I am reminded of a New Yorker cartoon showing a fellow gazing at a TV screen with the caption: "To think, people are watching this!'
80
Thanks. I had trouble falling asleep. Did the trick.
101
Who are these people? Leeches, work shy, opinionated pomposity, milk promotionals, inelegant furniture and craft designs, depravity... and we've not even got to the bottom of the prince, the UK banker AND the Croatian sensation!!!
12
The only reason to follow the Sussex account is that it is a train wreck waiting to happen. For the moment they are delivering enough content with the Megxit and their decision to lead a Kardashian lifestyle. Next highlights will be their divorce and how much will Meghan get out of it and the future of Harry. Better than any soap opera.
278
I agree about the older followers...-I am one- and I neither "like" nor comment on posts. I also have no interest in following Sussex Royal. Their behaviour has saddened and offended a large number of people who respect the Queen, the monarchy, and the "without fanfare" way William and Kate raise their family, and conduct themselved. Still something to be relied upon in an increasingly unstable and corrupt world.
We all hope Harry will eventually come to his senses and return to his family and the UK, once his wife, as she inevitably will, decides she doesnt need him any longer. Her own father said it very well just the other day...she ditches everyone who outlives their usefulness.
58
Once Prince H. realizes he's been completely duped by Ms. Markle, divorce will come rather swiftly.
A Prince of the Realm is not going to play Hollywood houseboy while the dear Lady goes back to acting and consorting about with the faux royalty in LA-LA Land.
There is, after all, only so much coarse and boorish behavior a gentleman can suffer.
199
@Raven They live in Canada, Hollywood is in Los Angeles. She has lived in Canada for 7 years before meeting Harry and you’ll keep waiting for that divorce
108
@Raven That's right. The Royal Family contributes so much to their country. All that hand waving and ribbon cutting and mingling with commoners is excruciating. And, besides, he was 'born' to it.
41
@Raven "There is, after all, only so much coarse and boorish behavior a gentleman can suffer." Oh, lets not underestimate Harry!!!
38
You want to know about the spike in Kensington Royal, is because this is when everyone saw through Meghan. This is when all the fans of Cambridges came out in full force. The bots you really need to be looking at are the ones Meghan buys at 7000 a pop. Also, look into the connection on their website Sussex Royal and their IG Account. If you go to the website you will become a follower on Sussex Royal IG account. That is how she is getting a lot of her followers. You put it in the news and people go to their website and it makes them a SR IG account follower. This has been reported a number of times.
132
@Teresa If someone figured out the technology to make someone visiting a website automatically become an instagram follower (which... that is not how Instagram works!) they would be using it on things that are a lot more profitable than the Sussex account.
39
@Teresa Odd that this is so highly recommended yet factually incorrect. You have to actively click on the IG link on the Sussex Royal website to follow. I haven't and I'm not. I've been to the website in the past few weeks but nothing has changed about my IG. So I went to the website just now, then checked who I'm following on
IG follows: not Sussex Royal. When will the magic happen for me?
38
@Teresa No, you don't get added automatically on anyone's IG account. Stop spreading disinformation.
57
What a delightful, interesting, insightful read about social medial but also the royals.
Fairly obvious by all observable data that William is jealous of Harry and wanted to put the Sussexes into a box. Thrilled they outsmarted him and laughing at this delicious expose. Sometime things really are as they seem.
238
@GWE, how can you be “thrilled” that two brothers who were once close because of the unusual circumstances of their lives and upbringing and loss of their mother as youngsters are no longer close because one duped the other? I think it’s sad that the two of them are having difficulty navigating the changes in their relationship due to their adult responsibilities as royals, and to each of their wives and children.
I hope they can resolve their differences.
116
@JaneK
I’m never thrilled when people break their bonds but even less thrilled to see one brother bully another.
Sorry not sorry.
44
@Jane K I agree, I think it is very sad at the division between the two brothers now. I honestly feel that it is being fueled by the palace. I think due to racism, the fact that Megan is an American, and the fact that the palace wants William to be the most popular.
64
Modern royals: bot and sold.
23
This couple is famous for being famous. At least Lady Di had done causes. this couple's purpose seem to be making money buy exploiting their fame. Why these hereditary leeches get any attention at all from Americans is due to the shallowness of the public.
17
Can we stop paying attention to these people.
24
@Frakki Karu - Feel free to cease commenting at any time.
29
This is what the British Royal Family is preoccupied with? Have they sunk so low as to seriously fight a popularity contest among themselves? How pathetic!
10
Perhaps the growth of @kensingtonroyal is due to many instances of people, like me, who are so horrified by Meghan and Harry’s behavior, that they follow almost more as a demonstration of disgust for H&M than of a desire to see the @kensingtonroyal content featuring William and Kate. I’m a huge fan of W&K but I can get more details (and more pictures) from a fan page.
17
Also important are the number of posts. For such an allegedly fame hungry pair, Sussex Royal has made fewer than 200 postings. To garner 11 million followers with that little content is almost unheard of in social media land. Basically this couple has to just breathe and the clicks come in. Amazing stats.
16
Ridiculous!
3
One possibility ignored by this analysis is that Kensington Royal followers appreciate the loyalty, dignity and freedom from self-promotion of Kate and William, and are reminded of that by the typical tone of a SussexRoyal post, thus triggering new followers
16
omg no one cares
14
@mallory - It would seem that you do.
12
Did I just read a conspiracy theory about tampering inside the 'pristine' orbit of social media? Isn't that a bit like pointing out cosmetics, hair pieces, and plastic surgery enhancements?
Are we trying to equate numbers of followers with REAL popularity/likability/value...or worse, equate followers with some sort of judgment on the unfortunate family squabbles being suffered by the Queen of England?
We caution teenagers about social media, yet still too many take it seriously and hurt themselves. Please don't give it so much gravitas for analysis.
13
Major fatigue from these in-bred pinkies..Who cares? Need to deal with real world problems
10
The article is interesting but one brief blind spot was that when discussing the number of comments for each account they missed the fact the the Sussex Royal account Has a large amount of negative comments for each of their posts while Kensington does not. There are also lots of commenters who also claim that Sussex Royal has continuously deleted negative comments. So while this article suggests Kensington Royal has artificially boosted their numbers...SussexRoyal is doing some artificial boosting of their own in the form of comment deletion. Just saying.....
20
Really enjoyed this analysis, and deep coverage. This is why I support the NYT. I do not have instagram, nor do I have a take on any of these individuals. What I do really enjoy is a thoughtful analysis, of how our new social media landscape changes and can be manipulated. Great work Caity Weaver, thoughtful, detailed analysis and you handled the material with taste!
41
Go, Caity! The entire situation is a fascinating look at media strategy in today’s world. Their account stats may also have some small connection to the overall growth of Insta as people flock to the world of pretty pictures for a break from Facebook’s often divisive content. But a broader look at messaging, story placement, timing of posts and news of their activities (whether pitched, leaked or supposedly leaked) shows a complicated dance that is definitely based on strategy. It’s also curious to consider who is sharing the information (their PR reps, staff, friends, trainers, housekeepers, or the royals themselves), and whether or not they are authorized to do so. They are all savvy about this game, but it is surely hard to compete with MM’s Hollywood knowledge and connections when managing American outlets to garner attention.
For the real royal updates, @garyjanetti has all the fun info you need.
14
Loved the Shakespearean references; plus I Leary’s lot about social media. Thanks for a bright note amidst coronavirus woes and stock market routs.
18
Oof. Imagine how Prince Charles feels.
