More than 44,000 people on Facebook “like” the Queen’s new site. That seems like a lot given that the Facebook page was only launched at 8 AM London time.
Why a Facebook page of the Queen? It is hard to say. The British royal family gets as much press coverage as any monarchy in the world. The Facebook page takes even a bit more way from their privacy.
Of course, the Queen’s page is good for a bit of image building. The Queen and her family members have lost a great deal of their popularity. The death of Princess Diana and their reaction did not help that. Many in the UK and some members of Parliament have suggested that the monarchy be abolished. It costs England several hundred million pounds a year to support the institution. The royal family is among the largest landholders in the UK. That property could be nationalized and sold.
Facebook’s royal page is a bit of propaganda. The UK royal family should not be above actions similar to those of politicians. The Queen and her family do need to be “re-elected” from time-to-time. The UK’s drive toward austerity is a good moment to promote that value of the institution. It turns out that the royal family have Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube accounts.
The royals have clearly begun an assault to improve their stature with social networks as part of the foundation.
Douglas A. McIntyre