As for the people that use them on the daily? The vast majority seem like a hivemind. On YouTube you will literally find pages of “bro [insert incredibly basic observation] 💀😭” in a single comment section. It’s one thing if it were a reference to something insane or unhinged like a copypasta, but it’s another when it’s a subconscious “can I copy your homework” over and over again. People overuse emojis in the same way that people type out “lmao” with a straight face in response to a meme. They’re used out of laziness so often that they’re becoming filler speech.

The irony of saying that and ending with

thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Everyone and their mother has made that joke at least once after writing a somewhat long text. You’re not any more original or any less of a “hivemind” than the peoples you’re talking about in this paragraph. You need to calm your ego.

What matters is she has taken away any appearance of being unbiased, both for her and by association for the paper.

Nothing is unbiased, anything written by a human is tinted by their perspective, by what they know and by the lack of what they don’t know, by their sense of morality, their ideology, etc… At most, you can approach what looks like the neutral position from your perspective, but true neutrality is fundamentally unreachable. Personally, I prefer a journalist that knows what their bias are and state them clearly to their audience over one that pretend like they have the laterally superhuman ability to forme truly unbiased and neutral opinion.

no, actual drones, as in the teleguided thing with rotors that fly. they strap explosives on that and throw it at targets.