Twitter Celebrity Hotlist: August 2009
Source The power to analyze behavior and sentiment on Twitter and translate it into trends and direction is limited only by our powers of observation and imagination. As you may or may not know, I have assumed the role of data analyst at PeopleBrowsr , in addition to the other ventures I’m running or advising . Recently, I published The State of the Airline Industry on Twitter, the first in an ongoing series of Twitter-centric reports. Soon, I will roll out additional reports covering various industries on a monthly basis. If you would like a custom report and analysis generated, please let me know . The latest in the series captures the essence and vibrancy of celebrity engagement and conversations surrounding celebrities in the month of August 2009. Let’s start by defining “celebrity” as I believe it takes on a new persona and definition on Twitter and Social Media universally. While the majority of the individuals on the list of 60 personalities are representative of real world stars, we are also at the early stages of capturing and recognizing the genre of Internet Famous and micro celebrity . These ambitious personalities have created an online prominence that transcends into the real world fame. Expect the included percentage of the digerati to significantly increase over time, eventually rivaling some of the most visible and renowned household names. If you can think of individuals (either traditional or new celebrity) that we should keep on our radar, please let me know in the comments section. Overall, we are in the early stages of witnessing what’s possible in Twitter as stars succumb to the seduction of direct fan engagement and the intoxicating allure of real-time response and interaction. Concurrently, fans are enticed and captivated by the prospect of earning the attention of and recognition from the very individuals who inspire them. For them, Twitter represents a direct connection to their idols. The potential of course is significant as it empowers and strengthens relationships between celebs and followers and ultimately forges bonds in ways not possible prior to the proliferation of socialized media. This rich level of interaction is rekindling and reviving interest in traditional media (movies, music, art, television programming, sports, etc.) as consumers feel a more personal connection with the artist and their work. Perhaps most importantly, we can now connect with the real person behind the celebrity brand. Social Media is also inspiring innovation in content creation and distribution as it serves as a catalyst for the creation and widespread adoption of new forms of content, consumption, and artistry. In many cases, new media represents a renaissance for stardom, linking individuals who might not have otherwise connected through outside mediums, while also creating new opportunities for everyday people to earn eminence in these new and equally valuable channels. Influence is equalizing and some artists are able to self-create publicity and promotion simply by publishing Tweets. Direct engagement is also engendering a profound transformation in the professional relationship and arrangement between celebrities and publicists, as many are compelled to engage directly with fans and followers without the help of third-parties. In new media, the days of assistants and publicity agents responding to fan letters and emails are numbered. However, the role of publicity is still required, if not more prominent, as the opportunities for visibility have now multiplied because of new media. Most importantly, what we are witnessing in Twitter is the transformation of fandom into community and perhaps that is, in of itself, a profound