7
Oh stop it! There is real news to cover.
8
@Nellie McClung - Most of us can do two things at once. I’m so sorry for your attention deficit.
18
Ms Weaver talks of dreams; which are the children of an idle brain, begot of nothing but vain fantasy.
5
Is the writer saying that the Queen called up Mark Zuckerberg giving him an ultimatum to keep the kensingtons numbers up with the sussexes? Hehe. ‘Hi Mark, it’s the Queen here. I’ve got a favour to ask . . . ‘ ‘Or else . . . ‘
6
This article about the vain, shallow obsession with notching up 'likes' on social media is like an episode of 'Black Mirror' where Bryce Dallas Howard played a woman whose whole life was dependent on the number of 'likes' and 'friends'. They all need to get a life. They left high school decades ago.
11
Pretty sure the Sussexes are buying bots, too...
4
“I really don’t care, do you”?
8
Excuse me whilst I struggle to find sympathy for any of the spoiled, rich royals.
4
Much ado about nothing.
15
So basically, somebody's buying subscribers, huh?
3
Kate is not happy !!!!
5
never was a story of more woe...
9
Who cares? Are all these people crazy, or what?
7
Get a life! Who cares about the ups and downs of followers, unfollowers, likes, etc.
8
This is getting so boring. Who cares and don't they have some kind of "royal duties" to carry out other than publishing selfies?
5
Oh, Caity Weaver, this was fun to read, whilst COVID-19 roams the earth and Captain Underpants rules.
12
Is it possible common sense is breaking out? I don't have much sense of why people might "follow" celebrities, but this seems fairly clear.
The Duke of Cambridge has a role, even if not a career. Under the UK Constitution he'll inherit the throne if the Monarchy lasts that long. There's some justification in knowing about someone like that.
But under the grinding logic of a hereditary system, "Just-Call-Me-Harry" has steadily lost his significance with the birth of his niece and each of his nephews. The system now has no need of him as a spare, barring some awful series of events.
So what does he offer? He is largely uneducated and his skills seem to be limited to those of his military career, now steadily retreating in the rear-view mirror. He has a certain boyish charm, but that has a best-before date as well. The main theme of his public pronouncements seems to be to do with the psychological effects of losing his famous mother in such gruesome circumstances. I wonder how many times he can expect to be paid the mega-bucks for talking about that.
He's married a successful minor tv actor, but the truth is there are a hundred more of those, and many more, equally photogenic but younger, queuing up to take her place on the screen.
Choosing to drop the royal titles might be a sign that he and she understand their fate. But they don't seem to be doing so with much dignity. Can they master the well-mannered fade into the background?
35
Who cares? Who cares? Who cares? Please stop this obsession with royality. I don’t care what the monarchy is doing. They are welfare cheats and should be prosecuted. England, Spain, Japan have never been democracies and never will as long as they allow people who, by the luck of birth, answer to a different set of rules. Shame on any American who thinks that’s OK ( yes, that goes for Trump supporters as well).
7
M. Markle comes off as a self-promoting opportunist while Harry comes off as oblivious.
Enough. Can they please go away now?
30
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge was never known as Kate.
4
She was always known as Kate and continues to be known as Kate.
Type in the word “Kate” in google and see what comes up.
21
This is a lot of words for "Will and Kate buy IG followers to look cooler than Megan and Harry"...
14
Lov'd this! What did Lainey call Meghan? A social media ninja who has learned from Beyonce? Totally correct. And obviously being punish'd for it.
6
In addition your graphic is misleading: The Cambridges are quite tall. They stand a head higher than their gender matched Sussex without the stair steps.
6
Thank God for flip phones.
2
Just wish Meghan was not being trolled so much, particularly about being biracial.
She and Harry are apparently trying to make their own way, let them alone!!!
20
@RLiss Meghan is being trolled for being an egotistic, self-centered narcissistic and attention-seeker.
15
@Truth And your proof of that accusation is?
12
Sir Kevin Keiley had his domain invaded and pillaged so he no longer was SussexRoyal
The Sir is mine, that I bestow to Mr Keiley.
Its more than Harry and his wife gave Mr Keiley when they took his good name for their own
2
First time I have ever willingly read an article about social media analytics.
7
A lot of interesting and thoughtful analysis including expert input...
And it’s directed toward ???twitter accounts focusing on cute photos of children and horses...
Kind of like if back in the day the Rand corporation analyzed People Magazines coverage of Brad versus Angelina’s post-marriage dating headlines in days gone by...
Welcome to 2020....
All interesting comments as to why numbers on the two sites vary and what that may mean. One item for consideration - YouTube viewers have reported a sort of slamming by SussexRoyal. When you accept cookies in order to view the page, you are automatically subscribed to their account without your knowledge. There are many people who said they did not ask to subscribe and in fact did not know they had been signed up. This would be a way to manufacture organic growth (avoiding large subscriber escalations in a short period of time). Another interesting point, SussexRoyal has been deleting many comments from its page. (See Murky Meg “Reasons for Harry and Meghan Instagram backlash.” ) Would be interesting to figure out a way to weight subscription numbers against favorability of comments to better quantify why subscriptions may increase. As other comments suggests, people may be viewing the Sussex site to complain/leave negative comments - not because they are fans.
6
I have a theory that western civilization has already collapsed, but no one has noticed yet since we’re all too busy watching reality TV and posting pictures on social media.
10
William and his Kensington Palace staff would do whatever they need to to make sure that Harry's popularity never exceeds his. He has always had a nasty, jealous streak. They did a very good job of spreading lies to malign Meghan with the public.
15
That was just TL;DR.
Of course there's manipulation and lots of bots in both Instagram accounts. KensingtonRoyal is likely doing it for face-saving reasons, while SussexUsedToBeRoyal is clearly looking to grow its brand for monetization purposes.
5
Is that a surprised for anyone.
If you look at Kate and William account before Harry and Meghan step up their own you’ll see that they are now following Harry and meghan’s Instagram Model.
Videos with music, informatives captions.
But it looks like Kate And william alliance with the tabloids Harry and Meghan suing doesn’t really help hem to build a community
5
Well this article just made me follow Kensington Palace and I am not a bot.
9
I’m sorry but does anyone really care about the royal’s Instagram accounts on a good day, let alone given what’s going on in this country and the world right now. I made it through the first two paragraphs.
4
First, I don't see why William and Katherine (or anyone on their team) would engage in sort of subterfuge in this arena. For chrissakes they are the future of the British monarchy. They don't need validation on Instagram nor is it a medium that means much to them, given that they seem to be very much in tune with Royal tradition. A possible explanation for the pattern of increase in @KensingtonRoyal's followers is that its a statement against @Sussexoyal?
14
This was an extremely depressing article to me. If ever there was a sign of decadence, it is how people who literally do nothing get paid millions through sites like instagram and such.
But this article just indulges even further: let's have full blown analysis!
Should anyone care? I think not. Historians200 years from now (if we even exist by then) will probably treasure articles like this for clearly showing the incredible narcissism of this period, and lead narcissists like Ms. Markle!
4
I really enjoyed this article. However, there is another point of view to think about: Take a look at the top comments for both the accounts since SR announced their stepdown from the monarchy. Comments under the SR photos that were once adoring have overnight changed to acidic. If you look at the accounts posting these comments, they are in fact rather authentic profiles. The comments under KR continue to be positive. For a new follower, the presence of such toxic comments might be enough to turn them away from the SR account (who wants to see negative comments on a daily basis anyway?), regardless of whether they support SR or not.
