The worst April fools’ joke in history
This isn’t even almost funny:
Consolidating its position at the cutting edge of new media technology, the Guardian today announces that it will become the first newspaper in the world to be published exclusively via Twitter, the sensationally popular social networking service that has transformed online communication.
The move, described as “epochal” by media commentators, will see all Guardian content tailored to fit the format of Twitter’s brief text messages, known as “tweets”, which are limited to 140 characters each. Boosted by the involvement of celebrity “twitterers”, such as Madonna, Britney Spears and Stephen Fry, Twitter’s profile has surged in recent months, attracting more than 5m users who send, read and reply to tweets via the web or their mobile phones.
As a Twitter-only publication, the Guardian will be able to harness the unprecedented newsgathering power of the service, demonstrated recently when a passenger on a plane that crashed outside Denver was able to send real-time updates on the story as it developed, as did those witnessing an emergency landing on New York’s Hudson River. It has also radically democratised news publishing, enabling anyone with an internet connection to tell the world when they are feeling sad, or thinking about having a cup of tea.
“[Celebrated Guardian editor] CP Scott would have warmly endorsed this – his well-known observation ‘Comment is free but facts are sacred’ is only 36 characters long,” a spokesman said in a tweet that was itself only 135 characters long.
I always thought an April fools’ joke should be possible. Or at least funny. Not lame.
Now having said that, I have to say I wouldn’t mind such a development at all. Not for the Guardian, at least. This rag is one of Europe’s most leftist newspapers. It’s not even almost objective, neither in its reporting nor in its opinions.
Let’s hope they’ll actually be forced to go Twitter in the coming years.
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I thought is was mildly funny, as was the headline about this story on Jimmie (Sundries Shack)’s blog: “So, Do We Call it Tweet Street Now?”
It was pretty funny. As for whether an April Fools joke should be possible, are any of Google’s? And yet their April Fools jokes are hilarious.
I actually thought it was very funny. It was witty and I think you need to lighten up.
Count me among those who also thought it was funny… though this one was funnier: Link.
Funnier yet is that they’ve had to modify the title and lede TWICE, because people are freaking out.
Probably Anglo-Saxon humor then. Silly joke, nothing funny about it in my Dutch opinion.
Well, you know us anglo-saxons- when we’re not busy destroying the global banking system, we’re engaging in dumb humor.
I just thought it was a semi-clever riff on the demise of newspapers in favor of instant media. To that extent, it may have struck me funny because of age, not cultural difference- a friend and I were just laughing over the speed of change in communcations, as her (grown) kids can’t be bothered to send emails anymore and instead tell her to check their social networking sites if she wants to stay in touch.
“her (grown) kids can’t be bothered to send emails anymore and instead tell her to check their social networking sites if she wants to stay in touch”
Hahaha! Amazingly enough, my 70+ year old mother tells me to read her blog if I want to know what’s going on with her. The world’s changing swiftly…