Although the number of followers of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi crossed 100 million on July 14 2024, political leaders lag behind personalities from the entertainment industry in attracting the followers, both domestically and internationally.
Available data shows that only seven X accounts have more than 100 million users globally. Three of them are celebrities from the entertainment industry, and two are political leaders. A billionaire businessman and a sports personality are the two other people with more than 100 million followers.
Modi is the second political leader in the world to have more than 100 million followers on X. Former US President Barack Obama has 131.7 million followers on this platform.
Another former US President Donald Trump, who was known for his posts on the then Twitter, has 87.6 million followers now. Erstwhile Twitter management had banned Trump on its platform. It was revoked after Elon Musk took over the company.
Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022 and rebranded it as X later. In fact, Musk has the highest number of 189.7 million followers on X. Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo is in the third position with 112.1 million followers.
Celebrities from the entertainment industry Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Katy Perry have 110.5 million, 108.1 million, and 106.2 million followers, respectively.
A March 2022 Occasional Research Paper of Observer Research Foundation titled ‘Social Media and Political Leaders: An Exploratory Analysis’ by Shamika Ravi and Mudit Kapoor said social media channels are unique because of the scale, speed, and minimal cost at which political leaders can directly reach out to people to disseminate their message.
Launching the Gujarat edition of businessline on May 24, 2013, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi had said that social media has given voice to common people.
It took almost 15 years for the handle @narendramodi to reach the 100 million followers mark. At a time when many were still figuring out the use of social media, Modi started using the then Twitter in 2009.
Abhishek Desai, one techie from Ahmedabad, who had registered the handle @narendramodi, handed it over to the then Gujarat Chief Minister on October 12, 2009. The number of Modi’s followers on Twitter crossed 25 million in December 2016, and 50 million in September 2019. It reached 75 million in January 2022.
Wide gap
When it comes to India, there is a wide gap in terms of the total number of followers on X. Of the top five X accounts with the most number of followers, three are from the entertainment industry, and one each from the sports and political spectrum.
Indian cricketer Virat Kohli comes second with 64.2 million followers on X. Bollywood actors such as Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan have 48.9 million, 46.8 million, and 45.6 million followers on X, respectively.
Indian Politicians
Three political party leaders represent the top-5 list of Indian politicians with the most number of followers on X. The Union Home Minister Amit Shah has 35.2 million followers on X, followed by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at 29.5 million.
The Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has 27.5 million followers, and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has 26.4 million followers on X.