![Lady GaGa]()
Twitter is brilliantly simple. In 140 characters and with a single picture option, anyone can immediately announce anything they want to say to anyone who cares. Of course, the vast majority of us have our mother, grandmother, and that guy you talked to on Facebook last week following them. So unless you’re a Billboard chart-topping pop princess, no one really cares.
Of course, there ARE pop music princesses on Twitter, and many MANY people DO care what they have to say. Below are the 10 most popular artists on Twitter, and how their presence has had something to say and do about their music and the way they interact with fans on a daily – and even minute by minute basis.
1. Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga wants your attention. This is clear considering the 10+ minute music video to “Telephone” is still online and exists. Her top-tier status as pop Queen has solidified her stature for at least the next couple decades, like it or not. Lady Gaga has used Twitter to break album covers, single choices, and what new hair style she wants, to all 30 million of her “Little Monsters.” Giving her fans their own name helps in establishing a community to interact and, well, communicate. As far as one can tell, she never goes a day without tweeting, and though it’s rarely gold, her fan base and those interested is always overwhelming.
2. Justin Bieber
When Justin Bieber broke out a few years prior with his album “My Worlds” and the immediately following “My World 2.0” I wasn’t exactly sure of his longevity. Yet Justin Bieber has accumulated a massive audience. His 27 million followers are glued to his tweets, most of them brief comical quips about how much more money he has than one. “Going to a music video shoot” or “working on stuff for new world tour announce dates soon” both chime in to prove that Justin Bieber’s life is far more interesting than yours. Unlike a few other artists, Bieber’s Twitter seems plagued with self-promotion, and smells eerily like someone is handling his stuff delicately before it goes live. All speculation, but it makes for a rather cookie-cutter Twitter that accumulates in millions of people’s Twitter pages.
3. Katy Perry
Katy Perry’s rise to fame is fascinating, and not because it was documented in an actual documentary. Her debut garnered little fanfare (it was essentially an acoustic Christian rock album) yet when One of the Boys came out, launched by single “I Kissed a Boy” her following just blew up within a year and a half. Shockingly, she played Warped Tour just a few years ago to a handful of people. Her Twitter sees 26 million followers, and is used nearly every hour, relying less on borderline shameless self-promotion and more on her sweet sensibility. With a lot going on in the way of a new album announcement expected in the next few months and the closing of her ridiculously huge album “Teenage Dream,” I expect her only to grow even larger on Twitter.
4. Rihanna
Rihanna’s Twitter is followed by 25 million, but you never get the impression that she cares all that much. Rihanna quips heartfelt sentiments about love and life, and retweets far more often that the other largest Twitter pages. A retweet is essentially a reposting of someone else’s message. In short, her Twitter is sweet and sentimental, and throws in that nice heaping of self-promotion to make the whole thing worth it.
5. Britney Spears
Britney Spears appears flaccid, tired, and scripted in just about every interview she has ever done, and I could never expect her Twitter to be any different. Spears announces events daily to her 20 million followers, and with her stint on The X Factor, she has been furiously active. You can’t say its all phony, but her rise in the Twitter world has been mostly contained in the last 6 months or so.
6. Shakira
Shakira’s inclusion on the list comes a bit out of left field for those who are not familiar or fans, but her eerily personal Twitter offers insight into her life that is lacking in many of the other massive pages.
Her 18 million fans are dialed into birthday announcements, political opinions, and other such things that are likely lacking in a typical Katy Perry post. With about half the messages in Spanish, she could be saying a whole lot of something and it’s received from many as a whole lot of nothing. Shakira has a lot less promotional messages on her Twitter than one would expect. It is more because she isn’t particularly doing much, or she likes to use Twitter as a way to interact with fans personally? Either way, it’s an interesting choice.
7. Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift’s 18 million followers undoubtedly love her charm and interaction, as she arguably has one of the most interesting Twitter pages. There is a nice mix of self-promotion with personal accounts of the day. On top of that, there are a whole lot of THANKS. She thanks fans constantly, and maybe that shows a little about her personality that you don’t always manage to find in strongly monitored Twitter accounts. Her latest single “We Are Never Ever Gonna Get Back Together” is saccharine sweet, and topped the charts, launching Swift into a tirade of THANKS. “Better than a new song out on iTunes – buy or die.”
8. Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj is basically a cartoon character, so no surprise that her Twitter account is drowning in weird personal accounts and inside jokes. She also has a lot of conversations with fans that are basically incompressible to a visitor, but incredibly intimate for those she engages with. Nicki Minaj has a lot to say, with her sophomore album “Roman Reloaded” topping charts, and the string of singles following the best-selling album. With Minaj related news-announcements first being heard about from her personally, and promotions and weird notes littered about, Minaj uses Twitter with expertise.
9. Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake is sure an interesting person to follow. Timberlake hasn’t released a proper studio album in 6 years, so his 13 million fans sure aren’t there for his musical advents. But with his interesting humour and consistent fan interaction, Timberlake has garnered a huge following the old fashion way – sort of.
10. Selena Gomez
With her relationship with the comically famous Justin Bieber and her new musical choices, Selena Gomez shot up in Twitter followers. Her Twitter is undoubtedly closely monitored, but she does add little quips and tidbits that are cute and sweet and totally relatable to her audience of 12 million, there is a lot of moving around, promotion, and talk about her new fragrance. It’s not that it’s not interesting, but there has to be more creative ways to harness Twitter. Fan interaction, less promotional stuff. Selena Gomez has a huge audience that must simply be tied down to every little nugget of info about where in Venice or the length of the flight to her next photo shoot. Yawn.
Author Byline – Ryan Merkel is a freelance editor writing guest posts for BigPond Music.
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