The "Fail Whale" is this above graphic of a whale held up by a flock of birds illustrated by Yiying Lu (@yiyinglu on twitter)

It is employed during periods of downtime by the social networking service Twitter.com, which allows users to submit and share brief messages known colloquially as "tweets." When Twitter gets overloaded, users see the "Fail Whale" error message.

This image brings a human touch to a moment of frustration and now is turning into a pop culture icon for the Web 2.0 crowd:

:: Some High-Lights ::

* Fail Whale 3D Sculpture by @Hil121:


Video of Fail Whale 3D Sculpture and Fail Whale Sculpture set on Flickr:

* Michael jackson is Over Capacity by @raeioul:


* Fail Whale's cameo role on SuperNews! "Twouble with Twitters"

* Fail Whale's cameo role on SuperNews! "Celebrity Twitter Overkill"


* Fail Whale Tattoo on @critter:


* Lego Fail Whale and its making process by @tveskov:


* Paper quilled Fail Whale by @allthingspaper :


* Fail Whale Ballon in Japan skyward for the Asagaya Tanabata festival in Tokyo:


* Fail Whale inspired Makeup Tutorial by @QueenOfBlending:


* Fail Pig by @FabioRex:

* Fail Whale Pale Ale Label Contest was held last year by TweetHunt:
* Fail Whale Pale Ale Label entry by Jason of Gorilla Sushi:


* Fail Whale Pale Ale Label entry by Brian Cook:

* Fail Whale Pale Ale Label entry by @dirtdirt:


Fail Whale Pale Ale Label entry by @seanosteen:


* FAILparty Fail Whale Pale Ale Tap Handle:

* Harmless Fail Whale Hunting Game @diefailwhale:


* Fail Whale 3D Model Mono-toned Art Work by @southerngfx:


* Fail Whale 3D Model Colored Art Work by @southerngfx:


* Fail Whale Cake by @rocknrollgeek:

* Fail Whale Cake by @wildflourbakery:

* Fail Whale Cupcake on Flickr by sweetlibertinecakes:


* Fail Whale Cupcake from The Suisse Shop Bakery:


* Fail Homer Simpson Whale by @noticiasda:

* British singer-songwriter Imogen Heap (@imogenheap) in Fail Whale Tee:

* Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) Fail Whale by @boroughbaby (thx to @davebobak)


* Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) Fail Whale on SF Weekly:

* @BaltimoreMD gets 3000 followers on Twitter, @ryanatmghwom gets Fail Whale Tattoo:


On February 23, 2009 @ryanatmghwom pledged to the Twitter community that if @BaltimoreMD gained 1300 followers to reach 3000 before @visitchicago and @travelportland he would get a Fail Whale tattoo. We got the followers and then he got the tattoo. Here he is getting inked at Saints and Sinners in Baltimore. Notice the Fail Whale has a Baltimore twist, Mr. Boh of Natty Boh is flying him away.

* LED Fail Whale by @seanosteen:


* Fail Whale's appearance in Episode 20 of Japanese Toradora Anime:


* 3D Rendered Fail Whale by @mugginz:


* Painted Fail Whale by @dache:


* Fail Whale image mosaic of 100 photos by software architect @cjcraft:


* A Whale of a Day by @mousewords:

* ASCII Fail Whale Art on Strawp:


*Fail Whale Lighting via @chrisjm:


* 3D Rendered Fail Whale by @stephenallred:


* Fail Whale Brekky by @davidhoang:


* Sand Fail Whale by @ijustine:


* Fail Whale Pumpkin Carving via @jrmozart:


* Fail Whale WWII Dramatization (NSFW) - No Twitter for Hitler:


* Fail Whale on Paper by @davidhoang:

* Which ASCII Fail Whale is Superior Quiz

* Fail Whale the MoMA Master Piece, Circa 2025 spotted by @sass:


* Fail Whale Pop Art by @augustj:


* Fail Whale on Live Friday Design Competitions Layer Tennis by Jennifer Daniel:


* Twitter Encyclopedia by @CharlieCurve:

* Twitter / Fail Bird illustration by @MyklRoventine:

* Twitter / Fail Bird illustration by @Phillustrations:

* Twitter / Fail Bird illustration by @hellvetica:

* Fail Whale Embroidery by @emdot:

* Pixo Fail Whale by @charlottespeaks:


* Fail Whale in Crayon by @MikeWas:


* Airbrushed Fail Whale Painting by @Diamondie:


* Qui veut la peau de twitter? by @GeoffreyDorne:


* Murdered Fail Whale by @nickbilton:


* Fail Whale Doodle by @nozzman:


* Fail Whale Art Work by Michel Briat:


* Desktop art Fail Whale illustration by @G_Obieta:


