Rickrolling is a popular internet meme that involves tricking someone into clicking on a link that leads to the music video for Rick Astley’s 1987 hit song, “Never Gonna Give You Up.” The meme originated in 2007 on the 4chan online forum and quickly spread to other social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
The way rickrolling works is that someone will post a link that appears to be relevant to the conversation or topic at hand, but when the user clicks on it, they are instead redirected to the music video for “Never Gonna Give You Up.” The person who fell for the trick has been “rickrolled.”
For example, someone might post a link on a forum thread discussing 80s music, saying “Check out this classic 80s tune!” and the link leads to the “Never Gonna Give You Up” music video. Or, someone might send a link in a work email with a subject line that reads “Important Report,” but the link leads to the same music video.
The meme gained popularity partly due to the infectious nature of the song and partly due to the humor of tricking someone into watching the video. It has been used in various contexts, such as pranks, April Fools’ jokes, and even political campaigns.
In 2008, the meme reached mainstream status when Rick Astley himself appeared in a surprise performance of the song at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Since then, the meme has continued to be a popular internet joke, with variations like “duckrolling,” which involves redirecting users to a picture of a duck on wheels, or “vadering,” which involves manipulating a photo to make it appear as though Darth Vader is choking someone in the background.
Overall, rickrolling is a humorous and lighthearted meme that has stood the test of time and continues to be a popular internet joke.
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