Unexpectedly, Queen Beatrix made sure there was a lot of activity on Twitter during Christmas day. It’s a tradition that the Queen sends us (her people) a Christmas message and this year was about loving and caring for each other in difficult times. Sounds like a sensible message, right?

Well…

In her speech she blames modern communication technology for widening the distance between people. She criticizes people hiding behind their screen, uttering rudeness anonimously. She tells us it’s time to put a halt to increasing individualism and start searching for the ‘we-feeling’. Virtual meetings can’t fill the emptyness created by a lack of togetherness. We need real physical contact to be able to bond with our neighbours.

Her speech was total and utter nonsense. Every Dutch person who knows a little bit more about social media responded on Twitter with pretty much the same words. The best response I read came from my colleague Joitske:

ach ja, zo denken de meeste 70-jarigen toch.. geeft nix Bea!
[in English: oh well, that's how most 70-year olds think..that's OK, Bea!]

In my words: Queen Beatrix surrounds herself with too many grey suit wearing men.

(about the number in the title)