6
Great article. The cambridges have had little to no online engagement pre-Meghan which is evident in their past posts. This could've been explained by their majority senior base/followers! The sudden peak makes it very suspicious especially when compared to other royal accounts and I wish you highlighted how KP is fastly exceeding other royal accounts which also share their events. The fact that it's always at a set pace/number(10,50k) clearly proves this!! That there highlights how they actively buy bots to make sure they're ahead.
Ps: Meghan had 3mil followers before she deactivated her account.
https://images.app.goo.gl/SNGr3p1EoMbj6RoA6
10
Modern monarchy depends on its popularity. Everything has to be carefully curated and stratified from who’s top dog all the way down to the runt. Without manufactured strife, people whose paycheck depend on knowing how to bow and report on such birthright nobleness would be left recycling old gossips and muttering useless protocols in the wind. What’s the use in criticizing a pregnant woman on how she cradles her baby bump? And worse, inciting the mass to do the same? Yet the click bait tally proves there’s gold here. This is the highpoint of royal commentary: to affix the scarlet letter.
It’s an unhealthy toxic beta fish bowl. The British monarchy will face an existential crossroad when the queen steps down during the economic tumult of Brexit. There will be hardship for a divided England as the country tries to claim back its alphadom and battle the European continent once again. No wonder the Brexit royals are trying desperately to replace the old empire with the Commonwealth. There’s no Waterloo here or sinking of the Spanish Armada. Just Boris and Dominic role playing swashbucklers at the helm of a leaky vessel.
Many of the comments here reflect the craziness of extreme fandom where royals are treated like poppets, empty vessels to cosplay by their fans. It’s creepy and excessive, but there you have it, modern British monarchy, a reality show befitting its fans.
7
Per so many comments where people seem to believe they have initmate knowledge of Harry and Megan's thought, hearts, and intenions, I assume that they are projecting themselves onto the royals and thus are revealing unappealing aspects of themselves.
11
What about Canadians?
We leanred that Canada paid $30 M for their security since last November when they moved into $100 M rented manshion on Vancouver Island. It's our tax money, Harry and Meghan. Not many people are happy about it. Without Royal title, Canada will stop paying for their security in weeks.
I wonder how they keep the privacy as they requested in the past. Ironically, they need to expose themselves more to keep being famous. More istagram?
5
This research deserves the 2020 award for counting angels on the head of a pin. Congrats to the reader who could follow the math, or distinguish any telling differences between the social media postings of these millennials. This reader is certain the anomalies highlighted in this crucial study suggestive of dirty tricks is a result of Russian meddling. If not, it might as well be.
7
Meghan Markle, whether she likes it or not, is now doomed to being consigned to the Wallis Simpson like role for all eternity by the royal family and the British press.
As a media savvy American who craves celebrity, it was in Meghan's own best interest to get out of Dodge, as well as the Royal Family's. Let's see whether she can find a niche, something Wallis Simpson wasn't able to do.
Just like the diminished former King Edward VIII, Prince Harry has the potential of being the 'loser' in this whole affair. I question whether he's going to transition easily from polo playing, upper crust British toff to an everyman celebrity. Good luck to him - and his media crazed wife.
12
I think commenters are being a bit harsh on Harry and Meghan. Please remember that Harry lost his mother to paparazzi at a young age. He watched his wife and mother of his child excoriated by the British press and worried about her mental health. I can understand his decision to do what he needs to do to protect his family. It sounds like he was working towards a suitable arrangement with the Royals when the imminent leak forced his hand too early.
233
@SYJ I agree with you. I’ve always felt sorry for him for losing his mother. I feel like she adored him and I read over and over that she did everything in her power to see that the boys were treated equally but after she was gone, it was obvious that the adoring Harry, was just a “spare“ to the royal family. That is very sad to me and I believe it continues because they do everything in their power to assure Wills is #1.
26
Pretty easy. One glance at the graph. Exactly the same people follow both pairs. None of the rest of us bother...other than checking out the graph.
3
Unbelievable. So much attention, so many words, so much math devoted to cyberspace. I wish my students were as devoted to solving their drug dosage calculations.
7
I became a follower of the Kensington Instagram only after the announcement of the Duke and Duchess to step back. I wouldn't have ordinarily 'followed' either one but felt I wished to backlash against what Meghan and Harry are doing. Like wanting to be royal without the duty. This article talks bots but doesn't account for behaviour of public to 'vote' by following Kensington Palace to show support of William and Kate.
24
@Emily - Oh my. That’s not how any of this works.
7
I don’t blame Harry for wanting to leave the fame and responsibility of being royal behind. The glare of the spotlight and the criticism from the public and others would be more than he should have to bear. I respect his desire to be out of the aim of paparazzi and maintain the security of his family. Leaving the royal family and his responsibilities to appear publicly will allow privacy for himself, Archie and Meghan.
So why do they insist on maintaining a public profile on Instagram that refers to being from the royal family, called RoyalSussex? Either retreat into privacy or maintain a public profile. Do not try to exploit your Royal family connections for profit and whine about the burden of being royal at the same time.
It’s similar to the Kardashian Clan. They object to paparazzi and say they want privacy, but publicity is their bread and butter. I’m sure the queen is trying to preserve the dignity of the Royal brand at the same time she is sending a message to her favored grandson.
30
@Jane K why should they hide?
Maybe they are leaving because his brother and father sided with the tabloids and did not support him like he supported them.
That encouraged him to continue his work on his own instead of working for an institution that doesn’t have your back
11
I know enough about social media marketing to be dangerous - and to teach small workshops. ;-)
This detail is FASCINATING and I know I’ll be quoting some of it in future sessions. There was some serious research done for this. Thanks for the work!
Oh, and - HOOK ‘EM!
.
18
It's fun to occasionally read about the royals, but when all is said and done, even Shakespeare would be bored with these trials and tribulations.
I find it a bit funny that he's tired of being a prince and she never settled in to the royal family, or Britain. Until they write a book, we'll never know the truth, and even then, it might be spun.
6
Reading this it reminded me of Prince Phillips monologue at the end of The Crown Season 3 Episode 2. He said that in the British Royal family it was the boring, the mundane, the consistent who were successful, and it was those who sought the limelight who ultimately failed. He went on to say that for every Queen Victoria there was an Edward VII, for every George V there was a Prince Eddie, for every George VI there was an Edward VIII, for every Queen Elizabeth there was a Margaret, for every Charles there is an Andrew and perhaps for every William there will be a Harry.
45
Beautiful read! And truly instructional analytics. Thank you.
20
this is so dope, caity weaver! granular, fascinating, neat structure. i love it!
17
Well. We'll see what happens after this article is seen by the Royals!
I don't know what to believe about them right now. Maybe the gossip is not either/or but and/all.
Jealousy at House Cambridge.
Strategic media leaks from Will & Kate's staff.
A narcissist in House Sussex.
Empath prince in therapy who wanted out.
It doesn't have to be 1 or 2 of these. The truth could be all 4.
I guess we'll have to wait 50 years for the Netflix series.
21
Such a clever use of the lines from “Romeo and Juliet,” but now with Harry and Meghan in Canada, I could also imagine Queen Elisabeth thinking - “ And I, for winking at your discords too. Have lost a brace of kinsmen.”
48
I really wish people would wake up to the fact that there’s an orchestrated smear campaign to lower the popularity of the Sussexes. I mean go watch the Diana interview it was the same as Charles/Diana. Some members are not supposed to shine as bright as the others, it doesn’t help that the Cambridge’s don’t really have that human connection. The way things have played out since they stepped down shows they never really had a chance in the first place and it would have been the same if harry had married any other person. They’ll would have been used as props to uplift the future king.
