What Is Rickrolling? (For the Confused)

If you are reading this, you or someone you care about may have been recently exposed to an incident commonly known as a “Rickroll.” This page exists to explain, in uncomfortably serious detail, what just happened to you.

Formal definition

Rickrolling is an internet prank where a person is unexpectedly shown a music video of Rick Astley’s 1987 song Never Gonna Give You Up after being led to believe they were clicking something important, relevant, or at least not that.

In layman’s terms: you trusted a link, and the internet gently punished you for it.

Origins: A brief and overly serious history

The earliest known Rickroll incidents trace back to the mid-2000s, when internet users discovered that nothing brings people together like mild betrayal combined with an ’80s pop banger.

Since then, Rickrolling has evolved from a niche forum gag to a recognized cultural phenomenon, used by friends, coworkers, brands, and occasionally entire organizations that really should be doing more productive things with their time.

Common Rickroll delivery methods

According to RSI’s completely unofficial research, the most frequent vectors of Rickroll infection include:

• “You have to watch this, trust me” links – Typically sent by someone who adds “lol” or “no seriously all the way to the end” for emphasis.
• Fake work documents – Presentations titled “Q4 Board Review” that suddenly cut away to a dancing man in a trench coat.
• QR codes in the wild – Stickers in public that read “FREE WIFI DETAILS” or “MENU.”
• Group chat chaos – One person promises “leaked trailer,” everyone clicks, no one learns.
• “Harmless” April Fools announcements – Corporations spending marketing budget to prank their own customers instead of fixing their apps.

Why does this keep working?

Rickrolling persists because it exploits two fundamental components of human nature:

1. Curiosity – We want to see new things, especially if someone says “you’re not ready for this” or “this is wild.”
2. Trust – We assume people we know will not deliberately trick us into a spontaneous ’80s dance break. This assumption is incorrect.

The combination of surprise, nostalgia, and low-stakes embarrassment turns out to be strangely durable. In other words, Rickrolling works because we keep letting it work.

Is Rickrolling harmful?

In most cases, a Rickroll is classified as a Category 0: Harmless Internet Incident. Side effects may include:

• Short-term embarrassment.
• Involuntary head-bobbing.
• Temporary loss of trust in whoever sent the link.

At RSI, we encourage consent-adjacent prank etiquette. This means:

• No Rickrolls during serious meetings or crisis calls.
• No Rickrolls in contexts where audio could be genuinely disruptive or unsafe.
• No Rickrolls on people who clearly do not find it funny (you know who they are).

How do I know if I’ve been Rickrolled?

You may have been Rickrolled if any of the following occurred:

• You clicked a seemingly serious link and suddenly saw an ’80s music video.
• Someone nearby began laughing before you understood why the video was playing.
• The phrase “never gonna” entered your ears faster than your brain had time to register regret.

What should I do now?

First, know that you are not alone. Millions of otherwise intelligent adults have been in your exact position.

Second, we recommend taking one or more of the following steps:

• Enroll in Rickroll Preparedness Training to reduce future incidents.
• File a Rickroll Incident Report if you would like to document what happened.
• Quietly pretend you never clicked the link and move on with your day.

*RSI is not an accredited institution, but we do have a lot of experience clicking things we shouldn’t.