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| Prince Harry is right – millennials must take on the trolls Prince Harry is right – millennials must take on the trolls | |
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| Once upon a time, there was a handsome prince who went in search of a bride. And lo, when he found someone who might eventually fit the glass slipper there was rejoicing throughout the land, but also some rather disturbing undercurrents. So here endeth the fairytale abruptly, with apologies in advance for the language. | Once upon a time, there was a handsome prince who went in search of a bride. And lo, when he found someone who might eventually fit the glass slipper there was rejoicing throughout the land, but also some rather disturbing undercurrents. So here endeth the fairytale abruptly, with apologies in advance for the language. |
| “F that hole!” advised one Daily Mail online commenter who doesn’t sound as if he’s in this for a royal wedding souvenir plate, beneath some pictures of Prince Harry’s new girlfriend, Meghan Markle, cobbled together into an otherwise inoffensive non-story. | “F that hole!” advised one Daily Mail online commenter who doesn’t sound as if he’s in this for a royal wedding souvenir plate, beneath some pictures of Prince Harry’s new girlfriend, Meghan Markle, cobbled together into an otherwise inoffensive non-story. |
| But do remember not to “knock her up lol”, wrote a Daily Mirror reader, commenting under a story about (perfectly mainstream) images of the actress being posted on porn sites – noting helpfully that “not every girl has to be able to do prim and proper to be worth it”. The Sun seemingly deleted its online version of the porn story because the reader comments were too grim, but the stuff beneath a Mail spread on Markle’s clothing line sets the tone: “Looks like used goods to me. Frequently used.” “I hope Prince Harry is wearing her out!! HOT.” “Blac Pippa.” | But do remember not to “knock her up lol”, wrote a Daily Mirror reader, commenting under a story about (perfectly mainstream) images of the actress being posted on porn sites – noting helpfully that “not every girl has to be able to do prim and proper to be worth it”. The Sun seemingly deleted its online version of the porn story because the reader comments were too grim, but the stuff beneath a Mail spread on Markle’s clothing line sets the tone: “Looks like used goods to me. Frequently used.” “I hope Prince Harry is wearing her out!! HOT.” “Blac Pippa.” |
| And that’s the context to Prince Harry’s statement this week, not just asking the tabloids to leave his girlfriend alone (fat chance) but attacking what Kensington Palace called “the outright racist and sexist comments of social media trolls and web article comments”. | And that’s the context to Prince Harry’s statement this week, not just asking the tabloids to leave his girlfriend alone (fat chance) but attacking what Kensington Palace called “the outright racist and sexist comments of social media trolls and web article comments”. |
| Lost in the predictable row about press regulation is that Harry wasn’t just having a go at the papers. He was having a direct crack at their readers too, and at prejudice more broadly, and that’s a matter not of law but of how social norms are set and broken in a digital age. How ironic that in the week America elected Donald Trump, the fifth in line to the stuffy old British throne seems to be discovering his inner liberal feminist. | Lost in the predictable row about press regulation is that Harry wasn’t just having a go at the papers. He was having a direct crack at their readers too, and at prejudice more broadly, and that’s a matter not of law but of how social norms are set and broken in a digital age. How ironic that in the week America elected Donald Trump, the fifth in line to the stuffy old British throne seems to be discovering his inner liberal feminist. |
| The idea of Prince Harry, who once famously went as a Nazi to a fancy dress party, undergoing a Damascene conversion after scrolling sadly through his Twitter mentions, will be a stretch for some. A cynic might suggest this is just smart PR, spinning an otherwise standard swipe at the tabloids – which might otherwise elicit the standard response that intrusion is the price paid for privilege – as something deeper. But it’s part of an interesting pattern for the younger royals, increasingly starting to look like products of their millennial generation and not just of their backgrounds. | The idea of Prince Harry, who once famously went as a Nazi to a fancy dress party, undergoing a Damascene conversion after scrolling sadly through his Twitter mentions, will be a stretch for some. A cynic might suggest this is just smart PR, spinning an otherwise standard swipe at the tabloids – which might otherwise elicit the standard response that intrusion is the price paid for privilege – as something deeper. But it’s part of an interesting pattern for the younger royals, increasingly starting to look like products of their millennial generation and not just of their backgrounds. |
| The demographics of Twitter are changing, with an increasingly aggressive minority actively looking for a fight | The demographics of Twitter are changing, with an increasingly aggressive minority actively looking for a fight |
| Take the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s campaign, alongside Harry, against the stigma surrounding mental health. Their stress on the importance of talking openly about feelings of depression and anxiety is a big leap from the stiff upper lip favoured by the Queen, and clearly makes some older men faintly uncomfortable, with Prince William criticised in parts of the press for too much sappy emoting. | Take the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s campaign, alongside Harry, against the stigma surrounding mental health. Their stress on the importance of talking openly about feelings of depression and anxiety is a big leap from the stiff upper lip favoured by the Queen, and clearly makes some older men faintly uncomfortable, with Prince William criticised in parts of the press for too much sappy emoting. |
| But that too is arguably a generational thing. Young men generally do talk more readily about their feelings than their grandparents did, and regard it as polite to let others do so. What older people might perceive as a deliberate political choice – a liberal resolve not to sound racist, sexist or otherwise insensitive – just seems unthinkingly normal to professional men of William and Harry’s age, more a question of good manners than anything else. | But that too is arguably a generational thing. Young men generally do talk more readily about their feelings than their grandparents did, and regard it as polite to let others do so. What older people might perceive as a deliberate political choice – a liberal resolve not to sound racist, sexist or otherwise insensitive – just seems unthinkingly normal to professional men of William and Harry’s age, more a question of good manners than anything else. |
