6 surprising things about Twitter's most-followed users
Anyone can create an account on Twitter and share their 140-character message with the world, but there is an elite group whose members hold the title of being the 100 most-followed accounts on the social media site.
According to data company Twitter Counter, the site's top tier inner circle is comprised of 48 music artists, 10 actors and actresses, 10 athletes and athletic organizations, nine major media outlets, seven social media site accounts, seven talk show hosts, two religious leaders, a pair of influential businessmen, a couple of politicians, and three of however you choose to classify the Kardashian sisters.
While many of the names on the list, such as President Barack Obama, Beyonce Knowles and Justin Bieber, are not shocking at all; there are a few that may surprise you.
Now, the fact that the pop singer is on this list may come at no surprise. However, what you may not have guessed is that Perry has the most followers of any Twitter account holder—a whopping 71 million followers.
With 52.1 million followers, YouTube is the most followed brand on the microblogging app. Yes, that's right. YouTube (No. 5) has more followers than Twitter (No. 11) … on Twitter. Instagram (No. 12) ranks right below Twitter. Interestingly, the Facebook-owned app—which is used to share photos and videos—has 52.3 million followers interested in its tweets.
Surprisingly, Pope Francis is not on the list, despite his vast global influence. However, because of that international prominence, the Pontiff needs nine separate verified Twitter accounts in different languages. The combined total of followers for all of his accounts comes to 21.6 million, which would give him a place at about 35th in line, right behind singer Bruno Mars.
Coming in at No. 85 is UberSocial, a third-party app that offers users more personalized Twitter experiences. (It sorts Twitter content based on the user's interactions and preferences. Its main feature, InnerCircle, allows users to select which accounts it wants to interact with the most and then filters that content into a separate tab.)
However, the Twitter account for UberSocial isn't so social. Even though @UberSoc has 12.5 million followers, UberSocial's only had two Tweets since Dec. 31. A representative at the company told CNBC that the account will resume actively tweeting once they've filled a new communications position. Until then, more than 12 million followers await.
Apple may not have a Twitter handle, but the combined number of followers for CEO Tim Cook, Apple Music, the App Store and iTunes Trailers comes out at around 14.7 million. This would put the company toward the middle of the list, and this doesn't include a number of other, smaller accounts the company tweets from, such as @iTunesMovies or @iBooks.
Who said Google doesn't understand social? The company, which didn't strike gold with Google+, ranks 96th on the list. The tech giant uses its Twitter feed to provide a slew of tech tips and fun facts for its 11.5 million followers. Google also uses Twitter to refer its followers to the Google app with the hashtag #JustAsk.