Image: Instagram
Move over Barack (we love you still), it is time for some fresh young blood! 24-year-old Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) football player Kylian Mbappe has just been named the most influential black celebrity on social media!
According to a study carried out by a black lifestyle brand known as That Sister the French national team forward tops in a listing dominated by American personalities with over 98.9 million followers on Instagram, over 11.7 million Twitter followers, and a whooping social media influence score of 93.18 percent!
I know that isn't as cool as winning the World Cup trophy but Mbappe really is a force to be reckoned with.
The 24-year-old although already known for his great football skills became a global sensation last year during the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar.
Mbappe was credited with ‘Carrying the French national team on his back’ to second place. Although they didn't win, he made history as the second-ever player to score a World Cup final hat-trick.
In the survey carried which analyzed follower engagement rates, the French footballer scored higher than a host of black celebrities such as musicians, politicians, and other sportsmen across the world.
Including former US president Barack Obama who was ranked ninth with over 133.3 million Twitter followers, over 36.1 million followers on Instagram, and a social media influence score of 71.96 percent.
Researchers used data to create a combined social media influence score for more than 20 of the most popular Black celebrities in the world.
The overall score took into account the celebrities’ social media followers on Instagram and Twitter as well as the followers’ engagement rates on these platforms.
Following this, Mbappe was found to have the highest Instagram engagement rate out of any celebrity on the list at 12.09%, and the second highest Twitter engagement rate, at 2.43%.
It is also worth noting this is well above the average engagement rate for any user on either platform, which is 0.98% for Instagram and 0.04% for Twitter.
26-year-old American actress, singer and actor Zendaya, (whose father is black) came in second with a social media influence score of 85.95 out of 100.
The "Euphoria" actress boasts an Instagram following of over 166.8 million followers on Instagram and 21.2 million followers on Twitter.
Zendaya's influence is unbeatable as she has been featured on other lists such as Time Magazine’s 2022 list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Senegalese born TikTok sensation Khaby Lame, who aslo happens to be the mosty followed TikTok content creator in the world came in third with 79.9 million Instagram followers and 369,681 Twitter followers with a social media influence score of 85.24 per cent.
In fourth place was Egyptian footballer Mohamed Salah with 56.5 million Instagram and 17.9 million Twitter followers posting a social media influence score of 83.41 per cent.
The 30-year-old is recognised as one of the best football players in the world, and currently plays for Liverpool FC in addition to captaining Egypt’s national football team.
American superstar singer Rihanna rounded up the top five places (140.3 million Instagram and 107.8 million Twitter followers) with a social media influence score of 79.79 per cent.
Other notable personalities listed in the survey include; Juventus French midfielder Paul Pogba. American singer/ actor and entrepreneur Beyoncé Knowles, former US president Barack Obama and Canadian born rapper Drake and Cardi B filled the rest of the top 10 places.
Closing off the list were Nicki Minaj ranked 11th, NBA legend Lebron James came (12th), Michelle Obama (13th), Lil Wayne (14th), Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson (15th), Chris Brown (16th), Snoop Dogg (17th), Oprah Winfrey (18th), Alicia Keys (19th) and lastly Wiz Khalifa (20th).
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