Death of another Newspaper

April 1, 2009 3:15 AM

The Guardian is moving entirely to Twitter."Sceptics have expressed concerns that 140 characters may be insufficient to capture the full breadth of meaningful human activity, but social media experts say the spread of Twitter encourages brevity, and that it ought to be possible to convey the gist of any message in a tweet."
posted by djgh (50 comments total)

"JFK assassin8d @ Dallas, def. heard second gunshot from grassy knoll WTF?"
posted by mary8nne at 3:16 AM on April 1 [10 favorites]

I wonder how many of these April Fool's posts we'll be seeing today.

This one did make me chuckle, though it should've been the Daily Mail.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 3:20 AM on April 1

Ahh my father would love this, pity he knows nothing of twitter
posted by mattoxic at 3:29 AM on April 1

Get off my grassy knoll, Guardian.
posted by Dumsnill at 3:35 AM on April 1

It's no San Serriffe
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:40 AM on April 1 [1 favorite]

Dec. 8, 1945

"WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR >:("
posted by DaDaDaDave at 3:45 AM on April 1 [4 favorites]

"WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR >:("

@edwin_starr: Huh! What is it good for?
posted by outlier at 3:50 AM on April 1 [14 favorites]

this thread will self-destruct by 12pm BST.
posted by mippy at 3:58 AM on April 1

Can we get april fool's day over with now?
posted by schwa at 4:13 AM on April 1

It's over by my watch. Afternoon all!
posted by mippy at 4:19 AM on April 1

Just imagine the movie and book reviews: "Read new Harry Potter book. Spoiler: Gandalf dies at the end."
posted by daniel_charms at 4:20 AM on April 1 [1 favorite]

Bonus: Conficker C is probably an April Fool's prank, according to BBC.
posted by kldickson at 4:28 AM on April 1

ah, right, april fools day. this is one of my favorite days on the internet!
posted by Mach5 at 4:33 AM on April 1

This is hilarious.

From link: ... the Daily Mail recently pioneered an iPhone application providing users with a one-click facility for reporting suspicious behaviour by migrants or gays.
posted by koeselitz at 4:34 AM on April 1 [13 favorites]

Congratulations to The Guardian for their recent triumphs in compounded irrelevancy.
posted by Kikkoman at 4:42 AM on April 1

What could they possibly tell us that Ashton Kutcher couldn't?
posted by shakespeherian at 5:18 AM on April 1

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing: "I wonder how many of these April Fool's posts we'll be seeing today."

Too many. This stuff was funny ten years ago but it's getting pretty tiresome by now.
posted by octothorpe at 5:25 AM on April 1

Still better than all caps and Speak Like A Tedious Nerd Pirate days. Although the gap is narrowing...
posted by i_cola at 5:33 AM on April 1 [1 favorite]

It was worth it for this paragraph alone:

Currently, 17.8% of all Twitter traffic in the United Kingdom consists of status updates from Stephen Fry, whose reliably jolly tone, whether trapped in a lift or eating a scrumptious tart, has won him thousands of fans. A further 11% is made up of his 363,000 followers replying "@stephenfry LOL!", "@stephenfry EXACTLY the same thing happened to me", and "@stephenfry Meanwhile, I am making myself an omelette! Delicious!"
posted by gomichild at 5:46 AM on April 1 [4 favorites]

Is there a Google April Fools joke thread yet? Cuz it's pretty good this year.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:49 AM on April 1

Yes, there is. But that one was fun too
posted by Dumsnill at 6:00 AM on April 1

87YrsAgo'rentsStrtdFreeCntry.2Fighty2Stay?Monumentize!AlrdyDunWifBlud.UseLessWrds,NStead,PayItFrwrd.GdFrdmNoDieNVainYadaYada.
posted by BrotherCaine at 6:17 AM on April 1

Shouldn't the byline be Rio Pallof? (2 "L"s)
posted by TedW at 6:41 AM on April 1

The local NPR affiliate read a story about researchers at the University of California finding a way to clone dinosaurs from DNA preserved in amber.
posted by Joe Beese at 6:42 AM on April 1

I can only hope that Nina Totenberg reporting that the DoJ is dropping all charges against Ted Stevens is an April Fool's joke. Alas, I fear it is not.
posted by tzikeh at 6:49 AM on April 1

That's odd, Joe Beese. According to Wikitravel this morning, just such a thing has already occurred. Maybe your NPR affiliate was pulling an April Fools joke on you by broadcasting outdated news stories!
posted by Spatch at 6:49 AM on April 1

The Guardian claiming it's a newspaper is a pretty good joke.
posted by oaf at 6:59 AM on April 1

I consider April Fools to be a massive DOS attack.
posted by srboisvert at 7:01 AM on April 1 [1 favorite]

I try to stay on the cutting edge of technology and perhaps this question should be directed to AskMeFi, but is it possible to post tweets from my CB radio?
posted by digsrus at 7:01 AM on April 1

*sigh*
posted by grubi at 7:08 AM on April 1

Where's Dorothy Parker when you need her?
posted by blucevalo at 7:25 AM on April 1 [2 favorites]

It's no San Serriffe

QFT. Y'all know about San Serriffe? It's pretty funny.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 7:39 AM on April 1

Don't want to start another thread, but this, from the Irish Times, is pretty nice.
posted by tiny crocodile at 7:40 AM on April 1

Resume

Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

-- Dorothy Parker
posted by clavdivs at 7:49 AM on April 1 [1 favorite]

Oh, Grauniad, you're so cheeky.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:54 AM on April 1

Last year Rickrolling seemed to be the April Fool's weapon of choice; this year it looks like it's going to be Twitter.
posted by kmz at 8:00 AM on April 1

My local weekly came up with the same Twitter plan. I think this is their first April 1 outing ever. The Guardian did it better, though.
posted by mygothlaundry at 8:02 AM on April 1

lv ths chs prl Fl's jks n th sm w tht lv pns nd BB: shmlssl.
posted by chrdrc at 9:08 AM on April 1

H N! T'S SPRDNG!
posted by chrdrc at 9:09 AM on April 1 [1 favorite]

Sceptics have expressed concerns that 140 characters may be insufficient to capture the full breadth of meaningful human activity minimum number of typos required per article.
posted by maudlin at 9:10 AM on April 1

Grmph. That's basically my complaint about teh new iPhone homepage.
posted by Artw at 9:35 AM on April 1

ThinkGeek has some pretty awesome ones again this year.
posted by cmgonzalez at 9:49 AM on April 1

Broadcast journalists rejoice.
posted by klangklangston at 10:03 AM on April 1

Improv Everywhere crashes a funeral.
posted by univac at 10:16 AM on April 1 [2 favorites]

I'm enjoying Lululemon's new online shop. (Do they exist in the USA? Elsewhere?)
posted by chunking express at 11:07 AM on April 1 [1 favorite]

In entirely serious news, the University of Phoenix is going to be teaching classes via Twitter.
posted by shii at 11:28 AM on April 1 [1 favorite]

Car & Driver has already pulled the "Obama orders GM and Chrysler to cease participation in NASCAR" story off its website.

That one probably created the biggest stink of anything seen on April 1st in a while.
posted by Zambrano at 11:31 AM on April 1

That Lululemon one looked related to CADIE's blog.

"Lots of fabric. Inspired by the Snuggie" made me laugh. And yes, we do have those shops here.
posted by cmgonzalez at 1:12 PM on April 1

Spaghetti trees!
posted by tellurian at 4:09 PM on April 1

Who is as happy as Larry?
posted by tellurian at 6:27 PM on April 1