Google Drops ‘Mic Drop’ Gmail April Fool
Feature has apparently permanently deleted Gmail threads, causing some users to worry about their jobs and friends
Google has been forced into an embarrassing step-down after an April Fool’s Day prank for its Gmail service backfired spectacularly.
The search giant was forced to pull the ‘Mic Drop’ joke feature from Gmail today after some users complained that using it permanently closed and deleted their conversations.
Google was forced to apologise after other users said that they had lost important work correspondence and even offended friends due to the feature.
Oh dear
The Mic Drop button appeared beside Gmail’s normal send button this morning, and when clicked, allowed users to shut down an email thread by sending a gif of a Minion dropping a microphone (pictured left).
“Everyone will get your message, but that’s the last you’ll ever hear about it. Yes, even if folks try to respond, you won’t see it,” Google said in a post announcing the news.
However after complaints began to flood Gmail’s support forums, Google withdrew the feature and apologised.
“It looks like we pranked ourselves this year,” the company said in a statement, adding that users who were still able to see the feature could switch it off by reloading or restarting Gmail.
“Due to a bug, the MicDrop feature inadvertently caused more headaches than laughs. We’re truly sorry.”
It seems that the prank could have had a severe effect on Gmail users, as some complained of potential job losses.
“Accidentally hit this new ‘mic drop’ button halfway through composing a professional email. Dying to remove this thing,” one user wrote on Google’s product forum.
One user claiming to be a professional writer went even further, saying that, “Thanks to ‘mic drop’ I just lost my job.”
“I sent my articles to my boss and never heard back from her. I inadvertently sent the email using the ‘mic drop’ send button.”
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