N:B we are more capable of critical thought than we think so concerning this issue try not to blindly believe any TABLOID think for yourself!
199
@Em
I think the Sussexes a doing a fine job on their own without the need of a smear campaign. Harry looks downright clueless.
111
Then why doesn’t the press leave them alone then? Why not just ignore them and let them live their life as they see fit. There is a pattern to this that’s so obvious.
34
@MsLiz Because they haven't gone away- they keep jumping into the bright lights!
16
I was a huge admirer of their mother, Princess Diana and cannot imagine the loss these brothers have endured with grace under an enormous microscope, the same public eye that led to their mother’s death.
Megan Markle was in her own right, a savvy business woman who graduated from Northwestern University, so clearly an intellectual equal to any of her in-laws.
Harry did not meet her in a truck stop. There is no reason to compare her to Kate, just like there is no reason to compare her to any other young mother or Diana.
Both young couples live in a spotlight they did not choose, they are targets of British tabloids which are making money on speculation of a rift between the brothers. What family can survive under this duress? I can’t think of many.
Let them enjoy their families and go about their lives. They do not owe anyone their happiness.
103
I can assure you that the majority of comments on SussexNOTSOroyal are NEGATIVE. Judging by likes and comments are not good indicators.
Even so, I love how you sneakily pointed out that the SussexNOTSORoyal account is run by someone with social media savvy--mm, I wonder who in the name of MM could that be?
Let's be honest. William and Kate are the future king and queen--they have no business striving for social media popularity.
On the other hand, Harry and his wife need to stay relevant now that they're not royal anymore. Meghan's ambition has always been global fame and popularity--that was always her endgame.
It makes more sense for Markle to artificially inflate her LIKES and followers, especially since her popularity/hype and self-appointed status as modernizer of the BM was the leverage she and Hapless Harry used in their attempt to hold the BRF hostage until their independence requests were met (it failed of course--the Queen savaged them).
81
@Truth
The future king and queen of what? Pretty clothes and fake waves?
If i were the Cambridge’s I’d want more for my own children than a life like theirs. They live in a boring gilded cage at a zoo.
13
@GWE It's called culture, integrity and respect, something you wouldn't understand.
9
@Truth - You just keep getting funnier!
4
Markle’s and Harry’s Instagram has not been phenomenally popular, the majority of it’s “followers” were exposed last summer as coming from bot farms coming from a location in Russia, another location in Brazil, and another location in China. Recently it was noted sussexroyal’s IG followers count dropped by millions, then a month later after they received a payoff from Charles the number rose again by millions. Nor are Harry and Markle socially popular in the UK, they trashed their good Will and the people are enraged by their hypocrisy and profligate wasting of taxpayer money at a time of austerity, where veterans are freezing to death on the streets. The majority in Britain want Meghan and Harry gone.
59
@Mary How are they wasting UK taxpayer money? The fact that they have stepped back and want to be financially independent, will save the UK a lot of money. Face it: people in the UK, and elsewhere who are closet monarchists, are enraged that they flew the coop. They needed to be kept in the UK, especially Meghan Markle, so they could be tormented endlessly and provide tabloid fodder. Especially Meghan Markle, as the "evil American hussy" to be held up as an example of a bad woman in comparison to virtuous, perfect English rose Kate.
19
@Mary Spot on
3
@Mary Wrong on so many levels. There was a study done that found that more of the hate The Sussexes received came from America. So with that said, why, like you, are so many Americans weighing in on a matter, the monarchy, that doesn't even concern them. Has nothing to do with their day to day lives. Most Brits don't care either way. The majority of British people actually were, and some still are, very fond of Meghan and Harry and support their decision - but there's a small minority on social media that have people believing that most don't like them. Aside from anti-monarchists, more Brits are concerned with Brexit and not the royal family. What your stating in your posts here is fodder that has been regurgitated time and again by the British tabloids and then regurgitated by US tabloids. Stick with facts, not tabloid lies.
4
I got about half way through this and realized I have absolutely no interest in these Instagram accounts, or the mystery--whatever it is.
483
I like reading about them on a superficial level - what they wore, etc. - but analyzing their Instagram followers in search of proof of whatever? Yeah, no.
8
@Talbot
That makes at least two of us. I clicked on the title of the article because I was tired of politics, and Trump this, and Biden that,... but the candidates at least are real people (most of them; Biden is a bit moth-eaten); these "royals" are more like dummies on display in a shop window.
10
@Talbot And it just seemed to go on and on.
21
Harry & Megan are spoiled brats. They should not have broken w/th the Royal family. Why? I know that there were racist comments in the British press concerning Megan. I also know that as members of the royal family, she & Harry were in a great position to counter those attacks, to spark a public conversation which might have lead to positive change in the attitudes of both the press & the public. They have thrown that possibility away & for what?
51
Maybe she doesn't want to be a race ambassador.
51
@Jenifer Wolf You have good point about Meghan trying to change British racial attitudes. Unfortunately my impression is that Britain is about 50 years behind the US and Canada in such matters. Possibly this is because Britain not a mixed society based on immigrants as the US and Canada are, but is made up of people who have lived together for a very long time with little racial mixing. It was after all a hue and cry about immigration that drove Brexit. I suspect that the decision to bail on the royals was mostly made by Harry. Meghan didn't marry into the royal family to end up counting pine comes on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Harry probably felt a need to actively protect Meghan from the vicious press that killed his mother and also to protect his own mental stability.
128
@Jenifer Wolf Yes, it worked so well for their mother. I wonder the US had a revolution to get rid of the king who was crazy not unlike our own. But, this fascination like the Royal Family is so important give me a break. I live in Canada where we still have governor generals which the majority in the 21st Century think it is time for them to go. Who cares if the Queen comes to town we don't need her. Rich people who rule because they were born into it, The average person is smarter, Jim Trautman
3
Wow, lots of words that seem to be all over the place and no conclusions drawn. Appears to be suggesting something amiss with the KP account, although the all-over-the-place writing makes it difficult to tell. Not an avid Instagrammer, but I checked out both accounts. The two accounts appear to have different goals and styles. The SR IG is already more celebrity-ish. Imagine it will become more so in the future (lots of selfies and things to buy in support of the Sussex "causes" with some incidental merchandising that will help pay the Sussexes' bills), and as a result catapult past the KP account, which is more traditionally informative. These differences in goals and styles underlie the more serious family problem: the cleavage between the Sussexes and the British Royal Family.
Scanned the comments on each. There are negative comments toward the other couple on both accounts, although appears more on the SR account pointed toward the Cambridges. Also, a third or more of the comments on recent SR posts are negative toward the Sussexes.
Realize when it comes to monetizing an IG account, followers and comments are important, but it seems rather silly and adolescent to turn the follower numbers into an adolescent popularity contest. Obviously, I read the article and spent some time following up on it, but I'm wondering why the NYT and I bothered.
44
@Ginny
You said: "(lots of selfies and things to buy in support of the Sussex 'causes' with some incidental merchandising that will help pay the Sussexes' bills)."
Does the Queen use the profits from her shop at Buckingham Palace to help pay the bills? Is that better/worse than the Sussexes' behavior? Is her merchandise better/worse?
https://www.royalcollectionshop.co.uk
5
Well, I had no idea how these Instagrams systems work. This article is a bit of diversion from the other news of the day, which is rather beastly.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, live, as the crow flies, about 8 km from us (we are four in our family). Why ever would we approach them? For the record, everyone here is leaving them alone. We leave our other neighbours alone as well. Perhaps that is why they moved to this part of Canada.