phenomenon. SHARE OF VOICE Share of voice represents the level of individual presence in the conversations that transpire on Twitter. Much like measuring traditional market share in business landscapes, we are analyzing the volume of mentions, not sales or fan bases, for each celebrity compared to one another. On Twitter popularity and share of voice are directly linked to news and events as well as participatory episodes where conversations are sparked directly by personalities. For example, hip hop artist Soulja Boy often tops the trending topics list each time he hosts a live chat on uStream.tv and invites fans to connect via Twitter. In the month of August, Miley Cyrus topped the charts with 256,000 mentions with Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids on the Block following with an impressive 189,000 references. Rapper Soulja Boy checked in at third with roughly 86,000 tweets, 100,000 behind the number two spot. Controversial gossip blogger Perez Hilton also earned a top spot on the list with 72,000 tweets. Kim Kardashian took the fifth spot with just over 68,000 tweets. What’s surprising however is that Ashton Kutcher, The King of Twitter as the media affectionately proclaimed, captured less Twitter attention in August than one might expect. He does, as you’ll see, lead the list for overall followers. But, as discussed earlier, Twitter attention and conversations are usually driven by a series of sparks. In August, Ashton only published 309 tweets compared to others who sent as many as 1,500 tweets that month. Expect interaction and events become a more significant factor as we continue tracking the industry. Click here for ultra large version 1. @mileycyrus – 255,938 2. @donniewahlberg – 188,778 3. @souljaboytellem – 86,140 4. @perezhilton – 72,562 5. @kimkardashian – 68,547 6. @aplusk – 66,722 7. @theellenshow – 39,128 8. @stephenfry – 38,325 9. @petewentz – 35,478 10. @ashleytisdale – 34,967 11. @therealjordin – 33,799 12. @mitchelmusso – 32,923 13. @paulaabdul – 26,791 14. @lancearmstrong – 25,477 15. @rainnwilson – 23,433 16. @britneyspears – 22,703 17. @mrskutcher – 21,900 18. @ryanseacrest – 21,681 19. @kirstiealley – 21,316 20. @rustyrockets – 19,053 21. @the_real_shaq – 17,885 22. @wilw – 15,257 23. @thatkevinsmith – 15,111 24. @moonfrye – 13,286 25. @heidimontag – 13,213 26. @mariahcarey – 12,118 27. @jimmyfallon – 11,972 28. @oprah – 11,096 29. @sevinnyne6126 – 10,950 30. @questlove – 10,877 31. @michaelianblack – 10,585 32. @alyankovic – 10,001 33. @wossy – 9,417 34. @greggrunberg – 8,906 35. @denise_richards – 8,468 36. @johnlegend – 8,103 37. @tonyrobbins – 7,884 38. @jimjonescapo – 6,789 39. @chelsealately – 6,789 40. @spencerpratt – 6,424 41. @mchammer – 6,132 42. @eonline – 4,891 43. @cassieventura – 4,380 44. @gossipgirl – 4,161 45. @levarburton – 3,942 46. @pennjillette – 3,577 47. @nickswisher – 2,993 48. @ryansheckler – 2,847 49. @thisislilwayne – 2,774 50. @50cent – 2,774 51. @chriscornell – 2,628 52. @johncleese – 2,555 53. @snoopdogg – 2,409 54. @adventuregirl – 2,336 55. @hodgman – 2,117 56. @lennykravitz – 2,044 57. @robcorddry – 1,533 58. @paulfeig – 1,387 59. @justjared – 876 60. @nottinafey – 292 TOTAL FOLLOWERS In examining the status of celebrities by followers, it comes with no surprise that Mr. Ashton Kutcher ranks at the very top. In many ways, Ashton is responsible for raising the global awareness and adoption of Twitter, as well as inspiring other celebrities to embrace the vibrant network. Ashton, along with the now legendary race to 1 million followers, has finally tipped the attraction of Twitter beyond the older demographics that originally defined its importance. Teenagers are now flocking to Twitter in the hopes