Web frantic over online age's first royal baby-to-be
Source: AFP |
December 5, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FROM spoof Twitter accounts to feverish speculation about names, the Internet went into a frenzy yesterday over the unborn child of Prince William and his wife Catherine as the first royal baby of the online age.
News of the former Kate Middleton's pregnancy - announced by the royal family on Twitter - met with an explosion of posts on social networks, from joyous congratulations to those pleading for the media coverage to end already.
It is perhaps of little comfort to Catherine, in the hospital for a second day yesterday with severe morning sickness, that within minutes of the announcement her baby already had a slew of spoof accounts "live-tweeting from the royal womb."
"CURRENT STATUS: DARK IN HERE, WILL UPDATE," tweeted @RoyalFoetus, with 6,000 followers. The rival @RoyalFetus, with 9,000 followers, added: "I may not have bones yet, but I'm already more important than everyone reading this. #royalbaby #sorry"
The hashtag #royalbaby instantly rocketed to the top of Twitter's "trending topics" list on the announcement.
Interest was so great that the official website of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as the couple are officially known, crashed due to high demand.
Meanwhile, online topics of royal baby-related conversation have ranged from likely names and godparents to the probability that the new third-in-line to the British throne will inherit the famous ginger locks of its uncle, Prince Harry.
Bookmakers predict the couple will name the baby after a close relative, with William's late mother Diana among early front-runners if it is a girl and John, George and Charles among the favorite boys' names.
Others have been reveling in computerized images showing what the child may look like. Some of the more sinister versions transpose William's thinning hairline onto a tot.
News of the former Kate Middleton's pregnancy - announced by the royal family on Twitter - met with an explosion of posts on social networks, from joyous congratulations to those pleading for the media coverage to end already.
It is perhaps of little comfort to Catherine, in the hospital for a second day yesterday with severe morning sickness, that within minutes of the announcement her baby already had a slew of spoof accounts "live-tweeting from the royal womb."
"CURRENT STATUS: DARK IN HERE, WILL UPDATE," tweeted @RoyalFoetus, with 6,000 followers. The rival @RoyalFetus, with 9,000 followers, added: "I may not have bones yet, but I'm already more important than everyone reading this. #royalbaby #sorry"
The hashtag #royalbaby instantly rocketed to the top of Twitter's "trending topics" list on the announcement.
Interest was so great that the official website of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as the couple are officially known, crashed due to high demand.
Meanwhile, online topics of royal baby-related conversation have ranged from likely names and godparents to the probability that the new third-in-line to the British throne will inherit the famous ginger locks of its uncle, Prince Harry.
Bookmakers predict the couple will name the baby after a close relative, with William's late mother Diana among early front-runners if it is a girl and John, George and Charles among the favorite boys' names.
Others have been reveling in computerized images showing what the child may look like. Some of the more sinister versions transpose William's thinning hairline onto a tot.
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