Editing 351: Trolling

{{comic
| number    = 351
| date      = November 30, 2007
| title     = Trolling
| image     = trolling.png
| titletext = And I was really impressed with how they managed to shock the Goatse guy.
}}

==Explanation==
[[File:Rick_Astley_-_Pepsifest_2009.jpg|thumb|200px| Rick Astley (from Wikimedia Commons)]]
The term ''{{w|Trolling}}'' is used to describe provocative, destructive, or annoying behavior on the {{w|Internet}}. Especially common are Internet pranks of the {{w|bait-and-switch}} type, an example of which is {{w|Rickrolling}}. It involves placing a {{w|hyperlink|link}} that is supposed to contain interesting or funny material, but instead directs to the music video of the 1987 {{w|Rick Astley}} song ''{{w|Never Gonna Give You Up}}''. The prank first occurred in May 2007 on the popular {{w|imageboard}} {{w|4chan}} and has since become a widespread {{w|internet meme}}.

The comic has [[Black Hat]] and [[Cueball]] digging into the ground and splicing Black Hat's computer into the TV cables of {{w|Rick Astley}}'s house. They are feeding the video of ''{{w|Never Gonna Give You Up}}'' into Astley's TV signal, who can be seen sitting in his living room and wondering why CNN has been replaced by his own video. The act of Rickrolling Rick Astley himself is declared to be a "great moment in trolling".

The title text mentions {{w|Goatse.cx}} (pronounced ''goat sex''), a former {{w|shock site|shock website}} that was used in a similar prank. People clicking on the feigned link would instead see the disturbing picture of a practitioner of anal stretching. The title text suggests that Black Hat and Cueball somehow made the (unknown) founder of the site click on an even more shocking link, or possibly put him in the personal presence of anal stretching.

Also note that the comic image itself is itself a Rickroll. Anyone curious enough as to why their mouse pointer became the selection icon to click on the comic (on the original [https://www.xkcd.com/351/ xkcd page]) would find themselves watching "Never Gonna Give You Up."

==Trivia==
*Almost 13 years later, on 17th June 2020, {{w|Rick Astley}} was actually rickrolled on Reddit ([https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/haucpf/ive_found_a_few_funny_memories_during_lockdown/fv505w1/ on r/pics]), an event that was [https://time.com/5855001/rick-roll-rick-astley/ covered by Times Magazine] the following day.
**He was rickrolled by a redditor known as u/theMalleableDuck, who pretended that he had met Rick backstage when he was 12, and posted a link that was actually a rickroll. u/theMalleableDuck later wrote that they were "actually not the first. Just the one that caught on for some reason" ([https://www.reddit.com/r/nukedmemes/comments/zi6gyb/comment/izt62md/ link]).
**The discussion on Reddit referenced this XKCD comic ([https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/haucpf/comment/fv58ngz/ link]).

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat and Cueball are in Rick Astley's yard, hacking into his cable TV connection and replacing the signal. Rick Astley is sitting in a chair in his house, watching TV.]
:TV: CNN has obtained this exclusive footage of the riot-torn-- ''*CZZZHT*'' ♫ Never gonna give you up... ♪
:Rick Astley: What the hell?

:[Caption below the frame:]
:GREAT MOMENTS in TROLLING:
:Rick Astley is successfully Rickrolled

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Rickrolling]]