Most Followed People in Social Media - How Much Influence They Actually Have

Written by Kaisa Nauska | Nov 28, 2013 11:00:00 PM

This is an updated version of a previous post. There is approximately 3.8 billion internet users in the world. Facebook has over 2 billion monthly users, so over half of those who have access to internet, are also facebooking. Instagram announced recently that it has 800 million monthly users, and Youtube has over one billion users, and over a billion hours of content is watched daily. These are huge numbers, in fact so big that it is a bit hard to visualise what kind of amounts we are talking about. In this amount of people also lies an immense opportunity for marketers. This is why we wanted to take a look of the power of the most followed celebrities on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube and what those social media stars share in their accounts. We compared four different social media channels, Facebook, Instagram and Youtube from the beginning of January to the end of September 2017. It was a bit hard to understand how huge numbers we were talking about are. So we decided to compare the follower numbers with countries and cities of the world, to get a better picture of how much these social media influencers actually have visibility.

The Top 10 Followed Accounts on Facebook Are...

1. Christiano Ronaldo 122.1 million followers
2. Shakira 104.6 million followers
3. Vin Diesel 101.6 million followers
4. Eminem 90.4 million followers
5. Leo Messi 89 million followers
6. Rihanna 81 million followers
7. Justin Bieber 78.7 million followers
8. Will Smith 75.4 million followers
9. Michael Jackson 75 million followers
10. Taylor Swift 74 million followers

The star position of the most followed Facebook account is held by Cristiano Ronaldo. And no wonder, he is one of the world’s most talented football players, in one of the most popular soccer teams, in the most popular sport in the whole world. Cristiano is followed by over 122 million. That is almost as much as there are people living in Mexico. Or over three times the amount of Canadians. However, this is not the single one explanation for the massive number of Facebook fans. His social media content is carefully applied, by his social media manager Marisa Mendes.

Cristiano Ronaldo VS. Lionel Messi on Facebook

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are famous for their competition in the world of soccer. Both of the sports stars - Ronaldo and Messi have made it to the top 10 of the most followed people on Facebook. Therefore, we think that they make a perfect pair to compare also in Facebook performance. Messi might be ranking before Ronaldo in football at the moment, but Ronaldo scores clearly as the king of Facebook. But Messi isn’t doing bad either. He is the 5th most followed in Facebook with over 89 million followers. That’s more than there is cars in Japan, the 10th biggest country in the world by population. Both of the footballers have active followers and the average amount of interactions for their Facebook posts are frequent, and on a very similar level. Both Ronaldo’s and Messi’s highest peaking posts are photos of their personal life.

The Top 10 Most Followed Accounts on Instagram Are...

1. Selena Gomez 127 million followers
2. Ariana Grande 114 million followers
3. Chriatiano Ronaldo 112 million followers
4. Beyonce 106 million followers
5. Taylor Swift 103 million followers
6. Kim KArdashian 103 million followers
7. Kylie Jenner 97 million followers
8. Dwayne Johnson 93 million followers
9. Justin Bieber 91 million followers
10. Kendall Jenner 83 million followers

Despite same names in both medias, the top 10 of instagram celebrities differ from the Facebook stars. The user demographics of Facebook and Instagram explain the difference quite well. Facebook users are older than Instagram users, naturally different user groups have different interests. The average age of the most followed celebrities on Facebook is 36,4 years, where the average age of the instafamous is 28.9.