Vancouver Island is chock a block with ex-pats from the UK. Perhaps more Scots than Brits, but there you have it. Similar weather as well.
35
It really does not matter how many follow them on social media. William will become King and that's the end of it.
47
Please explain what “palms on a plasma ball” means...
26
@Anna E. A plasma ball is an electricro-magnetic sphere and when you place your hands on it they attract energy (rendered visible by gas sealed into the sphere) to the outer edge. The plasma ball's inventor is Nikolas Tesla.
10
@M Holmes , Thanks! Living in Florida, I was trying to image palm trees or fronds on a plasma ball.
5
Oh dear. This sounds just like my Trump-crazed friend when she's trying to convince me with all her "evidence" of whatever her latest conspiracy theory is. I'm so shell shocked from her I had to stop about a quarter of the way in.
37
You didn't take into account american mass market that meghan markle will attract v british mass market.
6
How much did Meghan Markle’s team push to get this published / collaborate with the author on this piece to try and combat the fallout from her and Harry’s hugely negative PR crisis? Who cares this intricately about Instagram followers? (Meghan Markle does, who now has to profit “commercially” and “independently” from/on her husband’s family.) The dispositive factor in this article showing that there has been no artificial inflation of the KP account comes at the end, when it states (with confusing suspicion) that the KP account is akin to one a private person would have. They don’t track and can’t even see their own analytics. It’s completely reasonable that people would follow both accounts in lockstep - Both couples are receiving a huge amount of attention right now (albeit at the opposite ends of the positivity/negativity spectrum). It’s not a good look to try to tear other people down to bring yourself up.
53
@Sam :
"Meghan Markle's team"......oh yes? What is that anyway?
I see an intelligent young woman trying to break away from the horrible tabloids of the UK and live her own life.
5
Mr. Woolley, the professor at the University of Texas at Austin, echoed Mr. Taub’s sentiments. “It’s so frustrating to not have better access to the data” of public figures, he said. “Especially in an era when social media, particularly Twitter, is the favorite mode of communication for some politicians. It’s not just Trump. It’s people like Modi in India and Bolsonaro in Brazil.”
“What it comes down to is manipulation of public opinion,” Mr. Woolley said.
It's all fun and games (and gossip) until this is literally impacting the way we process reality.
36
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, one day, will be the King and Queen Consort of England and the Commonwealth realms.
The Sussexes, one day, will be the most popular guests at the "A" List, Show Folk soiree with more Instagram followers than the King of England.
Something tells me the King William will get over it.
68
He should have gotten over it a long time ago. Everyone knows the succession so why are they so bothered that the 6th in line to the throne wants to live a more independent life with his partner of choice, or if his Instagram gets more likes, which also more hate and vitriol.He had no real official role, other than being the monarchs grandson. Look at Andrew and Margaret, no one wants to turn out like those two. The tabloids created this crises and they’ll milk it for all they can, regardless of the negative effect on actual people in the middle of it.
13
@Jung and Easily Freudened
The British have been bold enough to vote for Brexit (let's assume they knew what they were doing), perhaps some day they will be bold enough to "retire" (the polite word for "ditch") their royal family.
Until then, the Northern Irish should consider begging the Republic of Ireland to take them in.
7
@Jung and Easily Freudened Then why even bother to buy followers? Which it's pretty obvious that they are. William is clearly not content to wait for delayed glory. That's the hilarious part about it all. The British public cries about funding the Royals and it turns out they're buying them Instagram followers! It's truly one for the books!
9
Who cares, they want to make their own way...let them but they have given up a great deal for "money" including his homeland.
11
i thought i had recently read that Harry and Megan were given a royal edict not to use the title "royal" since they will no longer serve in a royal capacity. Perhaps I am incorrect.
I only hope the brothers will one day make up their differences so that a tit for tat will no longer be relevant.
We have much bigger fish to fry.
7
@LindaP
Even without the official "royal" title, aren't they a royal pain in the neck?
1
Harry is more popular because he is not a stiff upper lip type like his brother and father. It would be refreshing to have a groovy monarch, but they seem to live so long that they become decidedly ungroovy by the time they reach the throne.
18
Down with royalty~!
In that royalty says
"some people are born better than others,
and therefore deserve privilege"
it is the same as racism.
20
@Zetelmo
Yes, sneering at commoners is lame. The current monarch looked down on her own mother for not having royal blood.
So glad Harry and Meghan and Archie have removed themselves from the poisonous atmosphere in which the royal family is imprisoned.
1
@Zetelmo :
not in today's world. Its been a long , long time since being royal gave anyway any power.
I am just impressed that someone actually did this "research". Absolutely nothing is proven and there is absolutely no point in the article. If the number of followers on one royal account is increased by posts on the other account is because when you follow one account you get suggestions about a similar account. And people just click on both. It's such a common behavior of social media users. When the two accounts separated, many people on the KR also added the SR. Followers are not at war with themselves. They may, just may, like both accounts. Everything royal is very "hip" and it has been since Kate and Will's wedding. And what if we assume there is bots interference, why does it matter? These are just social media accounts. Why would anyone focus so much on this? What is the point of the article? I guess I am just disappointed with the resources dedicated to write this article and create suspicion and rivalry in a world that needs no more of it. (And yes, I read it, because it was on the NY times and I thought there would be something interesting and groundbreaking about social media).
38
I think it matters because of the potential power of social media. And if the tabloid papers in England or some other entity (with skin in the game or an axe to grind) are manipulating the number of followers of either account, this should be brought to light.
I don’t use social media, but it’s power to highlight issues, set the agenda with the media, hard news and lite news alike, is significant. There should be more transparency about data related to these types of accounts.
6
No evaluation of any #hashtags used? Could these have driven traffic?
4
There is a very simple solution to this tax payer funded nonsense. Get rid of it!
9
@Brains :
except tourists fascinated by the royals, earn more for the UK than the royals cost.
2
Pls do this kind of analysis (yes to more Shakespeare!) for Trump and allied/parallel accounts and reveal who and where these followers are and why....
25
Please do a follow up article and let us know if the patterns change now that this analysis is out there!
6
This piece didn't address question 0 for me. Why is this matter of any importance at all? I don't mean because they're royals. I mean who cares about Instagram numbers? If one of the accounts loses half its following, what happens? Does the royal lose his/her place in the succession? What happens to or for me?
I guess the story did mention the idea that there is probably a degree of unreliability in the numbers. Probably. Recall how grossly the twitter follower numbers crashed when Twitter got around to deleting some fake accounts.
And what does it mean to be an Instagram follower anyway. I gather one could do that just because a picture looked cute.
28
@Barry clearly you’re not a Royal watcher. The article is pretty much saying that Harry and Meghan’s account is artificially being kept lower than William and Kate’s. Because The Heir must be more popular than The Spare, especially with H and M leaving the Royal Family. More likes, more comments and more engagement but not more followers. Curious, no?
45
@Barry - I admit that I Follow the royals - they are like zoo inmates but with interesting clothes to me.
