The 2020
Influence Index
The world?s most influential individuals
We live in an age where social media has a considerable influence on our lives, allowing us to engage with our friends and family, as well as our favourite celebrities, meaning social media can be a very influential tool for those with large followings.
Whether just trying to maximise their own visibility, working with brands to advertise their goods and services, or even pushing political causes, the most-followed people on social media hold great influence in their hands.
So who are the most followed people in the world today, across each of the major social media platforms? We?ve analysed follower counts from Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and TikTok, to find out.
The Most-Followed People Overall on Social Media
Taking each of the platforms into account, it was pop superstar Ariana Grande who came out as the most followed, with over 329 million combined followers, closely followed by Justin Bieber (325m) and footballer Cristiano Ronaldo (318m), who was also the most followed person on Instagram, as well aAs the most followed person not to hold an account on each of the four platforms.
Swedish YouTuber PewDiePie was the most followed person on YouTube, although he came in 27th place overall, while Charli D?Amelio, the most followed TikToker, lies in 34th place overall.
The Top 3 Most-Followed People Overall on Social Media
Ariana Grande
329,537,626
total followers
Justin Bieber
324,993,444
total followers
Cristiano Ronaldo
318,100,411
total followers
The Most-Followed People Overall on Social Media Ranked
The Most-Followed Musical Artists on Social Media
Starting in the world of music, Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber once again occupy the top two spots, followed by Selena Gomez in third place (291m combined followers).
In fact, other than Justin, each of the top ten most followed music artists on social media were all women, including Taylor Swift (262m), Katy Perry (252m) and Rihanna (217m).
The Top 3 Most-Followed Musical Artists on Social Media
Ariana Grande
329,537,626
total followers
Justin Bieber
324,993,444
total followers
Selena Gomez
291,251,416
total followers
The Most-Followed Musical Artists on Social Media Ranked
The Most-Followed Sports Personalities on Social Media
On the flip side, the list of most followed sportspeople on social media was completely dominated by men, with no women in the top ten (or in the top 100 overall).
Juventus and Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo was the clear winner, followed by fellow footballers Neymar (193m) and Lionel Messi (163m), while basketball player LeBron James (115m) and cricketer Virat Kohli (105m) were the only non-footballers to crack the top ten.
The Top 3 Most-Followed Sports Personalities on Social Media
Cristiano Ronaldo
318,100,411
total followers
Neymar
193,267,588
total followers
Lionel Messi
163,136,251
total followers
The Most-Followed Sports Personalities on Social Media Ranked
The Most-Followed Influencers on Social Media
Social media has also allowed normal people to launch careers creating content on various platforms, with PewDiePie leading the way, with an incredible 105 million subscribers on YouTube (126m in total).
There?s also a large group of influencers who have burst onto the scene using TikTok in the last few years, most notably Charli D?Amelio, with over 104 million followers across all platforms.
The Top 3 Most-Followed Influencers on Social Media
PewDiePie
126,168,308
total followers
Charli D'Amelio
104,648,014
total followers
Addison Rae
79,751,234
total followers
The Most-Followed Influencers on Social Media Ranked
The Most-Followed Actors on Social Media
Wrestler-turned Hollywood superstar Dwayne Johnson is by far the most followed actor on social media (as well as one of the few to be embracing TikTok so far), followed by Emma Watson (87m) and Will Smith (86m).
Other actors who have impressive followings despite only being present on two platforms, include Priyanka Chopra (81m), Leonardo DiCaprio (64m) and Robert Downey Jr. (61m).
The Top 3 Most-Followed Actors on Social Media
Dwayne Johnson
237,311,044
total followers
Emma Watson
87,039,557
total followers
Will Smith
85,788,789
total followers
The Most-Followed Actors on Social Media Ranked
The Most-Followed TV Personalities on Social Media
It?s no surprise to see that six out of the ten most followed TV personalities on social media are all from the Kardashian-Jenner clan, who are essentially celebrity royalty.
Kim was the most followed of the bunch, with over 246 million followers, slightly more than her half-sister Kylie Jenner, who has over 242 million.
The Top 3 Most-Followed TV Personalities on Social Media
Kim Kardashian
246,919,084
total followers
Kylie Jenner
242,190,645
total followers
Kendall Jenner
164,218,977
total followers
The Most-Followed TV Personalities on Social Media Ranked
|
Rank |
Name |
Category |
Instagram |
YouTube |
Twitter |
TikTok |
Total Followers |
|---|
Methodology
We looked at over 600 of the world?s most famous people on social media, using lists of the most-followed people on each platform, as well as YouGov?s ratings of the most famous people in the UK.
For each, we took the number of followers that they had on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and TikTok, correct as of 17/07/2020.
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