Mbappé, Pogba and Salah listed among the most influential black celebrities

When it comes to black influencers and celebrities, footballers seem to be leading the pack in terms of who is most influential.

Soccer stars like Kylian Mbappé, Mohamed Salah and Paul Pogba are leading the pack and have been listed alongside the likes of Zendaya and Rihanna in new research looking into social media’s most influential black celebrities.

Black lifestyle brand That Sister conducted the research by analysing Instagram and Twitter followings as well as follower engagement rates.

The study used data to create a combined social media influence score for more than 20 of the most popular Black celebrities. 

According to That Sister, the overall score took into account the number of followers each celebrity has on Instagram and Twitter, as well as their audience engagement rates on both platforms.

Who takes the top spot? 

French footballer Kylian Mbappé ranks as the most influential black celebrity on social media, with a social media influence score of 93.18 out of 100. 

The 24-year-old, who currently plays for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain, has a whopping 97.1 million Instagram followers and 11.7 million Twitter followers. 

According to the lifestyle brand, he was found to have the highest Instagram engagement rate out of any celebrity in the list at 12.09%, and the second highest Twitter engagement rate, at 2.43%. 

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The brand added that it is 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.

Coming in second on the list is Euphoria and Spider-Man star, Zendaya, who was found to have a social media influence score of 85.95 out of 100. The 26-year-old actor and singer has 166.8 million followers on Instagram and 21.2 million followers on Twitter. 

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A post shared by Zendaya (@zendaya)

She was also the youngest two-time acting winner of a Primetime Emmy and has been featured on numerous other most influential lists, including Time Magazine’s 2022 list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

TikTok sensation Khaby Lame ranks third on the list with a social media influence score of 85.24 out of 100. 

The Senegalese-born Italian went viral in 2020, for his TikToks in which he silently mocked overly complicated ‘life hack’ videos. He currently has 79.7 million Instagram followers and 369 681 Twitter followers and as of February 2023, is the most followed user on TikTok.

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Egyptian footballer Mohamed Salah is in fourth place with a social media influence score of 83.41 out of 100. 

Over the years, he has amassed an impressive 56.5 million followers on Instagram and 17.9 million followers on Twitter. 

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A post shared by Mohamed Salah (@mosalah)

According to researchers, 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.

Once thought to be the most influential black celebrity Rihanna ranked fifth on the list, with a social media influence score of 79.78 out of 100. 

Who else is on the list?

The  Barbadian singer, actress, and entrepreneur has an Instagram following of 140.3 million and 107.8 million followers on Twitter.

She is also recognised as the second best-selling female music artist of all time behind Madonna, and receives 70.1 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

Also on the list are Juventus player Paul Pogba, American rapper Cardi B, performer and designer Beyoncé, former US President Barack Obama and Canadian-born rapper Drake.

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