However, the strategies of Instagram number manipulation is interesting and this example is probably much less inflammatory than trying to make the same point in US politics
5
@pamb do you really think that somehow popularity is gauged by how many likes a person gets on instagram? Seriously that is not how life works in the real world, especially in a constitutional hereditary monarchy. Should the Queen abdicate because she has less followers than Kensington Palace? Should Charles move out of succession because his sons have more likes? Honestly this whole numbers stuff only seems to matter to Meghan Markle and her "devoted" fans
5
When you follow an account, a suggestion box pops up with similar accounts. I just followed @SussexRoyal and the first suggestion was @KensingtonRoyal. However, if I unfollow both accounts and then go follow @KensingtonRoyal from their page, the first suggestion is @TheRoyalFamily and the second suggestion is @SussexRoyal. This discrepancy could help explain why @KensingtonRoyal benefits more from @SussexRoyal's posts than vice versa. Similarly, if I follow @TheRoyalFamily, Kensington is first suggestion and Sussex is second. However, all this does not explain why Kensington follows do not convert into follows for William and Kate, which I still find suspicious.
13
@Luke time to get off social media and follow people in the real world. Who has time to keep following and unfollowing people and them checking who is suggested.
1
Though I don't care a whit about the royals and social media, I always enjoy Caity Weaver's brilliant humor writing. Weaving in lines from Shakespeare and skewering royalty with poisoned glee as an institution in which "a newborn (is) more powerful than his 33-year-old uncle," this sparkling article made my day.
54
It would be very interesting to see the analytics of both accounts broken down and individually counted by positive versus negative commentary. Of late, the negative commentary on the @SussexRoyal account is staggering, especially for older posts that have photos of the Duchess. If data analytics technicians count comments as an indicator of positive engagement despite the tone of each individual message, then the data point is meaningless at best, and misleading at worst.
18
Actually, nothing else I can think of would be least interesting than that.
10
@Maddie - I found the clear racism in the comments so disheartening
2
I know I'm alone in my thinking but having a "brand" and putting your entire life on Instagram (owned by Facebook) strikes me as quite tawdry, especially when you exploit your children in the process. Whether a Royal or a Hollywood star, the shamelessness, the egomaniacal way famous people present themselves in order to self promote and make money is sickening. Whatever happened to mystery, decorum, privacy, and discretion? I do not go on Instagram and never will. It also seems so hypocritical that Meghan left England because she did not want to be the focus of the British press but she is doing all she can to become as famous as possible. You can't seek fame and then complain about the scrutiny you might receive.
522
@Sonia no there isn’t. Lying is not a good look.
30
@CJ
Check out the British tabloids. Markle was subject to extremely derogatory, racist attacks that were disgusting. As royalty, she was not allowed to choose how to engage the media on her own terms to limit the attacks. She left the royal mantle as emotional self preservation.
147
@CJ
Precisely. MM wants the attention and the treatment she feels entitled to, except when she doesn't. She was a B or C list actress, on a popular show, and no doubt basked in the fame that brought her. Now she and Harry want a lower profile but to cash in on their status nonetheless. My grandmother used to say that you cannot sit on two chairs. They cannot monetize their fame and disingenuously say they want to be out of the limelight. They will have to find an authentic equilibrium between their espoused goals and their real behaviour and choices, like all of the concern about climate change along with flights on private jets which clearly is contradictory if not hypocritical, kind of do as I say but not as I do.
Happily, it was announced that Canada will not foot the bill for their security beyond the end of March when their retirement is official. Whatever they do, it should not be at the expense of taxpayers anywhere.
131
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children have a lifetime of public service ahead. Hopefully they have more important things about which to work than number of Instagram views. That statistic is for people like the Sussexes that chose a life similar to the Kardashians. I am sure William would not begrudge his brother that weak indicator of so-called celebrity since that is now what the Sussexes sell.
383
@Michael Blazin Granted I'm not British and do not have any particular feelings pro or con about members of the royal family. But what "public service" do these folks perform other than making public appearances? They show up at an event, smile, cut a ribbon, make small talk with the locals and go home. The Sussexes will be performing the same (no doubt tedious) routine. The Cambridges receive unearned income from vast royal property holdings; the Sussexes are working for a living. What both couples do could be described as harmless, but certainly is of no great benefit to humanity. Comparable, for example, to the Kardashians.
50
They did not choose a Kardashian lifestyle. Are they on a reality show? Two people want to do good and the British media just won’t let them by smearing them at the behest of Prince William who got jealous because he thought his brother was eclipsing him. How is Will going to cope when his children grow up and eclipse him. The villain of the piece here is Will who is profoundly jealous and controlling and lazy.
30
The Cambridges are fake and boring, there “public service” completely useless and meaningless, if you want to label shaking hands and making small talk that.
18
A very interesting analysis. As you point out, but don't emphasize in your overall assessment: KensingtonRoyal's Instagram account hugely benefited from the Harry & Meghan wedding, and from the fact that Harry and subsequently Meghan shared KR Twitter & Instagram accounts with the Cambridges for awhile after their marriage. So the Cambridges benefited from the increase in followers generated by widespread interest in Prince Harry and his glamorous American-born wife. Then the Sussexes famously started their own record-breaking Instagram account.
Therefore, it makes sense to conclude that some of the KR followers who had joined due to interest in the popular Sussexes, remained with KR after SussexRoyal Instagram was launched. As well, probably some avid followers of the Sussexes stopped following KR at some point. I personally find the KR continued growth highly suspicious. However, obviously the reasons for KR's unswerving neck-and-neck growth in lock-step with SussexRoyal are inconclusive, since concrete data analysis is no longer possible. In the long run, none of this 'royal' Instagram follower mystery matters much. Nonetheless, thanks for the delightful investigatory distraction. :)
Perhaps you may be inclined to follow-up on this topic after the Sussexes possibly re-brand their Instagram to omit the use of the word, 'royal,' as decreed from on high. LOL
174
@Mia
Harry's "glamorous" wife? Hardly anyone knew who she was including Harry.
Without monitoring their Instagram accounts, it has been reported elsewhere, that William and Kate's popularity rose in Great Britain after Harry and Meghan decided to skip town.
40
While I appreciate the impressive level of research that has gone into this article I have some points to make. The lower level of engagement on KR Insta is likely due to their followers being an older demographic and less likely to engage on social media. This demographic are well known to be silent followers who don't like and comment or posts. Also, like you point out, SR post more 'insta worthy' pics with an appealing aesthetic and exclusivity or newsworthiness that KR don't. KR seems to be a more humble aesthetic, sharing a day in the life of an ordinary royal rather than 'wow' moments. I think you are underestimating KR's popularity outside of the internet, there are those followers who have insta accounts but are not very active on them and who are also unlikely to conduct google searches on Kate and Will.
348
@C Shores let me say it out loud: whether true or not, the House of Cambridge was not/is not happy that House of Sussex could be assumed to be more popular with the general public as reflected by higher social media engagement. Metrics may have been manipulated by House Cambridge to avoid unfavorable comparisons to House Sussex.
45
Whether or not they are more popular, the KP engagement and follower level doesn’t make sense based on what you just said. If they want to fashion themselves as the “ humbler” royals, why do they care how popular or how much engagement the others get. It’s not enough for them to be liked, they need to have the others hated.
14
@C Shores You make an insightful point, I’d imagine there are many in the older demographic who joined simply to follow the KR instagram account.
8
Very interesting. Though my bots, er, money is still on the future King and Queen of England, whose prestige, power and influence will ultimately prevail with or without social media. The Sussexes, on the other hand, seem to have opted for celebrity (ironically) and the speaker's bureau to leverage themselves, an always fading enterprise.
304
@James L. The Sussexes have opted for the opposite of celebrity. They have walked away from guaranteed support, guaranteed preferential treatment, guaranteed elite status and guaranteed media coverage, in favor of autonomy, independence, safety and self-determination.
