Twtiter Statistics Update: The Celebrity Factor

An update to my blog of April 17th, “Twitter and the Culture of Celebrity” (http://banjoboyo.blogspot.com/2009/04/i-started-compiling-some-data-today.html.) I’ve updated my stats to reflect some changes; new folks, new numbers. Here’s a chart showing the ratio mentioned in that post, that of followers to following. This ratio expresses two factors: 1) the sheer number of followers that a celebrity can draw, but also 2) their “return follow” rate. A simple expression of 1 to 2 produces the following.



I’d like to welcome a few newcomers to the ranks of the “one way celebrity broadcasting network”. Brooke Burke, Al Gore, Penn Gillette all have posted some great numbers of followers while following a number equivalent to a small high school basketball team. Topping these ranks, however, are musician Dave Mathews and comedian/magician Penn Gillette, both with about a half million followers, and both following – get ready for this – 3 people. That’s can’t even be all the members of their nuclear family with Twitter accounts. These new additions make last week’s champs John Mayer and Katy Perry look egalitarian in their follows.

Special Twitter Etiquette awards, however, to Kathy Ireland, Paula Poundstone, Fran Drescher, Alyssa Milano, Steve Isaacs, Mariel Hemingway, for following their follows pretty impressively. Remember that this ratio expresses both number of follows and followers, so a celebrity with tens of thousands of follows has to follow proportionately more people than someone with a hundred or so follows to post the same ratio. That’s why I’ve provided the second chart which takes these same celebs and lists them ordinally based solely on number of follows, for a little perspective.



Interestingly, the inverse proportion pretty much persists. Dave Mathews and Penn Gillette still follows just 3 people. Paula Poundstone pretty much still follows everybody who follows her.

I’ll continue to track these numbers as Twitter matures and grows in general use. I know if I owned the site, I’d be looking at charging some of these celebs for the free marketing I’m providing them with.

Later.