Selena Gomez VS. Ariana Grande on Instagram

The fifth biggest country in the world is Brazil, with over 207 million inhabitants. Two of the most followed stars on Instagram are Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande. So, what do Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande and Brazil have in common? Huge community of people. Combining the followers of Selena and Ariana, the amount exceeds the number of Brazilians. Both of Selena and Ariana followed by over 100 million people on Instagram. That is approximately 1,4% of the world’s population. So every 100th person in this planet follows both of them. Selena and Ariana are both millennial pop-stars, with a one year age difference. Both of their careers have followed the same path, from child stars to serious artist. They are admittedly succeeding in their careers, but their social media performance is also incredible. But what is behind this kind of social media hype? Both of them have grown up under a public eye, and their fans have grown up with them. Their fans are very loyal to them and that already creates a good foundation for gaining followers. In addition to promoting their careers, both of them share glimpses of their life, opinions and backstage pictures. This makes them more reachable and real to their fans. This kind of content often also gains lot of interaction. The graph below shows how many interactions both of them receive for their posts on average. The highest peaks that Selena Gomez has gained on Instagram are photos of her personal life. On April 16, 20170 she shared the first photo with her boyfriend singer/songwriter The Weeknd, making them “#instaofficial”. That upload gained 8.1 million likes and over 200 thousand comments. The most commented photo of her Instagram is of more serious matter. Selena has been diagnosed with the Lupus disease and she needed a kidney transplant. She shared a photo of after the operation and explained her fans why she has been silent. The post gained 9.7 million likes and 240 thousand comments. That would mean, every person in New York City and in Philadelphia liked the picture. Ariana’s content is very much like the content of any 24 year old. However, she posts much more frequently than Selena and gains more stable interactions. She visited the victims of a terrorist attack that happened on her gig and uploaded photos of the visits. Those gained together over 10 million likes and 151 thousand comments, that would be more than there is people in Sweden. What can be learned for these two pop and social media stars, is that a humble and honest social media content carries a long way. The two have a lot of uploads promoting their music and projects and photos that are thought through. Still, their personalities and attitude shines through the content, when they upload their selfies with some own thoughts. And that is where their fans reflect on.

Instagram Is For Influence

Instagram offers a great platform for influencer marketing. Hashtags spread content fast and wide. Instagram has over 500 million active users a day and 800 million active users monthly. Semi active Instagram users make approximately 10% of the population of the entire world. The phenomena of using influencers to enhance a brand is not very new and consumers have always counted on word of mouth – recommendations. Therefore, it is no wonder that modern phenomena create hype on Instagram. The most famous sisters Kim Kardashian West, Kylie Jenner and Kendall Jenner are all represented in the 10 most followed people on Instagram. Quite an achievement for one family. Kim has over 103 million followers, and her sisters are not far from her. Kylie is followed by over 97 million people and Kendall by impressive 83 million people. In terms of Europeans that exceeds the inhabitants in the four biggest countries in Europe, Germany, United Kingdom, France and Italy. The Kardashian/Jenner clan gained fame through a reality show “Keeping up with the Kardashians”, but both the younger sisters, Kylie and Kendall Jenner have utilized social media to enhance their careers. Both of them are often described as instagirls. All of the sisters have supremed their social media, and have created careers from the opportunities that social media has provided. All of the sisters have been covering Vogue, being an impressive milestone for any celebrity. The sisters cannot be taken as social media or reality stars anymore, they have created a business surrounding their lifestyle.

Different Cultures Are Better Represented on YouTube

Youtube differs from Facebook and Instagram by its content. Youtube is a platform for videos and to be able to succeed in Youtube good quality an entertaining content is a must. The ranking for the most subscribed YouTubers shows, that YouTube is an international platform. The most subscribed YouTuber, PewDiePie, vlogs in English, but is originally from Sweden. The second runner of the ranking Hola Soy German, is a Chilean comedian, who produces all of his content in Spanish. And so does Fernanfloo, a Salvadoran gaming YouTuber. Whindersson nunes also making the top 10 of the YouTube stars, with his vlogs being entirely in Portuguese, as he is Brazilian. Therefore, YouTube is the platform to reach diverse cultures.

Takeaways for Marketers

Fans get a small glimpse of celebrity lifestyle in social media. By sharing personal content, fans relate and connect with their idols on a personal level. This is not just an impression but there is clear psychological evidence that it is indeed possible to feel a direct connection to a person on the media and also on social networks. All of us follow a celebrity in social media. An normal Instagram user has on average 194 followers. As average users can create a personal connection to an influencer, these people with masses of followers have a lot of power when it comes to marketing. Millions of people can be easily influenced, when marketers find the right person and a right channel.

View full post