Is it okay to add Easter Eggs to my answers?

Question

From the help center:

Whether you've come to ask questions, or to generously share what you know, remember that we’re all here to learn, together. Be welcoming and patient, especially with those who may not know everything you do. Oh, and bring your sense of humor. Just in case.

I understand that employing humor in questions/answers/comments is generally encouraged, and true to that, I've seen quite a few of humor infused posts on Chemistry.SE.

But what of Easter Eggs?

Can I use Easter Eggs in my answers? They aren't particularly informative/helpful, but they aren't downright offensive, or factually incorrect.

For example, my latest Easter Egg was in my answer to the question, Why do most drugs (eg: oxycodone) have seemingly arbitrary names?:

Xeljanz, which was approved earlier this year after almost 20 years of research, targets a protein called Janus kinase. It works in a different cellular pathway from other arthritis drugs. That's where you get the -jan part of that name, which, to someone with a drug decoder, connotes its uniqueness.

_{The -jan hyperlink leads to my most venerable senpai Jan's profile page :-D}

In this case, the Easter Egg was intended to elicit a grin from the site's more regular visitors. And since no one flagged it (as far as I'm aware), I guess the people who've seen it so far haven't taken a strong exception to it O:).

So are these Easter Eggs (not limited to linking people's profiles) acceptable? I don't do it all that often anyways...

Answer 1

Easter eggs are certainly a fun thing in all kinds of media, and they are a fun thing to hunt. However, I think that in answers on chemistry.se they would be misplaced. We don't hate fun here, but I personally would prefer the kind where it is open and easy to spot.

If I click on a link here, I expect it to give me more information, except where otherwise stated. If it links to some insider joke, that I might not even get, that would leave me disappointed.

In your particular test case, the joke would completely be lost, if Jan decided to change his name, or worse would quit and delete his profile.

Therefore, please don't hide Easter eggs, use humour openly, like so: