagine if it was someone else with less readers, but a TOTALLY surprising prank…

By: FoxNewsBoycott

FoxNewsBoycott — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 23:25:16 +0000

Some, like the lost subscribers, can completely backfire. Consumerist ran a story about a retail site that gave its customers millions of dollars in credit, so people make huge purchases, then the company billed the customers for the difference… I’d say they’re toast.

By: Gyutae Park

Gyutae Park — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 19:37:18 +0000

Haha, I’m glad you liked the Hummer joke. You know, I actually would have given one away if I could – so it wasn’t TOO far fetched.

A lot of people seem to have fun with April Fools, which is what it’s all about. What’s your site? I’ll look forward to yours next year.

By: Phil

Phil — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:42:38 +0000

Nice recap, Gyuate. It is a fun time of year to see what is created. I remember your Hummer joke and it had me going for awhile. Google always has an very creative April Fools’ joke, and has been to only one I have fallen for EVERY year, despite knowing it was coming.

Your suggestions/guidelines have given me the perfect post for next April!

By: Gyutae Park

Gyutae Park — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 18:52:25 +0000

Ouch! Who was it? I’d like to see exactly what he did to get that sort of response.

By: Kai Lo

Kai Lo — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 18:51:36 +0000

Someone did an April Fools’ joke on his blog readers, and he lost about 600 RSS feed subscribers.