Lessons from the 2024 social media rankings of World Leaders
At DigiTips we have ranked 4,267 social media accounts of heads of state & government and foreign ministers and their institutional channels on all major platforms including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Telegram, Threads, TikTok, WhatsApp, 𝕏, and YouTube as well as BeReal, Bluesky, Mastodon, and Snapchat.
These social media rankings are based on the number of followers and subscribers. We recognize that the number of followers on social media is essentially a vanity metric and not the only measure of influence. However, the follower count is currently the only metric publicly available on most platforms, except BeReal and Snapchat.
What’s the point of ranking heads of state and government, and foreign ministers on social media? The league tables provide some interesting insights.
Which are the most Popular Platforms for leaders?
𝕏 is still the preferred social media network for governments considering that 190 of the 193 UN member countries have an official presence on the platform — the governments of Laos, North Korea, and Turkmenistan don’t have any social media presence. However, the diplomatic missions of Laos, and Turkmenistan to the UN in New York are on 𝕏, which is still the leading platform for digital diplomacy.
However, 𝕏 is no longer the only platform for world leaders to communicate: the governments and leaders of 187 countries have a presence on Facebook, 178 are present on Instagram, 173 have a channel on YouTube and 163 are on LinkedIn. The governments and leaders of 108 countries are on TikTok, despite the prospect of a ban in the U.S. and 87 have set up accounts on Threads over the past nine months.
Which Platforms provide the Biggest Audience?
Facebook is the platform where government leaders find their biggest audiences. The 785 pages combined have a total following of 438 million and a median average of 75,000 per page. The 1,187 accounts on 𝕏 have chalked up 788 million followers with a median average of 43,000 followers per account. Instagram is in third place with 425 million followers on the 705 accounts and a median average of 23,000 per account.
The 460 governmental channels on YouTube have a combined audience of 63.6 million but a median average of only 4.200 subscribers. The 207 channels on TikTok have 47.3 million followers combined and a media average audience of 13,500 per account.
Which Platforms had the biggest growth?
TikTok is the platform where world leaders enjoy the biggest growth with a median average growth rate of 26% over the past 12 months. The LinkedIn pages of leaders have seen double digit growth of 19% over the past 12 months and active accounts registered a record average growth rate of 24%.
The world leader accounts on Instagram and their channels on Telegram enjoyed a median average growth of 10% year on year which is twice as much as on Facebook and 𝕏. Account growth has somewhat slowed on both platforms with 5.4% and 5.6% respectively.
Who are the most Followed Leaders?
Indian Prime Minister Modi is the most followed world leader with 276 million followers and subscribers on his personal account and an additional 72 million on his institutional account @PMOIndia. The Indian leader tops the rankings on Facebook, Instagram, 𝕏, WhatsApp, and YouTube and is second on LinkedIn after Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Modi is neither on Threads where U.S. President Joe Biden leads nor is he on TikTok where El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele is N°1. And finally, Volodymyr Zelensky is the most followed world leader on Telegram despite having lost half of his followers over the past wo years since the start of Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
Overall U.S. President Joe Biden is in second position with 140 million and Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo is in third position with 93 million followers. Beyond the Top 10 the rankings are useful for institutions and leaders to see where they stand in comparison to their friends and foes.
Download the full rankings here: https://luefkens.gumroad.com/l/DigiTipsSocialMediaRankings2024
Which Leaders are not on Social Media?
Russian President Vladimir Putin, his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega, and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un all have one thing in common: they don’t have personal accounts on social media. Do you see the pattern here?! Most of these are undemocratic dictators.
Having said this, monarchs generally don’t have personal accounts on social media. You won’t find any personal accounts of King Charles III, nor the kings Denmark, the Netherlands. Norway, Spain, or Sweden. The European royals all have institutional for their royal households. Japanese Emperor Naruhito recently set up an institutional account on Instagram and also doesn’t have a personal profile.
In this respect King Salman of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah II of Jordan and Sheikh Mohammed of the UAE are the exceptions to the rule. Interesting that Abdullah of Jordan opened an account in 2017 almost 10 years after his wife Queen Rania.
Why is this ranking useful?
The ranking of heads of state and government has become our digital Rolodex. We follow all leaders, and some follow back or have connected with us on LinkedIn.
These leaders’ lists are a valuable tool for government and foreign ministries to create their own digital diplomacy Rolodex. Follow the leaders:
· Heads of State & Government on 𝕏
· Governments on 𝕏
· Foreign Ministers on 𝕏
· Foreign Ministries on 𝕏
How do you capture the data?
We have used Audiense.com to gather data from 𝕏 and Crowdtangle.com for data from Facebook & Instagram. Data capture from all other networks was done manually on each platform. If you know of a free tool which makes data capture easier let us know.
