29/07/2011
A representative for The White House used Twitter to indulge in the prank known as Rickrolling in the midst of a live chat session on the subject of the debt ceiling.
The media has been full of stories every day regarding the ongoing disputes in Congress and the potential severity of the situation is increasing rapidly.
The White House uses social media to speak to the public about important subjects they may be concerned about and has an open session labelled 'Office Hours.' It was during this session that a fellow Tweeter expressed the view that the dialogue was not quite as riveting as previous conversations and it was this comment that sparked the correspondent at The White House to enjoy a bit of mischievousness.
Rickrolling is an online phenomenon which has been going on for several years now and has gained a cult following. It involves providing a link to a subject, usually of a supposedly serious nature, but upon clicking it, the link opens up a video of Rick Astley singing his hit song from 1987 – 'Never Gonna Give You Up.'
After the tweet complaining that the conversation regarding the debt ceiling was less than stimulating, The White House responded with the comment, 'Sorry to hear that. Fiscal policy is important but can be dry sometimes. Here's something more fun:…' The Tweet went on to provide a link which looked as if it was possibly an archive of White House chat conversation, but the users that clicked it found themselves watching Rick Astley. Those familiar with the prank would have known that they had been Rickrolled whereas others would have been rather more bemused.
The momentary lightening of the mood arose as Brian Deese, the National Economic Council's deputy director was taking questions from web users via the official Twitter page for the White House.
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