* @GioLovesYou plays matchmaker with Fail Whale:


* The 'Real Life Fail Whale' composite by @edrabbit:


* A Symbol of Failure Inspires: A Round Up Of Twitter Fail Whale Sightings by @lauralsweet:

* FailWhale.info an entire site dedicated to Fail Whale by @TimRogers:

* Fail Whale Name Origin Discussion on Flickr:

* Nick Quaranto (@qrush)'s “Eureka�moment on "Failwhale" Name:


* Fail Whale('s tail) on Shorty Awards in New York City Feb 2009 -
The folks behind the shorties are: @semel, @gregory, @varga, @atw


* FAILparty I (Jul 2008) & FAILparty 2: EconoFAIL! in San Francisco (Feb 2009):

* Fail Whale Drink Recipe via @BlackTwitterati:

The Fail Whale Martini

- 1 part Absolute
- 1 part Cointreau
- 1 part Blue Curacao
- Lime Slice
Pour over ice and mix in a shaker. Serve in martini glasses.

The Fail Whale Martini II (a variation on the Blue Whale)

- 1 part Vodka or Gin (depending on who you ask)
- 1 part Blue Curacao
- 1 part Orange Juice
- 1 part Pineapple Juice
- 1 part Sweet and Sour Mix
Pour ingredients over ice and mix in a shaker. Strain into tall glasses.
Garnish with a plastic blue whale and a cherry. Serve.

The Fail Whale Drink, according to FailWhaleDrink.com is:

- 1 Glass of Heineken
- 0.5 shot of Blue Curacao
- 0.5 shoto of Vodka
- 1 Sardine (if available)
Drop the shot of Vodka and Blue Curacao into the pint glass heineken, garnish with a Sardine.

There's also the Fail Whale Iced Tea:

- 0.5 oz Blue Curacao
- 0.5 oz Gin
- 0.5 oz Rum
- 0.5 oz Triple sec
- 0.5 oz OVAL Vodka
Directions:
Pour all the ingredients over ice. Shake and garnish with a lemon squeeze.

:: As seen on the internet ::

* Official Fail Whale Fan Club - operated by @SeanOsteen


* Fail Whale Fan Club on Facebook - operated by @yiyinglu, @toms & @SeanOsteen


* Fail Whale discussion on Twitter in real time:


* @failwhale on Twitter:


* Fail Whale Videos on Youtube:


* Community Fail Whale Art on Flickr:


* Fail Whale on Google Search:


* Fail Whale Story on CNN By John D. Sutter


* Fail Whale Story on New York Times by Rob Walker

* "How Fail Whale became a hit" on Sydney Morning Herald by @skytsang:


* Fail Whale on NPR:


* Fail Whale Party featured on Wired Magazine by @jennydeluxe:


* Fail Whale Story on ReadWriteWeb by @sarahintampa:


:: Fail Whale Treats ::
* Fail Whale TShirts, Mugs, Posters, Mouse Pads & Pins, etc on Zazzle:


* Fail Whale TShirts on SpreadShirts


* Fail Whale Giclee A2 size prints are available at ivoteforart.com

* Fail Whale Artist @yiyinglu Featured on Australia's best Sunday read "Sunday Life":


Enjoy!

The Fail Whale is an web 2.0 icon and aims to improve user loyalty by showing empathy.
(__-){ <3s You!

See all the <3 tweets for (__-){ on twitter!

Thanks to all: @aoaaie, @augustj, @atw, @BaltimoreMD, @BlackTwitterati, Brian Cook, @boroughbaby, @chadscott, @charlottespeaks, @CharlieCurve, @chrisjm, @cjcraft, @critter, @cyrius01, @dache, @davebobak, @davidhoang, @Diamondie, @dirtdirt, @edrabbit, @emdot, @FabioRex, @fibbery, @G_Obieta, @GeoffreyDorne, @GioLovesYou, @gregory, Gorilla Sushi, Hack A Day, @hellvetica, @hil121, @ideabrian, @ijustine, @imogenheap,@jennydeluxe, @jrmozart, @lauralsweet, @layertennis, @MikeWas, @mousewords, @mr_bill, @mugginz, @MyklRoventine, Neil.E.Pearson, @netik, @nickbilton, @Phillustrations, @qrush, @nozzman, @raeioul, @ryanatmghwom, Rob Walker,@sass, @sarahintampa, @seanosteen, @semel, @skytsang, @southerngfx, @stephenallred, @tveskov, @TimRogers, @timishungry, @toms, @wildflourbakery, @x, and @varga

If you'd like to contribute more ideas, found articles or serendipities of Fail Whale - Please email: failwhale [at] gmail [dot] com
If you are going to blog or forward these posts, please link the credit to www.whatisfailwhale.info

Site designed & coded by @yiyinglu