It was announced just before Christmas that the British royal family were getting their own YouTube channel, and a key part of it would be the annual Queen’s speech getting airedonline immediately after its terrestrial TV premiere.
After the wealth of publicity, both good and bad, that this move online for one of the UK’s most austere organisations garnered, it was bound to be copied, and surprise surprise, the church has been the first to imitate.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, who is the leader of the Church of England, and the world’s Anglicans, delivers an annual new year’s message, and this year will be the first it will appear on YouTube as well as the more traditional outlets.
The message, which this year takes a look at the environment, and waste, was filmed in and around Cantebury cathedral, as well as a local recycling plant.
To Entice Young People
The move to get the video message on to the video sharing site is seen as a move to excite and entice younger people, who are maybe moving away from taking notice of the church, and are instead choosing a life without religion.
Although this is a brave move from the church, an organisation built on tradition, rather than innovation, it also ends up looking a bit desperate.
Maybe if the Queen, and the rest of the royal family hadn’t got there first, then this would less like a cheap attempt at gathering a few more followers than it currently does.
Proving How Popular Online TV Is Becoming
Whether this move online proves popular or not is another matter, as I doubt the Archbishop of Canterbury’s message would be the first your typical YouTube user would click on, let alone watch all the way through.
The one thing it does do is highlight how far YouTube, and online television in general has come in the last few years, as it’s even being used by the oldest, and least tech savvy organisations out there.