of not only connecting with their heroes, but also experimenting with prospects of flirting with and possibly earning a taste of micro celebrity themselves. I will publish a separate post on this subject shortly… The top three spots cumulatively represent over 10 million followers, with each earning over 3 million followers each. Ashton, as mentioned above is number one with almost 3.8 million followers in August. Ellen DeGeneres is in hot pursuit with 3.5 million. And Britney Spears, who was among the original contestants in the race to 1 million, followed closely behind Ellen with 3.48 million followers. The separation between the top three and those residing in the next several spots was at least one million followers. In fact, in August, the “2 million follower club” only housed nine members (in order of followers), Kim Kardashian, Ryan Seacrest, Shaq, Oprah Winfrey, Demi Moore, Miley Cryus (who’s currently MIA from Twitter), Jimmy Fallon, Lance Armstrong, and Ashley Tisdale. An interesting observation is that the average number of followers for this current grouping of celebrities totals over 1 million at 1,304,518 exactly. 1. @aplusk – 3,778,464 2. @theellenshow – 3,496,041 3. @britneyspears – 3,480,582 4. @kimkardashian – 2,514,112 5. @ryanseacrest – 2,433,803 6. @the_real_shaq – 2,376,782 7. @oprah – 2,333,711 8. @mrskutcher – 2,146,519 9. @mileycyrus – 2,115,282 10. @jimmyfallon – 2,099,368 11. @lancearmstrong – 2,077,717 12. @ashleytisdale – 2,031,465 13. @mariahcarey – 1,783,439 14. @50cent – 1,762,874 15. @souljaboytellem – 1,668,493 16. @eonline – 1,625,453 17. @chelsealately – 1,620,765 18. @petewentz – 1,591,856 19. @mchammer – 1,540,286 20. @perezhilton – 1,524,611 21. @rainnwilson – 1,504,961 22. @tonyrobbins – 1,428,620 23. @thatkevinsmith – 1,390,081 24. @wilw – 1,367,757 25. @pennjillette – 1,355,782 26. @johnlegend – 1,333,071 27. @levarburton – 1,322,238 28. @alyankovic – 1,320,214 29. @michaelianblack – 1,286,746 30. @paulaabdul – 1,267,045 31. @lennykravitz – 1,262,223 32. @adventuregirl – 1,232,757 33. @jimjonescapo – 1,215,956 34. @denise_richards – 1,209,800 35. @moonfrye – 1,183,672 36. @greggrunberg – 1,157,317 37. @chriscornell – 1,149,016 38. @gossipgirl – 1,106,032 39. @ryansheckler – 1,095,415 40. @robcorddry – 1,094,003 41. @questlove – 979,500 42. @nickswisher – 929,752 43. @paulfeig – 903,726 44. @stephenfry – 795,684 45. @heidimontag – 632,138 46. @rustyrockets – 584,832 47. @snoopdogg – 479,882 48. @spencerpratt – 469,747 49. @wossy – 422,144 50. @justjared – 410,589 51. @nottinafey – 390,926 52. @sevinnyne6126 – 359,428 53. @therealjordin – 356,638 54. @mitchelmusso – 324,008 55. @kirstiealley – 287,064 56. @johncleese – 252,519 57. @cassieventura – 214,717 58. @donniewahlberg – 96,616 59. @hodgman – 94,233 60. @thisislilwayne – 2,610 TOTAL TWEETS When compared to followers, total tweets painted a very different picture. Of course celebrities are “in-demand,” often too busy to tweet regularly. In August, the top two spots for total tweets are actually not actually published by celebrities per se, but by the personalities and vehicles that document the industry and the activities of the celebrities on and off this list. The “queen” of media, Perez Hilton took the top spot with almost 1,500 tweets followed by E! Online with 946. Averaging the number of tweets across the board, we see that our celebrities aren’t too quiet, but not overly communicative either, coming in at just under 9 tweets per day or 255 for the month. 