【2016 Archives】

016 Archivesinternet can be a disturbing, sad place. It takes a special kind of hero to remind us that its darkest corners can also be filled with joy. That hero is @dril, an embodiment of so-called "weird Twitter" who has — like some kind of joke-slinging caped crusader — remained an anonymous beacon of shining light.

Anonymous until yesterday, that is. That's right, someone went ahead and doxxed him, and the internet is really bummed about it.

While we won't reveal his name here, it turns out someone posted dril's alleged identity to Tumblr, and the internet immediately facepalmed straight into a "this is why we can't have nice things" spiral.

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Essentially, people are OK with a little mystery in the world. And, shockingly, the kind of Twitter user that loves accounts like dril's is also ready to defend them at a moment's notice.

The entire ordeal calls to mind the big 2013 reveal that alleged Twitter bot Horse_ebooks was actually run by humans. That was a sad, sad day. Turns out some things are better left unsaid.

As it is, however, we can expect every last bit of joy and mystery to be wrung out of the internet before the sun explodes and takes us all with it. Everything happens so much, and all that.

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