Who Has the Most Twitter Followers?

Would it surprise you to learn that the person with the second highest number of Twitter followers is a pop star? How about number one being a former president? Unless you have been living under a rock, you will know each of the ten people on the list of the accounts with the most Twitter followers.

Katy Perry is the pop star referred to above. Her more than 10000 tweets have brought her to the top of the list because she is known for her engagement with her followers. Also, she is a huge pop star. Perry has a staggering 108 million followers (Jan 2020).

The former president referred to above is Barack Obama. President Obama follows 611 thousand people. He is a former president, and still, he boasts 110 million followers (Jan 2020).

But who makes up the rest of the list?

Celebrities with the most followers

Both Perry and Obama post engaging content that keeps their followers riveted but the 8 remaining slots in the Top 10 are filled out by some pretty interesting and engaging accounts as well!

The rest of the list is as follows:

3. Justin Bieber
4. Rihanna
5. Taylor Swift
6. Christiano Ronaldo
7. Lady GAGA
8. Ellen Degeneres
9. YouTube
10. Ariana Grande

These names might not surprise you as we’re willing to hazard a guess that each one of those accounts belongs to someone (or something) you have heard of. When these accounts send out a tweet, the reach is hard to even fathom.

Each account is very often a trending topic on Twitter. When one of these people has news, like an album release, for instance, that news also starts trending.

Glancing at these accounts, you will notice that each one is very social. Some accounts follow a lot of people, and some follow none (we’re looking at you, Taylor Swift.) The whole top ten are known for engaging with their followers.

Twitter’s social media platform allows celebrities to act as a friend to their followers. They may post videos where they speak directly to followers or post real-time photos giving each follower a glimpse into their life.

How did they get to this level of Twitter stardom?

Well, being extremely attractive, unbelievably talented, enigmatic, and entertaining certainly does not hurt. This is backed up by their media presence and the image they project as famous people also helps.

If you have a social media account, you probably follow at least one famous person. Maybe you follow your favorite athlete, or you love to catch unplugged or behind the scenes clips of your favorite singer.

The media watches the Twitter accounts of famous people to catch them in silly or destructive moments. The top ten list though is full of people that treat their followers as friends. The engagement they generate on this social media platform is through the roof.

They post content that is relevant to fans to make them feel like they are part of the bigger picture, that they play a key role in the celebrity’s life.

In fact, some followers have coined names for themselves (here’s to you, Beliebers), forming their own family within the Twitterverse.

These Twitter accounts not only connect followers to the celebrity, but they also connect followers to one another.

Each one of these accounts knows how to engage and share content to the platform in a way that helps them to grow their follower count. This engagement and growth are what keeps these accounts relevant.

By sharing special announcements, upcoming releases, appearances or tour dates, these celebrities are able to promote themselves to a massive fan base that will then, in turn, engage with the content through likes, comments, and shares, exposing the content to an even broader base!

Politicians with the most followers

We have established that Barack Obama is the politician with the highest number of Twitter followers. But, who else is working this social game? Rounding out the top 5 is the following:

2. Donald Trump, USA
3. Narendra Modi, India
4. Hilary Clinton, USA
5. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey

It is understandable that the current presidents of the United States and Turkey, as well as the prime minister of India, are on this list. Hillary Clinton, though, is holding her own. So, how do these politicians use their large following to their advantage?

Politicians use social media to grow their brand, or in some cases, to rebrand.

In most cases, a social media manager has carefully branded these politicians’ accounts and analyzed the best time to post across social media.

These individuals can use the Twitter platform to share views with their constituents, float policy ideas, promote causes, send condolences or congratulations, and rally support around their election/re-election campaigns. It allows them to deliver an unfiltered message directly to the audience that needs to see it.

Other categories of Twitter accounts with the most followers

Among the other types of accounts with the most followers are media accounts like CNN, influencers like Kim Kardashian-West, late-night talk show hosts like Jimmy Fallon, and Twitter itself.

These accounts have become very good at using social media to grow massive followings. They track follower stats to make sure that they are always posting content that is both relevant and interesting to this audience. When you give followers what they want, especially before they know they want it, it will lead to a number of organic retweets that will attract even more followers.

Jimmy Fallon, for instance, tweets teaser clips of his shows. He also has a segment on his show where he uses hashtags on Twitter to gain laughs. CNN posts breaking news to its Twitter account. Kim Kardashian West uses Twitter to post promoted tweets for her products and her show, mixed in with photos of her glamorous life and her children.

What the people with the most Twitter followers have in common

One thing that all Twitter accounts with extremely high follower counts have in common is engagement. Celebrities, presidents, and influencers alike all engage with their followers in one way or another.

The content of their accounts is filled with glimpses into their personal lives, or question and answer periods with their followers. The tweets from these accounts are believed to be an honest portrayal of the people or brands behind them.

These accounts will often use promoted tweets or use Twitter ads to amplify their voices and increase their reach. By using real-time engagement metrics, these accounts are able to see which pieces of content land, and which fall flat. They can analyze their follower demographics to deliver content that is more likely to increase engagement and grow their audience.

Simply put, these accounts do not just tweet and forget about it. In most instances, they carefully curate their content to have a maximum impact.

Twitter has allowed the individuals and brands attached to these accounts to grow in profits and popularity in ways that was unheard of 20 years ago.

But on the other side of the coin, Twitter has allowed fans and detractors a level of access to these celebrities, politicians, and media profiles that was also once unheard of.

Really, it’s a win all around!