As you’ve heard by now, the Queen is dead. Easily the story of the year so far, every single person has some type of take on the event.
The Queen’s death also created a “day” on Twitter. Twitter users will know what I mean, but when a huge event happens, Twitter will focus on that single thing for an entire day. January sixth was a day on Twitter. Joe Biden’s election was a day on Twitter. The Queen’s death highlighted one of the most prolific days in Twitter history.
What came next was, usurpingly, a divided Twitter. Half of the world seemed to be upset about the death of the longest monarch in history. These remorses were led by different twitter groups, including “British” Twitter, and “white” Twitter among others. Here are a few of those tweets:
The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) September 8, 2022
The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/VfxpXro22W
Remembering the day One Direction met the Queen 🤍#RIPQueen 🕊 pic.twitter.com/QbwDdBvCKZ
— Is there a 1D reunion today? (@Are1DBackToday) September 8, 2022
Seeing many bad takes so this needs to be said: neither the late Queen, nor any member of the Royal Family alive today is responsible for colonialism or the exploitative actions of historic politicians & businessmen anymore than you are. Keep your bad takes to yourself. RIP Ma’am
— Albie (@albieamankona) September 9, 2022
While those people felt remorse, other twitter groups had an unbelievable field day in memes. This was led by two groups, “Irish” Twitter and “black” Twitter. I am not picking a side, but holy shit were some of these funny:
Please be respectful when talking about the Queen. She was a head of state, a monarch, a mother to multiple pedophiles and most importantly a devoted cousin to her husband
— gaming disorder pawg (@roun_sa_ville) September 8, 2022
Lizzys in a box, in a box, Lizzys in a box…..🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣☘️☘️☘️☘️👏🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/L47lvioBMT
— Dublintim (@dublintim76) September 8, 2022
I’m not here to tell you who’s wrong and who’s right. The British and their constituents are, understandably, very upset. The vast majority of British and sovereign residents never knew another ruler until now. She stood by her country through countless hardships and was the face of a collapsing empire, an uncertain time.
At the same time, the British monarchy, historically, is the bad guy. Their modern treatment of African nations was, at best, condescending, and the historical treatment of countries in Africa and countries like India was inhumane. Not to mention that the Irish have been one of the most oppressed groups of people by the crown. A good amount of Americans also hate the crown out of our own history.
What’s the takeaway from all this? Is it that we should all be more sensitive to each other’s takes? Should we not talk publicly about issues that cause division? Should we all take a long look in the mirror and figure out who we are?
No. The only takeaway from this is that Twitter is the best social media app that exists. This shit doesn’t happen anywhere else. It’s the wild west of jokes, antagonistic behavior, and trolling. It’s so funny to see what people have to say. This is my only takeaway from yesterday, and it should be yours too.