Whatever you do, don't click this button

The Button is shredding sanities the world over

Thursday 02 April 2015 10:33 BST

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Reddit has come up with the most simple, elegant and utterly maddening April Fools' joke.

The Button counts down from 60 seconds, but resets every time a user clicks it. What happens if it reaches zero? Something good? Something bad? No-one knows.

What makes it so ingenious is that only users who had accounts prior to 1 April 2015 can press the button, which means that there are a finite number of clickers and the countdown WILL end at some point, though it could take weeks or months.

Here's a GIF of the button, you'll need to visit this page if you want to click it (but don't be hasty, see below):

null

Despite the limit on clicks, people are of course clicking anyway because this is the internet and buttons have to be pressed.

The clock is currently resetting every couple of seconds (once I saw it get as far as 55 seconds), but participants are already pleading for people to think about strategy.

DON'T CLICK. Save your click for a time of need, when it falls below 10 seconds.

A fascinating exercise in patience and a display of the power and enormity of the internet, it is already driving people insane.

I've long since used up my click, and feel utterly foolish. I can already see the dystopia this ends in, where unused clicks exchange at 5000 US dollars.

Update: It just run out, what the hell guys?