Social Media Odds: Obama Still President of Twitter

Barack Obama may have left the White House, but he’s still the president of Twitter.

His initial response to the tragic events in Charlottesville last week garnered almost 4.4 million “likes,” making it the most-liked tweet in the relatively short history of Twitter. It was the first of three tweets made by Obama on August 12th, each quoting Nelson Mandela:

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion…”

 

“People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love…”

 

“…For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” – Nelson Mandela

Ten of the top 15 most-liked tweets have been made by Barack Obama, with Ellen DeGeneres and Ariana Grande also high up on the list.

Meanwhile over at Youtube, the wildly popular “Despacito” recently overtook Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again” and the original Youtube viral song “Gangnam Style” to become the platform’s most-watched video.

With both records recently shattered, Twitter and Youtube are soaring to new heights. Will these records be broken once again within the year?  Let’s take a look at the numbers.

SOCIAL MEDIA ODDS

Odds Barack Obama’s Charlottesville tweet is still the most-liked tweet by year-end 2017: 1/3

With 4.39 likes, Obama’s tweet will be difficult to top. Ariana Grande’s tweet holds second place with 2.7 million likes, and Ellen DeGeneres’s star-studded selfie at the 2014 Oscars is now in third with 2.42 million.

Over/Under number of Twitter users with over 100 million followers by year-end 2017: 1.5

As it stands, Katy Perry is the only Twitter user with over 100 million followers. Justin Bieber is dangerously close, though, with 99 million. After that, there’s quite a steep drop off. Barack Obama is in third with 93 million, and Taylor Swift follows with 85 million.

Odds Donald Trump breaks the top 20 of most followed users on Twitter by year-end 2017: 6/1

With 36 million followers, Donald Trump is ranked 28th on the list. With a million more followers, he would overtake his arch-nemesis, CNN (though CNN Breaking News is still a long way away). And with three million more, he could rival the “failing” New York Times.

However, in order to break the top 20, Trump will need to find an extra six million followers.

Odds “Despacito” is still the most-watched video on Youtube by year-end 2017: 1/2

“Despacito” was only released at the start of the year and already it’s the most-watched Youtube video of all time. The 2012 viral hit “Gangnam Style” spent a whopping 1,689 days on top, and the polarizing “Baby” by Justin Bieber held the top spot for 862 days before that.

However, Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again” only held the crown for 25 days before “Despacito” took over. The top spot on Youtube is far from safe.

Over/Under number of videos with over 3 billion views on Youtube by year-end 2017: 2.5

“Despacito” (3.3 billion views) and “See You Again” (3 billion views) are currently the only videos to surpass 3 billion views. “Gangnam Style” is close, with 2.9 billion. But the Korean pop song’s popularity has somewhat plateaued in recent years.