Top Ten Most Popular People on Twitter

The average person on Twitter has 208 followers. The people on this list have more followers than people in some smaller countries in the world. There is an estimated total of 500 million Twitter users in the world and is continuing to grow at a rapid pace. Launched in 2006, Twitter in 7 short years has become a part of our daily lives. Here are the top ten most popular people on Twitter (data as of 5/11/13):

10

Ellen DeGeneres

Followers: 19,139,932

Famous from her talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show which began airing in 2003, Ellen DeGeneres has a cohort of followers on Twitter. She is a worldwide icon for LGBT rights and is not shy about her own sexuality. Throughout her career she has won 13 Emmys and is widely commended for her work and charitable efforts.

9

Justin Timberlake

Followers: 20,073,903

Of all the 90’s pop icons, perhaps none has experienced such continued fame as Justin Timberlake. Don’t let his charming good looks fool you though, he is also quite the businessman. Besides his storied music career and successful acting career, he owns his own record label, Tennman Records, fashion label, Willian Rast, and two restaurants Destino and Southern Hospitality. In October of last year he married his long-time girlfriend Jessica Biel.

8

Shakira

Followers: 20,644,303

Shakira is the only person on this list that doesn’t live in the United States. She was born and raised and continues to live in Barranquilla, Columbia. Her music career is without a doubt an amazing one.  She is the best-selling Colombian musical artist of all time and maybe even the most famous Colombian in the world. Nowadays, Shakira spends a significant amount her time and money with a number of different philanthropic activities.

7

Britney Spears

Followers: 26,767,351

Anyone who grew up in the 90’s knows who Britney Spears is. She was the crush of millions of teenage boys around the world. As she grew up, so did the drama that surrounded her life. People are always interested in knowing what she is doing.

6

Taylor Swift

Followers: 27,433,195

Taylor Swift isn’t shy to share the grimy details of her dating life online or in her songs. She became a household name when at the MTV Video Music Awards and her acceptance speech was cut short by rapper Kanye West. It has been said that this incident and the social media attention it spawned turn Taylor Swift into a mainstream celebrity.

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5

Rihana

Followers: 29,537,572

Ever since 2003 after auditioning for Jay-Z and signing a contract with Def Jam Recordings, Rihana has consistently created buzz from her personal life, her music career, and even as an actress. People can’t help to find out about what sort of drama she is causing next.

4

Barack Obama

Followers: 31,319,244

Being the leader of the free world has its perks and one of them is internet stardom. Barack Obama is the first president to embrace social media and use it as a medium to convey his political messages and give the general public a glimpse into his life. A number of political analysts from both sides of the aisle speculate that it was due to his strong social media presence that he was able to win both the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.

3

Katy Perry

Followers: 36,314,336

Katy Perry’s album Teenage Dream was the first album by a female artist to achieve five singles that reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Her popularity is undeniable. She recently release a biopic-concert film called Katy Perry: Part of Me, which concentrated on her life as a touring artist and the breakdown and collapse of her one-year marriage to English comedian Russel Brand.

2

Lady Gaga

Followers: 38,133,363

Lady Gaga is known for her eccentric and off-beat personality and this is exactly why her fans love her. Time Magazine went so far to name her as one of the most influential people in the world. Besides her music career that, by now, everyone is aware of she involves herself with a number of humanitarian causes.

1

Justin Bieber

Followers: 38,960,962

Love him or hate him, Justin Beiber takes the top spot on the world’s most followed person on Twitter. It can’t be denied that he has mastered the art of social media, from YouTube to Twitter, he finds a way to connect to his fans around the world. In 2008 it was his videos on YouTube that spawned his career. He instantly became an internet sensation, and perhaps the first person in the world to reach stardom from the internet alone.