No longer is it sufficient to simply have your own futuristic headquarters or a couple of corporate jets.

Nowadays every self-respecting social platform is scrambling for the ultimate status symbol: a fleet of drones.

Droning on

Amazon raised eyebrows last year when it revealed it wanted a fleet of drones to perform same day deliveries. 

Now Facebook has thrown its hat into the ring by revealing it wants to launch a fleet of flying Facebook bots.

Unlike Amazon's couriers, Facebook's drones will beam the internet down to parts of the world that remain largely off the grid.

They'll also be solar powered and can remain aloft for years. 

Friendly fire

But there's more than philanthropy behind Facebook's drone dream. At the moment around 2.7 billion people, or a little over a third of the planet, has access to the internet.

And a growth rate of 9% simply isn't quick enough for someone like Mark Zuckerberg. 

If Facebook can speed up the process through its drones it will not only be reaching millions of potential new users, it will also control access to the internet in these emerging regions.

Meaning Facebook could potentially charge other brands from using its virtual space.

That's if Amazon and Google don't get there first.

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