Showerthought: The whole 'birds aren't real' thing is a joke, but I keep seeing people use it to dismiss actual drone surveillance concerns.

It started as satire to mock conspiracy thinking, but now I see folks online using it to shut down any talk about government drones. The FAA's own 2023 report shows over 2.5 million registered drones in the US, so the tech is obviously real and widespread. Are we letting a meme make us ignore a real debate about privacy?

3 comments

3 Comments

christopherw3414d ago

My buddy got a drone for his birthday last year. He was flying it in the park, just taking pictures of trees, and a guy walked up to him all mad. The guy pointed at a robin on a branch and said, "See, that's the real deal, not like your spy machine." It was so weird because the joke totally missed the point. We have real drones everywhere now, like you said, but that meme makes people act like it's silly to even talk about them. It kind of shuts down the real talk about who's watching and what rules we need.

margaretramirez14d ago

My cousin had a neighbor who kept yelling at delivery drones, calling them fake birds. Meanwhile, the actual police drone program in our town got approved with zero debate. Feels like the joke just gives people an excuse not to pay attention, right?

smith.parker14d ago

Honestly used to share the meme all the time because it was funny. But seeing stuff like what @margaretramirez said about the police drone program is a wake up call. The joke totally flattens the real issue now that drones are everywhere. It makes people act like talking about rules and privacy is just being a crazy person, when it's actually super basic stuff we should all care about.