Today, a viral screenshot claiming Gmail will be shut down trended on X, but the post appears to be a semi-organized prank by a number of tech accounts.
This is also known as a joke.
“This is insane. I hate this company,” @growing_daniel posted a screenshot of the announcement Thursday around 2:30 p.m.
The message says, “Dear Gmail users.” “the current August 1, 2024, Gmail is officially deprecated and its service will end. This means that after this date, Gmail will no longer support sending, receiving, or storing emails. ”
The screenshot further claims that Google will focus on “new technologies and platforms” to “revolutionize the way we communicate and interact online.”
Some people believed it at first, but it soon turned out to be a joke.
“The only thing that made it seem plausible to me is this confusion.” Posted Bloomtech CEO Austin Allred next to a screenshot of the Wikipedia entry about the end of Google Hangouts. Allred originally posted an article about Gmail being discontinued before purchasing and deleting it.
Those who took part in it jumped on board with the trend and posted their own versions of screenshots.
“Sorry, this is my fault,” @anotheralexcohen posted above another screenshot of the email. “I asked my team to change the red color of the Gmail logo to #EE4B2B, and after 17 months of meetings with 42 PMs and 74 designers, we understood the social and economic impact of the change. After some discussion, the team decided to retire this product.[.]”
The first appearance of this post appears to be from @SHL0MS, an “anonymous conceptual artist” who is a popular troll in the tech world on Twitter.
They posted “Say it now” above a screenshot of the email. This email is designed to look like it was sent by Google Analytics and is addressed to SHLOMS.
Google did not respond to an email asking if the service would actually be shut down, but no one outside the technology community has been able to independently reproduce the warning sent by Google.
Many posters tried to counter this joke by pointing out what Google was actually doing. announced One of the company’s Gmail services was shut down in January. But it was a basic HTML version of the email designed to load faster for people with spotty internet connections.
The “Killed by Google” Twitter account, which is not affiliated with Google but also catalogs all the useful services Google has taken down over the years, weighs in on this news and debunks it. exposed.
“My favorite part is that we didn’t even start this project.”
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*First published: February 22, 2024 at 4:01pm CST
Marlon Ettinger
Marlon Ettinger writes about politics, crime, and culture. For tips and ideas please email him at marlonjettinger@gmail.com.
