I can think of a couple of people in my life who would appreciate a Rickroll. One would crack the hell up, but my husband, on the other hand… well, he’s sort of a big Rick Astley fan. He’d be tickled to know there’s any such thing as a Rickroll. It would totally rock his world. Then he’d wonder why more people haven’t Rickrolled him. Then he’d accuse me of withholding the Rick goodness. Then I’d have to Rickroll him twice a day to show I care.
Sigh. I have to listen to Michael McDonald covering motown hits in the car, too.
Put me squarely in the “I’m old and have no sense of humor” camp. Prior to this thread I had no idea what Rickrolling was (though I’d heard the term). Now that I’ve read the Wikipedia article and this thread I still can’t fathom why people think this is funny. It’s not even all that annoying…it’s just meh.
I’d say it’s in the context. There was a video on Youtube going around last year that looked for all the world like a porn clip. In fact I believe it originally was. So the viewer sits through two or three minutes of buildup, and riiiiiight as things start getting unzipped, it cuts to Rick Astley.
Even with assurances that the phone numbers won’t be retained, I’d hesitate to give my friend’s cell phone numbers away, and I would hope they would be careful with my number.
But it’s not really all that absurd. Someone who doesn’t know about rick roll will just think it’s some kind of telemarketing, or maybe just harassment. Someone who does, well, if they still think it’s funny, good for them.
And it doesn’t have the same effect without the stupid video.
You’re right, it helps that the target know about the meme already. I’ve found that quoting the lyrics at opportune moments in text chat accomplishes the same effect as linking to the video, but more because it’s saying ‘You’re getting rickrolled’ rather than anything in the lyrics themselves.
You shouldn’t, really. You’re expecting a Youtube clip, you get a Youtube clip. Again, it’s five seconds of your time wasted that someone else probably found funny. Close the window and get back to the discussion; ignoring the infantile prankster is your choice.
Same here. I wouldn’t mind getting Rickrolled over a message board or AIM or something, though. DKW’s post made me wondering if I was whooshed or if getting Rickrolled was like the new evil.
