Elon Musk quite literally took over Twitter in 2022, and now, the Tesla CEO is leading the platform with the highest number of followers. Former U.S. President Barack Obama has been the most followed person on the social media giant for the longest time. Earlier today, Musk’s followers count reached 133,044,709, beating Obama’s 133,042,105 at that moment.
Obama follows nearly 500K accounts on the platform, whereas Musk only follows 186 accounts. Both these accounts are quite contrasting. Musk has always been active on Twitter even before his acquisition of the network. However, right after the deal came through, he became more regular in tweeting out his opinion. Most of his posts are quirky and informal as opposed to Obama’s.
The 44th President of the United States uses a more measured and official tone while posting on Twitter. While both Obama as well as Musk render millions of impressions on each tweet, Musk manages to bag more replies. Additionally, prominent musicians Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, and Rihanna take on the third, fourth, and fifth spots respectively. Several in the community congratulated Musk, while a few others took a dig at him suggesting that he had to “buy Twitter to become the most followed account.”
Twitter Blue revolutionary or a bane for the average Joe?
Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter, recently noted that users will require a “verified account” starting on April 15 in order to be suggested on the platform’s ‘For You’ tab. While Musk attributed this move to addressing the increasing number of AI bots, a few others weren’t too happy with this move.
This implied that lesser-known creators will be featured less frequently than they were. He did, however, make it clear that users will see the accounts they follow in their feeds. Many think that the planned adjustments will only be advantageous for paid or verified accounts as a result.