Most followed microbloggers: celebs tweet for Japan as Bieber exceeds 8 million fans

(AFP PHOTO/TIMOTHY A. CLARY)

The most popular people on social networking sites Twitter and Weibo recorded on March 14.

This week the most followed Twitter celebrities have been using their accounts to offer support for people affected by Japan's massive earthquake and tsunami.

Teenage pop singer Justin Bieber tweeted "Japan is one of my favorite places on earth...it's an incredible culture with amazing people. My prayers go out to them. We all need to help," and Lady Gaga took to her Twitter account to let people know, "I Designed a Japan Prayer Bracelet. Buy It/Donate here and ALL proceeds will go to Tsunami Relief Efforts. Go Monsters: http://bit.ly/f0aYwZ."

Justin Bieber added more than 200,000 fans to his tally this week to become one of only two microbloggers to have more than 8 million fans.

Amidst a heavy touring schedule and appearances to promote her new fragrance, Katy Perry gained enough fans to leap-frog over talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and become Twitter's seventh most popular tweeter.

Microbloggers on China's Weibo also added a steady stream of fans to their list of followers this week, but not enough to overtake their western counterparts.

In September 2010, Twitter had 175 million registered users, while Sina reports that Weibo had more than 80 million registered users in January 2011.

Most popular people on Twitter according to Listorious:

1. Lady Gaga (8,771,444 followers)
2. Justin Bieber - (8,123,093)
3. Britney Spears - (7,122,135)
4. Barack Obama - (6,969,851)
5. Kim Kardashian - (6,728,549)
6. Ashton Kutcher - (6,441,622)
7. Katy Perry - (6,212,106)
8. Ellen DeGeneres - (6,158,562)
9. Taylor Swift - (5,603,299)
10. Oprah Winfrey - (5,332,173)

Most popular people on Sina's Microblog (Weibo):

1. Yao Chen (6,814,158 followers)
2. Xi?o S (5,818,380)
3. Zhao Wei (5,573,704)
4. Cai Kang Yong (5,212,090)
5. Xiena (4,835,130)

http://listorious.com/top/followers
http://t.sina.com.cn/