Quote:No, you just linked to the video. Rickrolling, in the original sense, involves slipping a link to "Never Gonna Give You Up" disguised as something else into a post. For example, if we were having a debate about the social policies of candidate X and I were to slip a link to the video in place of something that I'm citing as a source, that's a Rick Roll. Simply linking to the video doesn't cut it.

 

Outside of the Internet, Rickrolling involves unexpectedly playing or performing "Never Gonna Give You Up" in a place where there's zero context for it. For example, Cartoon Network famously Rickrolled the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a few years back by having the characters on their float start to sing something else, then they abruptly stopped and Rick Astley emerged to mime his song for a national audience of millions. Most of them did not know what a Rick Roll was, so they were left confused and utterly trolled.

 

In the Westboro sense, the Foos are certainly not the first to Rickroll them. Playing NGGYU at exceedingly loud volumes to mask out the noise of WBC protesters, neo-Nazis, (insert group you disagree with here), whatever has been around for years.

 

The key to a successful Rick Roll is not overdoing it. For a couple of years there, I couldn't click a damn link without being sent back to that video. Now that the craze has largely passed and there isn't a new video on Youtube every hour of someone Rickrolling a gathering and acting like they're the first to ever come up with it, the occasional Rick Roll is a fun and welcome intrusion into serious conversation.