Whatever you do, don't click this button

The Button is shredding sanities the world over

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):

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?

There's speculation the time-out was a glitch or prank though. It seems to be back up and running for some people but not others...

Update II: The button is now showing question marks. If it had run out it would surely be showing zeros, so maybe it still exists somewhere?

Update III (09:58 BST): The Button is back! But can we even trust it anymore?

@christophhooton