This article was originally published by Tom in 2019. We’re bringing it back in 2021 because of its relevance!

April 1 used to be the best day on the internet, but have times changed? 

What is April Fools?

April Fool’s Day has been something that has been seen in history for hundreds of years!

Although April Fools is a long-time tradition, going at least as far back as 1957 in the mass media with the BBC’s famous spaghetti tree spoof, the internet’s ravenous hunger for “tentpole events” whipped it up into a frenzy pitch.

Fake product launches, odd app additions, and not being able to tell the difference between the Onion and the Guardian have become par for the course. This article in the Evening Standard and this one on CNET show some of the best.

However, the internet has got a lot more serious in recent years, as concerns have spread around the spread of disinformation (so-called “fake news”). Social media companies are now doing much more work to distinguish fact from fiction on their platforms. It would seem that people are also tired of news sites posting pranks too, which is why we haven’t done one.

Are times changing?

With the the increased distaste for ‘fake news’ in a society where it’s hard to distinguish what is real and what is fake, it may seem as though a long loved humorous tradition may be dying down. Accounts that would have posted a joke in previous years are now more cautious, including this band:

It calls to question if we actually need to have one dedicated day a year to have our comedic fix of pranks? Well, the BBC have written a great article on 10 bizarre news stories that are, it would seem, actually not April Fools jokes. This includes a great WalesOnline story about a man arrested for drunk horse riding in our very own Cardiff.

It seems, however, that there are some businesses that still want to attract a young internet savvy audience with April-themed internet humour. No matter whether you’re a fan of April Fools or not, you can thankfully always rely on The Sprout as a good source of up to date and correct information.

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