1. @perezhilton – 1,488 2. @eonline – 946 3. @questlove – 865 4. @souljaboytellem – 850 5. @kirstiealley – 819 6. @justjared – 735 7. @donniewahlberg – 608 8. @adventuregirl – 597 9. @petewentz – 506 10. @wossy – 474 11. @mchammer – 443 12. @kimkardashian – 432 13. @therealjordin – 396 14. @mrskutcher – 366 15. @aplusk – 309 16. @mitchelmusso – 308 17. @lancearmstrong – 289 18. @mileycyrus – 287 19. @rainnwilson – 264 20. @stephenfry – 263 21. @denise_richards – 259 22. @spencerpratt – 248 23. @heidimontag – 230 24. @jimjonescapo – 229 25. @moonfrye – 213 26. @greggrunberg – 211 27. @michaelianblack – 202 28. @wilw – 194 29. @johnlegend – 193 30. @cassieventura – 190 31. @ryanseacrest – 180 32. @thatkevinsmith – 167 33. @sevinnyne6126 – 162 34. @paulaabdul – 161 35. @tonyrobbins – 112 36. @hodgman – 95 37. @chelsealately – 83 38. @jimmyfallon – 83 39. @theellenshow – 80 40. @ashleytisdale – 79 41. @chriscornell – 77 42. @alyankovic – 71 43. @robcorddry – 71 44. @paulfeig – 56 45. @gossipgirl – 50 46. @the_real_shaq – 48 47. @rustyrockets – 45 48. @britneyspears – 38 49. @snoopdogg – 38 50. @pennjillette – 37 51. @johncleese – 34 52. @levarburton – 20 53. @50cent – 17 54. @mariahcarey – 16 55. @lennykravitz – 14 56. @nickswisher – 14 57. @ryansheckler – 12 58. @thisislilwayne – 10 59. @oprah – 3 60. @nottinafey – 1 TOTAL FOLLOWING In Social Media, the act of the “follow back” is a form of reciprocity and recognition. While it is not a required act, it is dearly appreciated. In August 2009, Britney Spears stood above the rest following over 430,000 people, which is 378,000 more than the second spot, held by Stephen Fry who followed almost 55,000 people and 401,000 more than the number three spot held by MC Hammer with 31,317. The delta between the top three and the rest of the group is significant. The majority follow 500 or less with almost half following fewer than 100. This number surprised me however. Averaging the number of people that each celebrity followed, we uncovered an impressive aggregate of 8,903. 1. @britneyspears – 432,814 2. @stephenfry – 54,492 3. @mchammer – 31,317 4. @wossy – 3,966 5. @lennykravitz – 1,863 6. @adventuregirl – 1,246 7. @questlove – 1,135 8. @greggrunbeg – 605 9. @the_real_shaq – 567 10. @spencerpratt – 522 11. @perezhilton – 369 12. @chriscornell – 309 13. @donniewahlberg – 289 14. @tonyrobbins – 279 15. @hodgman – 276 16. @aplusk – 231 17. @souljaboytellem – 229 18. @robcorddry – 218 19. @heidimontag – 191 20. @snoopdogg – 180 21. @therealjordin – 158 22. @jimjonescapo – 153 23. @cassieventura – 145 24. @jimmyfallon – 142 25. @rainnwilson – 138 26. @johncleese – 136 27. @wilw – 125 28. @ryanseacrest – 124 29. @alyankovic – 115 30. @lancearmstrong – 115 31. @moonfrye – 112 32. @mrskutcher – 109 33. @sevinnyne6126 – 105 34. @levarburton – 97 35. @petewentz – 91 36. @johnlegend – 87 37. @thisislilwayne – 87 38. @kirstiealley – 82 39. @michaelianblack – 81 40. @ashleytisdale – 76 41. @justjared – 71 42. @thatkevinsmith – 69 43. @mileycyrus – 68 44. @paulfeig – 67 45. @kimkardashian – 64 46. @ryansheckler – 64 47. @nottinafey – 54 48. @mitchelmusso – 49 49. @eonline – 48 50. @denise_richards – 38 51. @rustyrockets – 32 52. @paulaabdul – 29 53. @theellenshow – 26 54. @mariahcarey – 23 55. @50cent – 17 56. @oprah – 17 57. @chelsealately – 16 58. @gossipgirl – 11 59. @nickswisher – 6 60. @pennjillette – 5 SENTIMENT BEFORE AND AFTER HUMAN SORTING Similar to the Airline Industry report we published recently, it’s important to note that sentiment, as documented and categorized solely by software algorithms, often misleads the reader. When we apply a human filter to each instance, the results can be profoundly different and is often the case between a truly positive and negative state. In conversations regarding personalities, we observed a profound concentration of positive tweets after human sorting, which is truly distinctive to the celebrity segment and significantly higher