No one knows what they are going to do as work to support themselves, but I feel confident in assuming it will be employment that is based on effort, talent and will be taxable income, just as you do and yours is.
The Sussexes use social media to inform their adoring audience, which they seem to naturally garner. This article is saying that it is the Cambridges who seem to seek to compete by employing artificial means to boost their own social media importance.
165
@maximus
Opted out of celebrity? Out of preferential treatment? I think not. Then why are they constantly in the news? Trying to drum up interest, perhaps? If they were going to seek employment, then why are they setting up non-profits in several states that would give them the least amount of scrutiny? Is it an attempt to avoid taxes and create a slush fund? They would certainly not be the first. Just about any celebrity has done the same.
98
@James L. Selling themselves to J.P. Morgan already...
66
I notice the competition created daily by several British tabloids between the two brothers and the two wives intentionally to drive up followers and revenues. Where the Royal family kept to themselves for generations, they are now as exposed as all "celebrities" to sell news. Perhaps none of it really matters. We the readers are all "voyeurs" enjoying our distractions from the worrying daily news dominating our lives on social and all media. I enjoyed the Romey and Juliet allusions and we all know how that goes between the two houses.
18
Yes, the Cambridges are duller. But they are the ones who have to be "anodyne" generally positive, non-controversial as the heirs to the throne, keeper of future heirs. Not to mention, Kate was a commoner, not a celebrity with honed instagram chops like Meghan. And frankly, no one seemed to care a whole lot about this until the Sussexes came on the scene. The fact that people keep pitting these families against one another in the public imagination is so sad and counterproductive for all of them.
And not for nothing, but as much as I usually love Caity Weaver (whom I have followed since her days at Gawker, going on Paula Deen cruises and eating unlimited appetizers at TGIFs) her obsession with Meghan Markle is getting
a little embarrassing, even for her.
74
@Diane the point of the article is not popularity. Ms. Weaver seems to be making the point that someone in the Cambridge camp is competing by using artificial means to create data that the Sussexes couldn't care less about. The Sussexes release information for their fans. They want to determine the narrative on their personal lives because they have been grossly misrepresented by the vile British tabloid media.
33
Snore.....
Harry and Megan May be the final nail in the coffin of British royalty. And is that such a bad thing?
Without the EU and without the Royals, (once) Great Britain is just and isle of a once great empire with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland heading for the exit ASAP.
22
This is an incredible piece of journalism.
31
@Cheryl Tunt You’re kidding, right?
4
This article seems to conflate digital popularity and likability. Kim Kardashian has more instagram followers than the Pope and that doesn't mean anything.
182
@Fred
Ha~! The pope has legions of followers of a different sort due to
the support of a 2000 year old institution.
5
Comparing popularity based on social media is like discussing whether Bambi's mother was better than Snow White's.
97
To be fair, the royal sussex account would have an edge in following due to Meghan being an American black actress, with the US population at 331 million vs UK at 65 million. Reckoning the commonwealth countries factor they are less likely to follow royalty as closely at the Brits. We also can't over that a large portion of Americans are instagram / celebrity crazed, think Kardasian's
19
@Sadie She doesn't call herself a black actress. In her acting marketing material, she identified as Caucasian. And frankly, she was a total unknown until she married Harry.
21
@Sadie the point is not popularity. The point is underhanded manipulation of supposedly meaningless things such as instagram followers.
6
@Sonia she called/calls herself a 'woman of color' never as a Caucasian. Wrote about how her acting auditions rejections were bc she was either 'too ethnic' or 'not ethnic enough'
3
Interesting how the first few commenters talk about why SR may be more popular than KR - totally reasonable observations. But commenters don't mention why then the number of SR followers stay level or behind that of KR. That's the mystery...
16
@CrissieP A real mystery for the ages, maybe one for Nancy Drew and the Hardy boys.
An intriguing reminder that we are being manipulated all the time by social media as well as other types of media. Surely it is no coincidence that Kate M. recently gave a podcast interview.
Arguably she didn't come off looking so great in the Megxit wars; she's got to repair any scuffs to her image. Now she's newly "approachable." Really? I guess they think we were all born yesterday.
55
What did Kate do that made her come off badly?
18
@sunandrain
Meghan didn't come off looking very good either. And all Harry does is whine.
24
The real scandal is that you didn't give the head of their Instagram any credit; David Watkins.
Industry genius!
8
@Graham Hasn't he just been sacked along with the rest of their staff?
1
Great analysis and story. While I’ve followed these young royals as their roles evolved and found this article pretty interesting, the bigger issue for me is that these processes, algorithms, bots etc are what are driving political threads on IG. Would like to see similar analysis on some of the presidential candidates.....though on the other hand maybe not.
25
Maybe new Sussex followers receive a suggestion from Instagram to follow Kensington as well? The original Sussex popularity could have been due to Kensington followers discovering Sussex. Once the followers were roughly equal, the accounts would grow in lockstep as long as new followers (of either account, but we assume mostly Sussex) follow both accounts. If new followers are more excited about Sussex, their engagement numbers will naturally be higher. In this scenario, the Kensington growth is due to new Sussex followers following Kensington “by default”, and so these new Kensington followers are relatively unengaged. That’s my theory!
16
The engagement aspect of the posts on the two accounts - and in particular comments piece is a piece that deserves more analysis probably. There is much more targeted hostility on the Sussex account, many people saying the Duchess is a 'fraud', a 'fake', a 'mistake' then there ever are on the Kensington account. Without looking too far into it, most of the negative comments that even show up on William & Kate's posts have to do with hatred towards Meghan.
49
@Kenny that’s the whole point this is supposed to make. If you analyze most of these negative comments they’re all from accounts with zero pictures and no followers, they all use the words and they all appear to post at the same time, now would the sussexes actively buy bots that would insult them everyday? On every post? I am not saying it’s will and Kate but someone is engaging in bot activity probably on their behalf.
44
I'm getting fairly sick of media stories that imply that William and Catherine are sooo dull and bland, and why would anyone possibly like them - thus they must be doing something nefarious on social media because their popularity can in no way be natural. What exactly is the point of this piece, other than to suggest that?
328
@Emily It is the point of the piece to suggest exactly that.
17
They are dull and bland. And they probably manipulated their social media accounts.
19
@Emily the point is that the Sussex account can never eclipse the Cambridge account. Even though statistically there have been times it ‘should’ have, it never does. Why is that? Because The Spare is not The Heir. W and K by nature of bring the future King and Queen are more staid. But as others have noted, Kate has a brand new charity focus and is now appearing on podcasts and telling personal stories. Maybe to refocus attention on the British Royals? it seems likely that H and M have given W and K some ideas to update their ‘brand’.
9
Up down, all around. This entire article is brilliantly detailed, and hugely entertaining. And I am not a Royal follower.
118
@Mary Ann agreed! It was a bit of fun investigative journalism, shed some light on royal and social media processes, and I’m tickled that someone tracked down all those quotes and facts for the story.
26
Indeed, a fascinating analysis and a good illustration of both the absurdity of monarchy, and the doubly absurd lengths that some people seem to go to to maintain the facade.
58
@Julian
And it is also an illustration of the attention digital social media has received from the #1 US newspaper. Can you imagine if the NYT devoted as much human and electronic brain power to something of real importance, howmuch more we'd really know
22
A fascinating, puzzling, and ominous article about a technology that seems wholly frivolous to me.