| The stereotype can be overdone, but millennials do seem broadly more anxious not to give offence, and more confident in challenging things that offend them, than their elders. So imagine the shock of discovering, as American millennials did this week, that the kindly social norms they take for granted don’t seem to be norms any more. | The stereotype can be overdone, but millennials do seem broadly more anxious not to give offence, and more confident in challenging things that offend them, than their elders. So imagine the shock of discovering, as American millennials did this week, that the kindly social norms they take for granted don’t seem to be norms any more. |
| And outside presidential elections, the place that’s most obvious is on social media. When Kensington Palace tweeted Harry’s statement, the response was largely supportive – unsurprisingly, given most of its followers will be flag-waving monarchists – but nonetheless there were accusations of “playing the race card” and one “Yay, HRH Mudshark” (a derogatory term for mixed-race couples). Twitter and Facebook both have deserved reputations as echo chambers but the idea of social media as just one big bubble, somewhere people go to avoid ever meeting an idea they won’t like, is simplistic and outdated. | And outside presidential elections, the place that’s most obvious is on social media. When Kensington Palace tweeted Harry’s statement, the response was largely supportive – unsurprisingly, given most of its followers will be flag-waving monarchists – but nonetheless there were accusations of “playing the race card” and one “Yay, HRH Mudshark” (a derogatory term for mixed-race couples). Twitter and Facebook both have deserved reputations as echo chambers but the idea of social media as just one big bubble, somewhere people go to avoid ever meeting an idea they won’t like, is simplistic and outdated. |
| The demographics of Twitter are changing, with an increasingly aggressive minority – some on the right, some on the left, some not obviously political at all – actively looking for a fight. In real life ironically they might never have met but here they’re thrown together, and the resulting friction fuels the aggression and attracts cranks. The upshot is that death or rape threats are becoming a professional hazard of public life, while for everyone else the spite is a constant low buzz in the background, like an angry bee trapped behind a window. You get used to it eventually. | The demographics of Twitter are changing, with an increasingly aggressive minority – some on the right, some on the left, some not obviously political at all – actively looking for a fight. In real life ironically they might never have met but here they’re thrown together, and the resulting friction fuels the aggression and attracts cranks. The upshot is that death or rape threats are becoming a professional hazard of public life, while for everyone else the spite is a constant low buzz in the background, like an angry bee trapped behind a window. You get used to it eventually. |
| But perhaps, on reflection, that’s part of the problem. Cosy liberal values had become so normalised in real life that we failed to see their opposites were being normalised online. Men too terrified to approach a woman like Markle in the flesh were discovering they could say whatever they liked to her online. | But perhaps, on reflection, that’s part of the problem. Cosy liberal values had become so normalised in real life that we failed to see their opposites were being normalised online. Men too terrified to approach a woman like Markle in the flesh were discovering they could say whatever they liked to her online. |
| People who’d be ostracised for saying what they really thought at work or over dinner tables were finding each other gratefully in forums, because by instantly connecting billions of people, the net ensured that however extreme the view there would be someone somewhere who shared it. And like broken windows in a vacant building, creating a subliminal impression that anything goes, each small breach in social norms is quickly followed by another. What had become unsayable in polite company remained eminently sayable online and then it’s only a short step to saying it aloud. | People who’d be ostracised for saying what they really thought at work or over dinner tables were finding each other gratefully in forums, because by instantly connecting billions of people, the net ensured that however extreme the view there would be someone somewhere who shared it. And like broken windows in a vacant building, creating a subliminal impression that anything goes, each small breach in social norms is quickly followed by another. What had become unsayable in polite company remained eminently sayable online and then it’s only a short step to saying it aloud. |
| Clearly, the idea that Harry can stop any of that is whistling in a hurricane. For every newspaper restricting online comment for fear of reputational damage, there will always be some other platform happy to host whatever punters want to spew. It’s hard to see how the prince can realistically protect even his own girlfriend, never mind stuff the genie back in its bottle. | Clearly, the idea that Harry can stop any of that is whistling in a hurricane. For every newspaper restricting online comment for fear of reputational damage, there will always be some other platform happy to host whatever punters want to spew. It’s hard to see how the prince can realistically protect even his own girlfriend, never mind stuff the genie back in its bottle. |
| But if we’re going to have a constitutional monarchy, then there are worse things for it to do than hold the moral compass steady. Prince Harry’s fellow millennials, meanwhile, need to understand that the values they take for granted need defending – and that, as in fairy stories, sometimes things that look dead are really only sleeping, waiting for the magic signal to awake. | But if we’re going to have a constitutional monarchy, then there are worse things for it to do than hold the moral compass steady. Prince Harry’s fellow millennials, meanwhile, need to understand that the values they take for granted need defending – and that, as in fairy stories, sometimes things that look dead are really only sleeping, waiting for the magic signal to awake. |