Microsoft's Clippy is about to make a big comeback, but not in the way you think
Those who were Microsoft Office users back in the late 90s or early aughts undoubtedly remember Clippy, the paperclip office assistant who offered tips and tricks for Office that most found annoying rather than helpful. Even though Clippy hasn't been used in any Office apps for many years at this point, the irritating little office assistant still has quite the reputation. It seems that Clippy is about to make a grand comeback too, though you don't have to worry about it greeting you every time you open a new document.
On Twitter today, Microsoft shared a picture of the Clippy along with a simple directive: "If this gets 20k likes, we'll replace the paperclip emoji in Microsoft 365 with Clippy." For a company like Microsoft, which has 9.5 million followers on Twitter, 20,000 likes is clearly a a low bar, as evidenced by the fact that the post is just over an hour old and it's already surpassed that amount.
If this gets 20k likes, we'll replace the paperclip emoji in Microsoft 365 with Clippy. pic.twitter.com/6T8ziboguC
— Microsoft (@Microsoft) July 14, 2021
Was Microsoft being serious? Maybe this was all just a joke to drum up some social media attention? At the moment, we're not sure if Microsoft is going to follow through with making Clippy the new paperclip emoji because it hasn't posted a follow-up tweet after its original one hit 20k likes.
We are guessing, however, that the Clippy depicted in the image will be the one taking up the mantle of Microsoft 365's new paperclip emoji. The new Clippy looks to be made of sturdier metal than its predecessor, which mostly just looked like a standard paperclip with eyes stuck on it. We're not sure if the new look is better, but it's certainly less horrifying.
In any case, we'll wait on Microsoft to announce its plans now that its original tweet blew past 20k likes. Get ready, because Clippy might just be making its big return shortly.