>By Friday evening, more than 540,000 people from around the world had signed up to attend the joke Facebook event: “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us”
I'm curious how many of these folks are now on a US Government List. How will this affect any travel plans to the USA? How will this affect any additional scrutiny directed at US Citizens on that list.
I think the organizers forgot that the US Government doesn't joke or care for humor.
Just stating the unintended consequences in this day and age of participating in social media events.
I imagine there is some low level soldier tasked with reading the posts in the group to ascertain the actual threat, I wonder if they’re amused or annoyed. Occasionally someone in the group asks if people are serious, the usual reply is ‘nice try FBI.’
I feel like folks on Hacker News constantly underestimate how much you have to do to end up being someone the government is seriously interested in.
I’ve been commenting on HN in a saucy and flagrant way about the US government for years. And let’s not be coy: I’d gladly sign up to storm Area 51 with these bozos and take home my own alien trophy.
Here’s the kicker: Tomorrow I’m flying from Dublin to Philadelphia. I’ll reply to this comment if I make it through security in America. If I don’t reply within 24 hours, I beseech everyone to downvote me to oblivion for my painful naïveté and baseless arrogance.
"Eschew flamebait. Don't introduce flamewar topics unless you have something genuinely new to say. Avoid unrelated controversies and generic tangents."
This is what's kinda talked about in Rainbows End.
The Christchurch attack was a very extreme form of meme behaviour. HWNDU is another. Anti-Scientology protests perhaps were among the first.
What's different here is it will take a lot of people in a organised way. The others have been IRL one person or small cells of people, distributed manifestations.
I don't think it will be pulled off, but if it is, I'd be a new complex IRL attacking meme behaviour.
17 comments
[ 5.2 ms ] story [ 57.4 ms ] threadI'm curious how many of these folks are now on a US Government List. How will this affect any travel plans to the USA? How will this affect any additional scrutiny directed at US Citizens on that list.
I think the organizers forgot that the US Government doesn't joke or care for humor.
Just stating the unintended consequences in this day and age of participating in social media events.
Now the people who actually showed up..
I’ve been commenting on HN in a saucy and flagrant way about the US government for years. And let’s not be coy: I’d gladly sign up to storm Area 51 with these bozos and take home my own alien trophy.
Here’s the kicker: Tomorrow I’m flying from Dublin to Philadelphia. I’ll reply to this comment if I make it through security in America. If I don’t reply within 24 hours, I beseech everyone to downvote me to oblivion for my painful naïveté and baseless arrogance.
[0] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46339085
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
The Christchurch attack was a very extreme form of meme behaviour. HWNDU is another. Anti-Scientology protests perhaps were among the first.
What's different here is it will take a lot of people in a organised way. The others have been IRL one person or small cells of people, distributed manifestations.
I don't think it will be pulled off, but if it is, I'd be a new complex IRL attacking meme behaviour.