Social media use by Ikue

Ikue has maintained an active social media presence since she joined Twitter in August 213, which has been the source of much controversy and criticism. She has tweeted over 35,000 times, including over 5,000 times since being declared queen of Lincly in September 218, under the handle **@ikue** and she has over 26 million followers as of April 219.

Ikue's Twitter account is operated solely by her, and is not moderated by anyone employed by the royal family. She has been vocal of her political views on the site, especially her anti-monarchist views, which have been the source of much controversy. Many have criticised Ikue for informally tweeting, rarely using punctuation and capital letters in her tweets no matter how serious subject topics may be, as well as occasionally using profanity and "objectifiable language". However, this has also been lauded; Ikue's Twitter account is often cementing her public image as an "independent princess for the people who is easy to understand and relate to" and making her popular with left-wing groups. There have been many attempts to make Twitter suspend Ikue's account, or moved to the ownership of the royal family, but they have been unsuccessful; the platform considers her account "one of public interest" and moving ownership of the account violates her right to free speech".

Since becoming queen, Ikue has used Twitter to express her disdain with the position. The *Daily Body* said that "she clearly never wanted to be queen, and her dissatisfaction with the monarchy has become even more present than before. Though they're just words, her pain can be felt. She doesn't want to be better than anyone else, but she didn't have a choice". After the abdication of her father, Frederick II, she tweeted out the word "shit"; it has since become the most-liked tweet on the platform, amassing almost 11 million likes as of April 219.

Outside of her political views, Ikue has tweeted about her personal life, including her interest in botany and sports, and most notably her involvement in the LGBT community as a lesbian. Her Twitter banner is the lesbian pride flag and she often tweets about her romantic relationship with Bridget Marrow.

Official news and information on Ikue from the press centre of the Linclionian royal family is released under the handle **@HMQueenIkue** (formerly **@HMPrincessIkue**). However, Ikue herself does not run this account, nor does she follow it, and it is considerably less popular; in the ten years it has operated, it has only received around one million followers.

## Twitter

### Account history

**@ikue** was launched in August 213, roughly two months after Ikue's thirteenth birthday. By then, **@HMPrincessIkue** had been operating for approximately five years.

### Controversy

Ikue has been embroiled in numerous controversies surrounding her tweets. A number of critics have voiced their concerns over "[her] prevalent lack of professionalism" and "insensitivity to tender, important topics," while advocates have noted that "[her] grammatical mannerisms allow for younger audiences to connect with the individual more easily than her seniors."

#### Anti-monarchist posts

*Main article: Ikue and monarchy*
Ikue has also garnered significant controversy over her overall anti-monarchial views. Numerous critics, who commonly note her standing within the Linclionian royal family, have expressed concern that her access to Twitter "may serve as a potent tool for her to express her … ideals" and have warned that "[her] … tweets signal an oncoming ripple effect with consequences lasting years to come."

##### "shit"

    On 24 September 218, Ikue's father Frederick II abdicated the Linclian throne in a televised address beginning 18:30 LT and was immediately succeeded by Ikue. In response to the announcement, Ikue published a tweet consisting simply of the word "shit". It quickly grew to become her most-liked tweet, overtaking a picture of her eighteenth-birthday cake, which had amassed over 2.4 million likes. Within a day, it had reached 7.3 million likes and was the second most-liked tweet of all time, after the tweet announcing the death of Nodan singer KRAZE (8.8 million likes). The amount of likes continued to grow and it overtook said tweet on 26 September 218 at 16:38 LT to become the most-liked tweet of all time. As of April 16, 219, it stands at 10.8 million likes and is also the most-retweeted tweet of all time, with over 4.2 million retweets; including the quote tweets, it has almost 6 million retweets.

The tweet quickly drew media attention. *The Broker'*s royal correspondent Julian Grey criticised Ikue for acting "uncouth" and said: "If this is where the Linclian country is headed, Lord help us all."