Niall Horan. Image: lev radin/Shutterstock
Wrestlers, mixed martial artists, comedians and sports stars all appear on Ireland’s most-followed list, but it’s all about the music at the top.
In the upper echelons of social media, no list is more important than the who’s who of Twitter. Today (6 June), Ogilvy and Social Bakers have released a list of Ireland’s top 10 most-followed.
With more Twitter followers than the rest of the top 10 combined, Mullingar singer Niall Horan is Ireland’s leading online star.
With 30m followers, Horan leaves the likes of Conor McGregor, Sheamus, Rory McIlroy and Dara Ó Briain in the shade, with only three people enjoying even 10pc of the former One Direction star’s following.
The full list is:
- Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) – 30m
- Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) – 4.1m
- Sheamus (@WWESheamus) – 4.1m
- Rory McIlroy (@McIlroyRory) – 3.1m
- Jack Septic Eye (@Jack_Septic_Eye) – 2.8m
- Dara Ó Briain (@daraobriain) – 2.4m
- The Script (@thescript) – 2.1m
- Daithi De Nogla (@DaithiDeNogla) – 1.2m
- U2 (@U2) – 1.1m
- Danny O’Donoghue (@TheScript_Danny) – 1.1m
Horan’s most retweeted tweet got shared 752,000 times, and he posted it just after he applied for X Factor, the show that launched his One Direction stardom.
applied for xfactor,hope it all wrks out
— Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) January 17, 2010
Though, as this is Twitter, ‘followers’ aren’t necessarily ‘people’.
For example, in the hours after US President Donald Trump’s most recent error-filled tweet, spawning the ‘convefe’ buzz, millions of bot accounts are thought to have begun following his account.
By using the Twitter Audit tool online, a quick check last week of Trump’s personal account – @realDonaldTrump – shows that just 51pc of his followers are real.
Twitter is doing its best to appeal to a wider market. For example, in markets where unreliable networks mean any apps that can put a strain on connectivity are unattractive, it has revealed a new tool. In a blog post, the company revealed that Twitter Lite would be accessible through a mobile web app taking up just 1MB of storage on a device.
Compared to the regular Twitter app, Twitter Lite minimises data usage, and loads quickly on slower connections.
Niall Horan. Image: lev radin/Shutterstock
