23,749,230.
No this isn’t Lady Gaga’s net worth or record sales – its the number of people who follow her on Twitter. Gaga’s “Little Monsters” have made her the most followed person on the entire site, even more than President Barack Obama.
Behind Lady Gaga, the top 5 most followed Twitter accounts are Justin Bieber (21,214,768), Katy Perry (18,814,198), Rihanna (18,247,555) and Britney Spears (16,214,100). There seems to be a trend forming here. Of course these five artists are some of the biggest artists in the mainstream music scene right now, but how did they manage to gain millions of followers so quickly? While its safe to assume that many of the followers are screaming adolescent teens, why is there such a large appeal to follow celebrities and get an inside scoop on what goes on in their fascinating lives.
Well for one, celebrities have what everyone else wants – whether it’s money, fame, power, etc. “Following” your favorite celebrity creates a relationship that superfans can hold near and dear to their hearts. The instant gratification of social media allows us to know exactly what someone is doing at a given moment in time and eventually, you begin to feel like you know the person. Even if a lot of the time, celebrities have social media managers who are in charge of tweeting. Whether it’s shameless self-promotion (I’m lookin’ at you, Bieber) or quirky musings, celebrities can utilize Twitter however they want – but it all comes down to connecting with the fans.
I myself am guilty of following all five of these celebrities (and occasionally tweeting at Justin Biber – yikes).
Zoe Waritz 