The Narcissism Niche: Dronies Supplant Selfies

It's going to be this year's must have gift. Just sayin.'

You've got two hours till most stores close on the East Coast of the US and a few more further west. Those of you in Europe are presumably already timed out. 

So there may be a few unsold drones out there somewhere. And according to retailers, as the following article explains, the demand for drones  is being driven not by some latter day fascination with aeronautical engineering but by narcissism. Dronies - photos of yourself taken from your drone - are the new selfies.

You think this is some sort of iconoclastic downer social commentary? Hah! Vimeo started a dedicated online dronie channel eight months ago. And it's rocking.

Presumably the next iteration will be pics taken from spy satellites in outer space. But let's not go there - literally or figuratively - just yet. There are going to be plenty of complaints and legal hassles generated by the version stuck in earth's atmosphere. Engineers, photo processors, advertisers on YouTube, lawyers:  Talk about stimulating the economy...JL

Emily Gosden reports in The Telegraph:

Sales of drones jumped by 130 per cent in the third quarter of the year. “People bought the drones because of narcissism. People want to put pictures on YouTube of them looking strong and talented, and that is why people want the cameras."

From Papal visits to the Oscars, it seems no event is now complete without a “selfie” to document the day. But the ubiquitous trend for the self-portrait photographs, taken on a smartphone at arm’s length, could now be usurped by the “dronie” – or photos taken by a drone.

According to French drone manufacturer Parrot, the burgeoning popularity of the remote-controlled miniature aircraft is being fuelled by “narcissism” as people buy drones fitted with cameras in order to film themselves.

Unlike the selfie, which often results in the photograph’s subjects appearing squashed in at an awkward angle, the company claims the trend will result in high-quality footage. Drones of the future will be able to pilot themselves, following the subject around automatically, he said.

“It would be like having a full TV crew with you when you went snowboarding or mountain climbing,” Henri Seydoux, Parrot’s chief executive, told the Financial Times.

Parrot says sales of drones jumped by 130 per cent in the third quarter of the year, taking even the company itself by surprise.

“It turned out that in reality people bought the drones because of narcissism. People want to put pictures on YouTube of them looking strong and talented, and that is why people want the cameras,” Mr Seydoux said.

Drones, or “unmanned aerial vehicles”, were once the preserve of technology specialists but have soared in popularity with models on sale for as little as £40 featuring on many must-have gift lists this Christmas.
Their increasing mass-market appeal has however led to fears over privacy and safety. It recently emerged that a drone had come close to colliding with a passenger plane at Heathrow this summer.