April Fool only works if you don’t know it’s coming.
This morning, every fourth message on Twitter was #AprilFool – on not being caught out, or waiting to see what the big media and social media companies come up with (Google have a glittering history here- perhaps they have a wing of the Googleplex devoted to it?!).
Reference to the occasion was also plastered all over people’s Facebook statuses, and telegraphed via a couple of ‘Don’t be an April Fool’ sale emails.
I knew it was going to be April 1st last night, but somewhere deep within myself I hoped I wouldn’t remember when I woke up- I’d be caught off-guard and might enjoy the playful, blushing charm of being fooled.
The Internet killed the fun.
It doesn’t work any more- we’re all too plugged into our networks, hyper-alert, and waiting to be fed an amusing, all-too-knowing fabrication from a megacorp.
I vote for change. Mass foolings are an amazing thing, but we need to pull this back to the personal, and here is my proposal:
Everyone has their own individual ‘mirthday’ on which they can be tricked. It’s like your birthday. In fact, it’s exactly a week before it. Anyone close enough to know your birthday can organise a jape, and those in the same friendship circle can coordinate. Those who know your birthday should know you well enough to decide if you’d appreciate a mirthday… simple.
Let’s put the fun back!… Who’s in?
(My mirthday is 16th June – so bring it on!)
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