Taylor Swift Named ‘Most Influential Twitter User’ Despite Only Tweeting 13 Times This Year
Social media analysis company Brandwatch released their annual lists of Twitter’s top male and female influencers on Wednesday, in which pop star Taylor Swift was listed at No. 1. Swift received an influencer score of 98 out of 100, despite only crafting 13 tweets in 2018, NME reported.
It is the strength of Swift’s few tweets that brought her to the top of the women’s list. In the rare times that Swift tweeted, she generated a huge amount of engagement with followers, Brandwatch‘s data journalist Gemma Joyce said.
Her most recent tweet was written in June, attached to a video of her singing with Robbie Williams. The tweet received over 7,000 replies, 13,000 retweets, and 75,000 likes.
Swift had 84 million followers when the data was gathered. Last year, she wasn’t ranked at all on Brandwatch‘s list.
Influencers are ranked by their genuine engagement with followers, with a number of factors contributing to their overall influencer scores, according to Brandwatch‘s official report.
“[The influencer score] is a measure of how influential an account is over time, based on the level of genuine engagement they are creating. While lots of followers, retweets and replies will help, the more influential the people that [users] engage with, the better the score,” the report read.
Angels ? @RobbieWilliamshttps://t.co/A6rx5WA0ie
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 24, 2018
Swift ranked ahead of rivaling pop star Katy Perry, who appeared in second place with 96 points. Perry ranked at No. 1 in the previous year.
Perry’s score actually tied with two other influencers for second place–Kim Kardashian West and Demi Lovato. In this case, the ranking was based on follower count. Perry earned her spot at No. 2 by having 108 million followers, while Kardashian West had 59 million and Lovato had 57 million.
Completing the list of top 10 most influential female Twitter users, in order, were Ellen Degeneres, Selena Gomez, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, and Lady Gaga.
Swift has had high engagement with followers on other sites as well. On Instagram last month, for example, the singer voiced her support for Democrats in the U.S. midterm elections, urging fans to vote. The post generated a huge buzz in the days following.
Over on the men’s list, R&B singer Liam Payne reigned as the top influencer with a score of 97, coming out ahead of Donald Trump (96 points) and Justin Bieber (95 points).
Bieber, at No. 3, didn’t have a very active year on the social media site either.
“Justin Bieber, who’s been a constant on the top 10 list for the last three years, rarely uses Twitter and yet he’s able to generate a huge amount of engagement,” Joyce said, which Alternative Press reported.
Finishing up the top ten on the men’s list were Barack Obama, Christian Ronaldo, Niall Horan, Bruno Mars, Amitabh Bachchan, David Guetta, and A.R. Rahman.
