Who are the most influential people on social networks?

THEY'RE followed by millions of internet users. They create trends and are heavyweights in terms of impact thanks to their wide reach on social networks. With accounts across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, these influencers are on several platforms in order to reach all targets. But among all these personalities, who comes out on top on all platforms? Who is the "top gun" of the social sphere?

Not a day goes by without at least a few influential personalities sharing photos of themselves on social networks. Selfies, videos, live chats... The platforms are constantly coming up with new features for their services to make their app as attractive as possible and attract more new users. And to promote these platforms, it's the stars who are the most valuable ambassadors. The Visual Capitalist website has taken a close-up look at the most-followed personalities through all these different platforms to come up with a ranking of the 50 biggest influencers of the moment.

Based on data collected in April, it's Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo who takes the gold with a total of 517 million followers in total on social networks. In second place, Justin Bieber has 455 million followers, followed by fashionable singer Ariana Grande with 429 million fans connected to her various accounts.

Of the top ten celebrities with the most followers across the different social networks, Instagram stands out as the platform with the largest accounts in terms of numbers of followers for these celebrities. According to Visual Capitalist, 67% of the top 50 influencers have their largest community on Instagram.

Millennials more established than Gen Z

For once, the most followed celebrities on social networks are mostly from the Millennial generation. According to data collected by Visual Capitalist, 33 of the top 50 are Millennials, including the title holder, Cristiano Ronaldo. Generation X also does quite well with 10 influencers in the top 50 including "Fast and Furious" actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who comes first for his generation. Generation Z comes third with four of the most influential personalities, with Kylie Jenner leading the charge. Finally, the "Baby Boomers" count three influencers among the top 50, with the American host Ellen DeGeneres in the lead.

Top 10 most followed influencers on all platforms

1. Cristiano Ronaldo - 517M - Instagram

2. Justin Bieber - 455M - Instagram

3. Ariana Grande - 429M - Instagram

4. Selena Gomez - 425M - Instagram

5. Taylor Swift - 361M - Instagram

6. Dwayne Johnson - 342M - Instagram

7. Katy Perry - 338M - Instagram

8. Kylie Jenner - 333M - Instagram

9. Rihanna - 332M - Twitter

10. Kim Kardashian - 319M - Instagram