Rihanna rocks the social networking scene

Social networking is a powerful tool for celebrities, athletes and businesses, and someone who has proven how to use it best is Rihanna.

Now you know social media has become a beast of its own when someone can be called the “most famous socialite online”, and yet that was a title given to Rihanna as she continued to break record numbers of fans and followers in social media.

Ranking #5 on Twitter followers starting 2013, Rihanna dominated social media in all of 2012. For the past two years, she and Lady Gaga have vied for the top place, but 2012 was her year. 

It’s pretty clear why Rihanna was dubbed “queen of social networking superstars” when you check out her fan and follower numbers:

• 65 million fans on Facebook
• 27 million followers on Twitter
• 4.2 million followers on Instagram
• 4.2 million friends on MySpace (can’t believe this still exists)
• 100-250 million hits on each video on YouTube

On the website Terra, an article on Rihanna's social queen status stated, “The singer sure knows how to keep her devoted followers entertained with bikini pictures and chronicling her adventures as she jet-sets around the globe.”

Just browsing through her fans comments and posts, they clearly love their diva, who often posts some pretty outlandish things. In an article by Forbes, they mentioned, “sometimes she shares a little too much. She has tweeted pictures of herself at a strip club and more than one shot that looked like the star was doing drugs.”

Rihanna can care less what anyone says or doesn’t say, but it’s her defiance that attracts so many followers.

The entertainment industry standard is starting to reflect the standard of social media for celebrities. The more an artist pushes the limits and boundaries the more followers they get. 

If you observe her social media nemesis, Lady Gaga, who happens to be another provocative and eccentric artist, it’s clear that they know how to perform both on and off the stage, and fans are eating up every word and picture.

In late 2012, Lady Gaga finally made it to #1 and has stayed there, but credit goes to Rihanna for her ability to still be among the top celebrity social networkers and going strong.