than any other industry we’re tracking. A personal brand, over a product for example, is naturally tied to the psychology of human interaction. When you tweet @ someone, you are, of course, recognizing or hoping to earn the attention of the person directly. In most cases, we’re observing that the positive recognition is linked to the prospect of reciprocity or support. The sentiment captured and organized using a machine dictionary proves highly inaccurate. The unique machine and human-powered system we’ve built at PeopleBrowsr proves that in the business of perception management and influence, analyzing inaccurate data can prove ineffective, insular, and often futile. Manually analyzing activity provides us with a human perspective as well as empathy. @50cent Before Human Sorting Positive: 14% Negative: 2% After Human Sorting Positive: 82% Negative: 5% @adventuregirl Before Human Sorting Positive: 22% Negative: 0% After Human Sorting Positive: 73% Negative: 0 @alyankovic Before Human Sorting Positive: 20% Negative: 1% After Human Sorting Positive: 78% Negative: 4% @aplusk Before Human Sorting Positive: 21% Negative: 1% After Human Sorting Positive: 78% Negative: 2% @ashleytisdale Before Human Sorting Positive: 36% Negative: 0% After Human Sorting Positive: 91% Negative: 1% @britneyspears Before Human Sorting Positive: 26% Negative: 1% After Human Sorting Positive: 89% Negative: 1% @cassieventura Before Human Sorting Positive: 19% Negative: 0% After Human Sorting Positive: 90% Negative: 2% @chelsealately Before Human Sorting Positive: 22% Negative: 4% After Human Sorting Positive: 88% Negative: 1% @chriscornell Before Human Sorting Positive: 22% Negative: 5% After Human Sorting Positive: 84% Negative: 3% @denise_richards Before Human Sorting Positive: 25% Negative: 0% After Human Sorting Positive: 79% Negative: 1% @donniewahlberg Before Human Sorting Positive: 28% Negative: 1% After Human Sorting Positive: 92% Negative: 1% @eonline Before Human Sorting Positive: 14% Negative: 3% After Human Sorting Positive: 87% Negative: 3% @gossipgirl Before Human Sorting Positive: 11% Negative: 0% After Human Sorting Positive: 93% Negative: 0% @greggrunberg Before Human Sorting Positive: 17% Negative: 2% After Human Sorting Positive: 80% Negative: 1% @heidimontag Before Human Sorting Positive: 27% Negative: 3% After Human Sorting Positive: 85% Negative: 7% @hodgman Before Human Sorting Positive: 19% Negative: 0% After Human Sorting Positive: 83% Negative: 3% @jimjonescapo Before Human Sorting Positive: 14% Negative: 4% After Human Sorting Positive: 81% Negative: 4% @jimmyfallon Before Human Sorting Positive: 20% Negative: 1% After Human Sorting Positive: 87% Negative: 1% @johncleese Before Human Sorting Positive: 13% Negative: 5% After Human Sorting Positive: 89% Negative: 0% @johnlegend Before Human Sorting Positive: 23% Negative: 2% After Human Sorting Positive: 92% Negative: 0% @justjared Before Human Sorting Positive: 14% Negative: 0% After Human Sorting Positive: 67% Negative: 0% @kimkardashian Before Human Sorting Positive: 27% Negative: 1% After Human Sorting Positive: 87% Negative: 2% @kirstiealley Before Human Sorting Positive: 21% Negative: 1% After Human Sorting Positive: 87% Negative: 2% @lancearmstrong Before Human Sorting Positive: 22% Negative: 1% After Human Sorting Positive: 91% Negative: 1% @lennykravitz Before Human Sorting Positive: 34% Negative: 0% After Human Sorting Positive: 93% Negative: 0% @levarburton Before Human Sorting Positive: 17% Negative: 0% After Human Sorting Positive: 91% Negative: 0% @mariahcarey Before Human Sorting Positive: 32% Negative: 1% After Human Sorting Positive: 89% Negative: 4% @mchammer Before Human Sorting Positive: 20% Negative: 0% After Human