The fact that they are aimed at everyone dilutes the humiliation to acceptable levels.

I don't actually think that. With newspapers, I read them for facts and am furious when they print stuff that isn't true, even in fun. On sites like Facebook, I hate it when people who think they're your friends try to make you feel and look stupid. i admit this may be because I'm quite slow to "get" jokes. But I loathe !st April and usually avoid looking at the internet until 12.