Wednesday, Dec. 07, 2011
The White House on Rick Astley
In July, a White House Twitter follower wrote that the White House briefing in progress wasn't "nearly as entertaining as yesterday's." Minutes later, the White House (@whitehouse) responded with the "rickroll" of the year. The phrase is used to describe the gone-viral act of tricking someone into viewing (or listening to) Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up." It's not the joke itself that makes the tweet notable — the rickrolling meme has been around for years — it's what it represents. Our government (in theory, at least) is listening — and it's not always as stodgy as we imagine.