Every year, we use Brandwatch’s Audiences to identify and rank our top 50 most influential people on Twitter.

The use of social media has changed dramatically in the last couple of years. Has anything changed in influence rankings in the previous 12 months? Read on to find out who tops our list of the most influential people on Twitter.

Methodology

We used Brandwatch Audiences to search for active tweeters with great influence. Audiences rank Twitter accounts according to a selection of criteria that, added together, create their influence score. This is our measure of how influential an account is over time, based on the level of engagement they are making.

While large numbers of followers, retweets, and replies will help, the more influential the people they engage with, the better the score. 

The following four accounts were excluded from our ranking:

  • @FLOTUS – due to the account being managed by the White House staff 
  • @POTUS44 – this account has been archived
  • @POTUS45 – this account has been archived
  • @VP – due to the account being managed by the White House staff 

Let’s dig in.

Here’s the list, ranked according to influencer score:

Brandwatch’s most influential people on Twitter 2022

Source: Brandwatch Audiences

Findings

What’s changed since our 2021 list? 

Movers and shakers

Seven users moved out, and one was removed. We excluded Mac Miller, who passed away in 2018; although his account still has lots of influence. 

Here are the influencers who didn’t make Brandwatch’s 50 Most Influential People on Twitter 2022:

  • Nick Jonas (dropped off from #50)
  • Leonardo DiCaprio (dropped off from #45)
  • Conan O'Brien (dropped off from #40)
  • Louis Tomlinson (dropped off from #36)
  • Ye (Kanye West) (dropped off from #24, and his account was suspended)
  • Shakira (dropped off from #17)
  • Ariana Grande (dropped off from #7)

This year, these shakers replaced them:

  • Sachin Tendulkar
  • Mariah Carey
  • Elissa
  • Danilo Gentili
  • Rihanna
  • LeBron James
  • Cristiano Ronaldo

Welcome this year’s newcomers:

  • Rafael Correa
  • Kevin Hart
  • Iggy Azalea
  • Haruka Nakagawa
  • Ben Shapiro
  • Alyssa Milano
  • Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Influential professions

For the third year in a row, ‘musician’ appears to be the most influential profession on the platform, with 48% of the ranked influencers falling under this category. 

This year, the second most influential profession on Twitter was split between ‘television host’ and ‘politician’, each accounting for 10% of our top 50 influencers in these categories.

‘Politician’ gained more influence this year, as three more ‘politicians’ influencers joined the top 50 list, expanding it to five people: Narendra Modi, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Rafael Correa. 

Industry research suggests that consumers today are becoming increasingly more aware of social issues and tune in to those influencers who advocate for the matters that are important to them. That can explain the rise of influence among those categorized as politicians.

‘Media personality’, ‘business’, and ‘sports’ each accounted for 6% of the ranked influencers’ professions.  

Demographic breakdown of the influencers

Among the 50 identified influencers, 52% are male and 48% female – a change from 61% and 39%, respectively, with the majority (66%) based in the United States.

We also looked into conversation insights from the top 50 influencers, and two themes dominated the discussions: news and politics and business and finance, accounting for 56.6% and 7.2% of all conversations, respectively. 

Wrapping up

Thanks for reading this year’s report on the most influential people on Twitter.

If you’re interested in learning more about influencer discovery, especially when looking for micro-influencers in niche sectors, check out Brandwatch Audiences by clicking below.