Sorting Positive: 86% Negative: 1% @michaelianblack Before Human Sorting Positive: 14% Negative: 3% After Human Sorting Positive: 88% Negative: 3% @mileycyrus Before Human Sorting Positive: 31% Negative: 1% After Human Sorting Positive: 89% Negative: 2% @mitchelmusso Before Human Sorting Positive: 27% Negative: 0% After Human Sorting Positive: 90% Negative: 1% @moonfrye Before Human Sorting Positive: 18% Negative: 2% After Human Sorting Positive: 85% Negative: 2% @mrskutcher Before Human Sorting Positive: 26% Negative: 1% After Human Sorting Positive: 90% Negative: 2% @nickswisher Before Human Sorting Positive: 32% Negative: 5% After Human Sorting Positive: 95% Negative: 0% @nottinafey Before Human Sorting Positive: 0% Negative: 0% After Human Sorting Positive: 50% Negative: 25% @oprah Before Human Sorting Positive: 21% Negative: 1% After Human Sorting Positive: 88% Negative: 4% @paulaabdul Before Human Sorting Positive: 39% Negative: 1% After Human Sorting Positive: 93% Negative: 2% @paulfeig Before Human Sorting Positive: 20% Negative: 0% After Human Sorting Positive: 95% Negative: 0% @pennjillette Before Human Sorting Positive: 14% Negative: 0% After Human Sorting Positive: 94% Negative: 0% @perezhilton Before Human Sorting Positive: 19% Negative: 3% After Human Sorting Positive: 84% Negative: 6% @petewentz Before Human Sorting Positive: 20% Negative: 2% After Human Sorting Positive: 85% Negative: 2% @questlove Before Human Sorting Positive: 16% Negative: 3% After Human Sorting Positive: 89% Negative: 1% @rainnwilson Before Human Sorting Positive: 17% Negative: 2% After Human Sorting Positive: 84% Negative: 2% @robcorddry Before Human Sorting Positive: 18% Negative: 0% After Human Sorting Positive: 95% Negative: 0% @rustyrockets Before Human Sorting Positive: 19% Negative: 1% After Human Sorting Positive: 87% Negative: 1% @ryanseacrest Before Human Sorting Positive: 24% Negative: 1% After Human Sorting Positive: 89% Negative: 2% @ryansheckler Before Human Sorting Positive: 20% Negative: 0% After Human Sorting Positive: 87% Negative: 3% @sevinnyne6126 Before Human Sorting Positive: 28% Negative: 1% After Human Sorting Positive: 90% Negative: 1% @snoopdogg Before Human Sorting Positive: 28% Negative: 0 % After Human Sorting Positive: 85% Negative: 0% @souljaboytellem Before Human Sorting Positive: 13% Negative: 5% After Human Sorting Positive: 87% Negative: 2% @spencerpratt Before Human Sorting Positive: 18% Negative: 2% After Human Sorting Positive: 90% Negative: 5% @stephenfry Before Human Sorting Positive: 18% Negative: 1% After Human Sorting Positive: 89% Negative: 2% @thatkevinsmith Before Human Sorting Positive: 18% Negative: 2% After Human Sorting Positive: 88% Negative: 2% @the_real_shaq Before Human Sorting Positive: 17% Negative: 2% After Human Sorting Positive: 86% Negative: 2% @theellenshow Before Human Sorting Positive: 31% Negative: 0% After Human Sorting Positive: 90% Negative: 1% @therealjordin Before Human Sorting Positive: 30% Negative: 1% After Human Sorting Positive: 92% Negative: 1% @thisislilwayne Before Human Sorting Positive: 20% Negative: 5% After Human Sorting Positive: 89% Negative: 5% @tonyrobbins Before Human Sorting Positive: 23% Negative: 2% After Human Sorting Positive: 88% Negative: 1% @wilw Before Human Sorting Positive: 17% Negative: 2% After Human Sorting Positive: 84% Negative: 3% @wossy Before Human Sorting Positive: 21% Negative: 1% After Human Sorting Positive: 89% Negative: 3% — Connect with Brian Solis on: Twitter , FriendFeed , LinkedIn , Tumblr , Plaxo , Plurk , Identi.ca , Posterous , or Facebook — Click image to purchase (book and poster) :
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Twitter Celebrity Hotlist: August 2009
