Accidental NPR Post Has People Clamoring for 'Ramona'

Monday was a grim day to be reading the news, but an accidental post on NPR's Facebook account turned out to be a big exception. It's deleted now, but the Daily Dot recounts: “Ramona is given new toy: Smiles, examines for 20 seconds, discards," it began. Then: “Ramona gets a hug: Acquiesces momentarily, squirms to be put down. Ramona sees three cats 30 feet away: Immediately possessed by shrieking, spasmodic joy that continues after cats flee for their lives.” About 10 minutes later, poof, it was gone, followed by a mea culpa: "EDIT: This post was intended for a personal account. We apologize for the error." As NPR itself explains, social media editor Christopher Dean Hopkins put up the errant post. The story also clarifies that Ramona is a baby, not a cat as many thought.

As Babble notes, the gaffe quickly became an Internet sensation as people clicked on the "edit history" of the editor's note to figure out the original post. "We don't generally delete posts, so I tried to do it in a way that would be transparent," says Hopkins. Mashable rounds up scores of tweets on the subject, including one that seems to sum up the reason for the popularity: "The NPR errant Ramona Facebook post is the only thing good in the world right now," it reads. People began demanding updates about Ramona, and a petition at Change.org suggests not only a series about her but a raise for Hopkins. No word from NPR on whether Ramona will resurface, but its story includes a photo of the new pint-sized celeb. (Speaking of wonderful online things, here's the story behind one of the best comments ever.)