Comments on: Jokes on Blogs – Proceed With Caution

By: mysapce

mysapce — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:18:54 +0000

I remember when a blogger had posted the exorcist girl’s link on there page. First it started out as a love poem with music in the background then she popped up on the screen. OMG! that was such a long time ago like 2004, but still freaky till this day.

By: Nantucket Art

Nantucket Art — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 08:56:58 +0000

Agreed – there is a time and a place for AFD jokes – people should give a little thought to where they post…

By: Scott Sweeney

Scott Sweeney — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 08:38:12 +0000

I thought it was true at first, because I work a third shift and I don’t really put much thought into April Fool’s because I have more concerns in my life.

Then I realized it was a joke. And I laughed a little.

After reading you reply post, I understand how it could affect people.

I will not ever post an AFD post on my serious blog.

By: metroknow - AlmostFit.com

metroknow - AlmostFit.com — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 07:50:26 +0000

I had to clarify that my April Fool’s day article was a joke as well – but I had to reach out to a number of blogs personally to do it.

My story was “Miraculous weight loss compound found in arctic thaw”, here: http://almostfit.com/2008/04/01/miraculous-weight-loss-compound-found-in-arctic-thaw/

It is completely unbelievable if you actually read it – but the problem is most people didn’t – they skimmed it and thought it was legit, which was at first only reflected in the comments.

But then I started to see it popping up as factual on several health blogs as well as in a pretty official looking news/press release.

aye caramba.

By: fathersez

fathersez — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:58:25 +0000

A joke should be funny to all, especially if the prankster who played out the prank, was the “victim.”

I think the example you have quoted is a very poor example of a prank. Obviously the guy meant no harm (since he changed the wording etc.), but this is akin to shutting the door after the horse has bolted.

Free speech can be a dangerous tool if not used responsibly.

I would not like to have been in your shoes, and I am really sorry you have to spend time and energy explaining yourself to others, when its not your fault at all.

By: Money Maker Guy

Money Maker Guy — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:24:09 +0000

Your mum was absolutely right and some of the jokes can really hurt other people, unintentionally.
Nobody wants to get hurt by a stupid joke, made by someone else.

By: Lightening

Lightening — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 02:43:27 +0000

Wow! That’s even worse than the crazy posts I read which impacted the actual blogger in a negative way. I thought that was bad enough. I agree, when playing any kind of joke, you really have to think through the ramifications of those who actually fall for it. After all, isn’t the point of an April Fools Day Joke to trick people?

By: Kishor

Kishor — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:11:06 +0000

People should probably post a small warning at the end of 1st April posts

By: Ginkgo100

Ginkgo100 — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:08:20 +0000

I'm a long-time Wikipedian, and the person who anonymously updated your article broke one of Wikipedia's four cardinal policies (not adding unsourced/poorly source information to biographies of living persons). I left a warning that will be seen by the next person to visit Wikipedia from that IP, although it may not be the same person. I pulled a couple of online jokes on April Fool's Day, but it never occurred to me to make posts involving others; in fact I carefully constructed my "biggest" joke (on my private blog) to make sure it wouldn't hurt any third party. On my puzzle site, My Puzzle Fix, I limited my April Foolery to a puzzle about April Fool's Day that also had a small prank in the rules -- breaking a common assumption about that type of puzzle (a word search).

By: Alejandro Reyes

Alejandro Reyes — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:36:18 +0000

if ya need a “favor” d – let me know…JK

By: Fern R

Fern R — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:35:42 +0000

The April Fool's Day joke was almost certainly defamation, and if it had interfered with a business deal/relationship and was done intentionally, it could have been tortious interference.

By: Shaun

Shaun — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:15:48 +0000

Well handled, Darren. That would be outrageously infuriating to me.

By: Rich Miller

Rich Miller — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:29:50 +0000

The April Fool’s jokes on blogs this year created another challenge, as some real news actually took place on April 1. I was at a conference that day in which Microsoft announced news that was significant within our sector (data centers). I later spoke with some people who simply assumed it was a joke, because there were so many joke stories on other blogs.

Credibility matters, and it’s getting to the point where it’s hard to determine what’s real and fake in the bloigosphere on April 1. Here’s to more blogospheric restraint next year.

By: Luis Gross

Luis Gross — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:34:26 +0000

This should be a lesson to everyone, not just because of Darren’s experience but also because of all the other blogs and websites experience on April 1st as well. Many other sites went through the same thing when they posted what was meant to be an “April fools joke” on their readers and got plenty of negative responses. If your serious and want to be professional about your blog and or website then you should keep it that way 365 days of the year, 366 on a leap year. If you walk in to your bank and try to make a with drawl their not going to say your account balance is on $0 then call you back a few hours later and say “April fools!”. Some might say you can’t compare the 2, but you most definitely can if your serious and professional about what you do.

- Luis Gross TopBusinessReviews.com

By: Roman

Roman — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:15:39 +0000

I read all the comments and found it weird that the person who wrote the joke didn’t appologize for taking it too far.

I think to any reasonable person who would look on your web properties and amount of advertising it would be evident that you make way more than a $1000. (a sign of white envy).

Good job in being so political savvy about it!

By: Jim Goldstein

Jim Goldstein — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:55:31 +0000

Sorry to hear that this happened to you Darren. When putting together my April Fools Day blog post I thought long and hard about directing the content of my post at someone else or myself. I chose to pursue the path of self-deprecating humor for two reasons…
1. All the reasons you’ve touched on.
2. If you can’t laugh at yourself who can you laugh at.

What I enjoyed about your April Fool’s Day Post is that you played on tech news and partly made fun of your business. A very good angle to take… but per your points in this situation you took a similar but calculated risk with the reputation of your business. The difference is that you had control of that situation.

Humor is tricky business and when it comes to blogging about someone other than yourself or your own business you need to be especially careful.

By: OldSailor

OldSailor — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:47:28 +0000

I agree. Making fun can not be at the cost of hurting someone.

By: noemi

noemi — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:44:49 +0000

One should really think of the consequences before posting. and that goes for April Fool jokes, comments and blog posts.

By: Doug

Doug — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:41:48 +0000

For about 6 years, I’ve been posting April fools stories on one of my sites and we (my writers and I) always enjoy making them up and the readers have always seemed to enjoy them. We take things pretty far, but the next day I also re-label them as “just for fun” and also add a “to read the entire article…” link pointing to a “April Fools!” post. Sure, some people are fooled even after April 1, even with all that and a ton of comments on the articles revealing them as April Fools pranks. Illiteracy, A.D.D. and year-round fools are not my problem :-) If someone was affected, then I would grant them the right to be upset, but seriously, people need to lighten up sometimes.

To me, the key is revealing that the post was a fake after April 1. That should stop most reasonable misunderstandings of the pranks.

By: The Masked Millionaire

The Masked Millionaire — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:23:22 +0000

I am always suprised at the number of people that “don’t get the joke.”

With that being said I guess it is important to remember that you must not use other people within your post unless it is true information you are using or you have permission.

Once the cat is out of the bag it is harder than heck to put it back in.