With April Fools’ Day upon us, we have a simple tip that can prevent you from being fooled—at least by one popular shenanigan:
The Rickroll.
Rickrolling, for the uninitiated, is when someone sends you a link that unknowingly takes you to the video for Rick Astley’s 1987 hit “Never Gonna Give You Up.”
The prank has been an April Fools’ staple for nearly two decades, including a stunt where YouTube linked every video on its home page to the music video. And seeing that “Never Gonna Give You Up” currently has 1.7 billion views on YouTube—yes, billion with a “B”—it seems like this is one joke that people are “never gonna give up.”
Here's what you need to know:
If someone sends you a Bitly link, you can check it before clicking it. Just copy the Bitly link and add a “+” sign to see where it goes.
For example, take the link below—which is definitely not a Rickroll, wink wink—and add a “+” like this:
Instead of visiting the link, you’ll see an info page like this: