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Library/Meme & format/Rickrolling
Grade B13 sourcesHIS-01017

Rickrolling

Meme & format · 2007 · Viral

62Editable slideCertificate

A link prank crossed into stadiums; Astley received over 5 million Mets song votes.

Original · Shawn Cotter / cotter548
RickRoll'D
cotter548 on YouTube
Rickrolling
Wikipedia (non-free, fair use)
Rick Astley (file pic, 1989)
BBC News
Photo of Rick ASTLEY
The Verge
Rickrolling: The Definitive Oral History
MEL Magazine
Return Of The Mac
MusicRadar

Spread Score

How it works
Reach70ContagionNo data yetBreadth50VelocityNo data yetLongevityNo data yet62

Numbers

RickRoll’D upload views
>64M
As of Sep 5, 2012 · YouTube · Observer / Betabeat
Seed to milestone
11 months
May 15 ’07 to Apr 1 ’08
Platforms
7
Started on YouTube
Origin
Organic
Culture (no sector)

Mechanics

  • Platform jumpPrimary
  • Press loop
  • Response chain

How it spread

Trace the origin

A 2007 fake trailer link turned an existing music video into a repeatable prank. YouTube adopted it in April 2008; stadium votes, flash mobs, TV and political accounts carried it beyond forums.

Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak.

Nov ’06Sep ’07Apr ’08JulDecApr ’10Nov ’11Apr ’13Feb ’16Dec ’18Jan ’21OctYouTubeOpen webFacebookPressTVXReddit
YouTubeOpen webFacebookPressTVXReddit

11 more events on this chart

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Timeline (14)

  1. May 2007

    Shawn Cotter / cotter548 seed · May 15 ’07

    Cotter uploaded RickRoll'D and linked it on 4chan as a Grand Theft Auto IV trailer.[1][2]

    RickRoll'D
    Open the first post ↗

  2. February 2008

    Anonymous protesters platform jump · Feb 10 ’08

    Protesters played the song at demonstrations against Scientology.[3]

    Rickrolling: The Definitive Oral History

  3. March 2008

    WIRED / Pawl Fisher press · Mar 26 ’08

    Reported Fisher spliced several games into a basketball Rickroll video that fooled New York Times coverage.[13]

Changelogupdated Oct 16 ’26
  1. 2026-10-16Added 1 event · Added 2 sources
  2. 2026-10-15Added: 12 events, 9 sources · Score 48
Origin
Organic
Sector
Culture (no sector)
Region
Global
RickRoll’D upload views
>64M
As of Sep 5, 2012 · YouTube · Observer / Betabeat
Evidence
Grade B

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สวนสัตว์เปิดเขาเขียว on Instagram: "สวนสัตว์เปิดเขาเขียว อวดโฉม“ลูกฮิปโปแคระ”สุดน่ารัก ชวนเที่ยว วันหยุดยาว! เด็กเที่ยวฟรี 28 ก.ค. นี้ เมื่อเวลา 10.30 น.วันที่ 25 กรกฎาคม 2567 นายณรงวิทย์ ชดช้อย…

$3.1K revenue

Game of Thrones coffee cup

Open web · 2019

62
We find coffee cups where they’re not supposed to be all the time. Not sure what the big deal is. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #leavenotrace

53B impressions

Covfefe

X · 2017

58
Now playable in #WordsWithFriends! #covfefe - "Autocorrect fails you at 3am"

2.6M derivatives

New cases, every week

How the next thing spread, the week it does.

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Nov ’06Sep ’07Apr ’08JulDecApr ’10Nov ’11Apr ’13Feb ’16Dec ’18Jan ’21OctYouTubeOpen webFacebookPressTVXReddit
YouTubeOpen webFacebookPressTVXReddit

11 more events on this chart

Join free to see them

  1. May 2007

    Shawn Cotter / cotter548 seed · May 15 ’07

    Cotter uploaded RickRoll'D and linked it on 4chan as a Grand Theft Auto IV trailer.[1][2]

    RickRoll'D
    Open the first post ↗

  2. February 2008

    Anonymous protesters platform jump · Feb 10 ’08

    Protesters played the song at demonstrations against Scientology.[3]

    Rickrolling: The Definitive Oral History

  3. March 2008

    WIRED / Pawl Fisher press · Mar 26 ’08

    Reported Fisher spliced several games into a basketball Rickroll video that fooled New York Times coverage.[13]

  1. milestone · Apr 1 ’08

  2. platform jump · Apr 8 ’08

Join free to see the other 11 events and the full chart. Free, on every case.

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Why it worked

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Pro opens the playbook, all 3 sourced numbers and 13 sources. Start with a free account.

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