Most followed microbloggers: Kim Kardashian overtakes Ashton Kutcher

(AFP PHOTO / Robyn Beck)

The most popular people on social networking sites Twitter and Weibo recorded on February 21.

American socialite and reality TV star Kim Kardashian has replaced American actor Ashton Kutcher as the fifth most popular microblogger on Twitter.

During the week Kardashian amassed 102,629 followers to move into fifth place while Ashton Kutcher slipped to sixth place with gains of just under 22,500 fans.

Over on China's microblogging platform, Weibo, Chinese actress Yao Chen broke the 6 million follower milestone. With 6,087,319 followers, the Chinese actress also overtook American talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, who is currently Twitter's seventh most followed user with 5,942,857 followers.

In June 2010, Twitter was estimated to have 190 million visitors per month while estimates put Sina's Weibo at more than 80 million registered users in January 2011.

Interesting fact: According to a February 15 article on technology news site The Next Web, Sina has one-upped Twitter by launching "voicemail Weibos" and direct video uploads. The microblogging service is also trialling location-based features and plans to introduce them "within the year."
http://thenextweb.com/asia/2011/02/15/sina-weibo-outguns-twitter-with-voicemail-weibos-and-direct-video-uploads/

Most popular people on Twitter according to Listorious:

1. Lady Gaga (8,334,439 followers)
   
2. Justin Bieber (7,471,297)
   
3. Britney Spears (6,927,265)
   
4. Barack Obama (6,712,541)
   
5. Kim Kardashian (6,397,176)
   
6. Ashton Kutcher (6,360,011)
   
7. Ellen DeGeneres (5,942,857)
   
8. Katy Perry (5,855,880)
   
9. Taylor Swift (5,365,772)
   
10. Oprah Winfrey (5,142,405)

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

1. Yao Chen (6,087,319 followers)
2. Xi?o S (5,306,583)
3. Zhao Wei (5,158,029)
4. Cai Kang Yong (4,687,411)
5. Xiena (4,395,319)

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