At the time of our show, there was only about an hour and a half left for you to keep your guard up against anything in your Twitter and Facebook feeds. Β Hopefully everyone is now safe. Β When April Fools’ Day is finally over, the multitude of maddening mendacity that pranksters love to pull will go along with it. Β But in the meantime, the Internet has made the whole affair easier than ever. Β And more dangerous.
A Virginia woman found out the hard way: jokes can go too far. Β Angela Timmons texted her daughter saying she was hiding in the bathroom of Virginia College while someone was shooting on campus. Β Her daughter called the cops, who swarmed the school before finding out it was a joke. Β Joke’s on mom: she’s under arrest.
And some people find pregnancy gags equally unfunny on April First. Β There were plenty of people asking others to skip this one, since so many couples struggle to start a family. Β But the tweets and posts still went out today.
At the same time, gags have become publicity stunts for the brands out there that take part. Β Fueled even further by the wild success of people like Jimmy Kimmel. Β He’s kind of ruined the believability anything you see. Β But you remember his name, and other businesses known they can capitalize on a good gag.
Somebody here at WCCB even tried it with a phony story about our station going to Mars. Β Although it doesn’t look like it actually fooled anybody. Β But at least it gave us a good hook for our topic tonight…
Has the Internet ruined April Fools’ Day? Β Our Man on the Edge, Robert Wilder, can’t be fooled… can he?