66
How incredibly bizarre. Can imagine Kate being totally obsessed with being loved and being loved more than anyone else. How sad and crazy that would be. Probably has to do with the people and teams they hire to manage their media. Kate says “we’ve got to get the numbers above those two. Let’s post a picture of Vicky and see how much more popular it is.” Cra cra I say.
17
@Billbo thank you! I don’t think it’s the Cambridge’s it’s their media team and royal aides who are desperate to sell them.
12
A nice light touch using the Romeo and Juliet allusions here....
16
While data analysis is always fascinating, must we contribute to the narrative of a rift or conspiracy amongst these four, even semi-obliquely, with articles like these?
29
Intriguing...
Imagine if we had the same level of investment & funding for CDC research to identify transmission patterns of potentially lethal biological viruses, as we have (or at last, had, pre-Cambridge Analytica era) to investigate online viral patterns... #priorities
122
Just wondering whether this topic really merits all this effort. Not even as a distraction from more pressing topics with a far bigger impact on our lives. I, for one, could not get past Act II, thank you very much.
108
Loved this story!
12
As a follower of Sussex Royal, I find the analysis to be quite fascinating, especially in the context of Megxit. Scenario 3 and 5 seem very likely given how Megxit played out. It's just really sad, that neither the grey suits nor the British press understand the short-sightedness of forcing Megan and Harry from the firm. With all the love in the world, William, Kate and their kids are boring and unrelatable. Yes the kids are cute, yes Kate is elegant but they don't live realistic or relatable lives. They're whitebread, privileged and a steady continuation of the distant and unrelatable monarchy. The Queen in her foresight was right to try and keep Harry and Megan in the firm. The future is diverse, multicultural and inclusive - the current slimmed down model of the monarchy is none of those things and runs the risk of becoming increasingly irrelevant. That the men in grey suits felt threatened by the overwhelming popularity of Sussex Royal and all it represents is clear in the continued persecution of Harry and Megan in the press as well the heavy promo campaign driving Kates early childhood initiative(yawn) survey no one's completing (with respect).
139
@Moeheen the decision to leave the firm was sMeghan and Harry’s, because they didn’t want to do the duty required of tax subsidized public figures, they just wanted the money. No one misses or wants them back. No one. But you are free to put them up in Cape Town at taxpayer expense.
66
@Moeheen They were not pushed out. They left and there is enough evidence that they had planned it for quite some time.
63
If you can explain us how the Sussexes are inclusive and relatable, I would be glad to hear
37
Another fun (minor) fact -- the "obscure" portrait of Queen Victoria was painted by (another) American Thomas Sully ...
27
@em678 Oh, thanks for this tidbit. I snorted my tea, thank you very much!
7
Nice Shakespeare reference!
8
This is fascinating. One thing - what about comments on the accounts? Many people follow an account so they can comment, and a large proportion of comments on the sussexroyal account are toxic.
24
@CMO that implies bot activity, looks when those large amount of negative comments started, when they said they were stepping down, and in the article it starts that bots can be purchased on behalf on another account, now who is sending all these no picture, no follower accounts to leave these toxic comments?
14
Why can't both sides be playing the bot game? A canny manipulator will know the right day to dump a massive number of new followers into SR, such as, say, a baby pic or a major update day. Let us not underestimate the pettiness of any of these people!
13
Now this is the kind of analysis and investigative reporting we all needed!
Loved this!
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That's a really nice photo illustration.
Harry has always seemed much more popular. More charismatic from a very early age. Maybe classic birth-order dynamics. The somber first sib and the younger cut-up smiling behind the dour one and winning hearts.
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@LMT - Do you find William "dour"? Really? Certainly more serious and restrained than Harry, but hardly dour.
Not sure it has anything to do with birth order. Back in their grandfather's day, it was the older brother, Edward, who was slated to become king (and did reign for just under a year) who was wildly popular and who remained popular even after his abdication while his quiet and unassuming younger brother who became king after him never acquired his level of popularity.
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I decided to follow @sussexroyal after reading this article, and immediately a box appeared suggesting I also follow @kensingtonroyal. While I think it’s pretty clear that there is at least some degree of inorganic growth on @kensingtonroyal, this “suggestion” is a variable that could account for some of the of the same-day follower growth.
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Very good point. I think the competitive aspect of these accounts is probably of the most interest to many followers.
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@Joey, Your observation makes a lot of sense and might account for some of KensingtonRoyal's continued growth.
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Also, I think conventional wisdom dictates that M & H’s followers and supporters are younger, and therefore more likely to be familiar with social media than W & K’s, whose followers may be older and more respectful of tradition, but also less likely to be engaged with social media. So if the number of followers is used as an indicator of “popularity”, W & K’s supporters may in fact be much greater in number. That just don’t know about Instagram, and certainly don’t know or care about “likes” and “follows” :)
I’m older and don’t follow anyone on Instagram...I don’t understand the need to.
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@Charley the point of the article is not popularity, but that one account seems to be using artificial means to keep up with the other. It then presents evidence.
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William and Harry are close in age...I’m guessing the group that supports William’s more traditional stance are older than the group that supports Harry’s contrarian stance.
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@maximus except there is no evidence, just conjecture
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Kudos to this author for a fun analysis, whether or not it matters, it's a welcome distraction. I especially liked the cheeky breakdown of the "top 5 famous followers who either follow (one of the royal IG accounts but not the other"!
Well done!
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In judging the growth of both accounts, I suspect it is necessary to look beyond the bounds of Instagram. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge carry out far more official duties than the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. As such, the Cambridges come into contact with/are seen by many more Britons (and find their way into those Britons own social media feeds) and their exposure in regular media is also greater because of the greater number of events. I can well imagine that stories in the regular media or the social media of others (almost all of which are positive in tone) could lead to people following the Kensington account on Instagram, even if the account itself is less glossy than that of the Sussexes. Such followers are triggered not by a Instagram post but by a real life or regular media experience.
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@EAB -
"The Cambridges are infamous for their low work numbers compared to the rest of the British Royal Family"
No, not really. Take a look at https://writeroyalty.com/royal-work-stats-as-the-end-of-the-year-looms/ to get a look at some comparisons for 2019. Kate and William did somewhat more than Meghan and Harry (of course, Meghan was on maternity leave part of that time). All of four of those younger members of the family did less than some of the middle-aged and older members of the family.
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@EAB Those low numbers are because they didn’t become working royals till the middle of 2017. Prince William worked full-time as a pilot, and the Duchess of Cambridge completed engagements and raised George and Charlotte full-time.
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@Fio Zacha
Far more duties ? No, until the Sussexes stepped back, they were doing about the same number of engagements as the Cambridges. The Cambridges are infamous for their low work numbers compared to the rest of the British Royal Family
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This article completely disregards the most important facts. Of course Meghan and Harry are going to to gain in followers because they are stirring the pot, making “controversial” statements, being the center of a big change in an old institution. William and Kate are bound by tradition not to say anything that may create waves. The number of followers does not equate to the number of supporters. People may follow merely out of curiosity. Once this situation settles down, give it a couple of years and then make an assessment. Unless Harry and Meghan sadly fall into the Kardashian or Real Housewives model of creating antics just to stay in the news. Hope that doesn’t happen.
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@Charley nobody is making controversial comments. A tabloids says a friend says something and you blindly believe. They haven’t said anything controversial
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@lydia davies that’s what they want but your tabloids won’t listen and will keep on bringing them up.
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Their comment on their website that the Queen could not stop them from using the word “Royal” was very controversial.
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Fascinating analysis. And a welcome change from all the terrifying stories about the Coronavirus.
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