French national team forward Kylian Mbappé is the most influential black celebrity, according to a study carried out by black lifestyle brand That Sister.
The 24-year-old came out tops in a listing dominated by American personalities with 99.1 million followers on Instagram and 11.7 million Twitter followers with a social media influence score of 93.18 per cent.
Mbappé’s score higher than a host of black celebrities across the world, including former US president Barack Obama who was ranked ninth (133.3 million Twitter followers) and a social media influence score of 71.96 per cent.
Mbappé, especially, became a global sensation credited with ‘carrying on his back’ the French national team to second place during the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar, scoring a hat trick against Argentina in the final.
Researchers used data to create a combined social media influence score for more than 20 of the most popular Black celebrities in the world. The overall score took into account the celebrities’ social media followers on Instagram and Twiter as well as the followers’ engagement rates on these platforms.
American actress Zendaya, 26, (whose father is black) was second behind Mbappé with 166 Instagram and 21.2 million Twitter followers and an influence score of 85.95 per cent.
The most followed TikToker in the world, Senegalese born Khaby Lame, was third with 79.9 million Instagram followers and 369,681 Twitter followers with a social media influence score of 85.24 per cent.
In fourth place was Egyptian footballer Mohamed Salah with 56.5 million Instagram and 17.9 million Twitter followers – posting a social media influence score of 83.41 per cent.
American superstar singer Rihanna rounded up the top five places (140.3 million Instagram and 107.8 million Twitter followers) with a social media influence score of 79.79 per cent.
Juventus French midfielder Paul Pogba (57.1 million Instagram followers and 10.6 million Twitter followers), Cardi B (151.5 million Instagram and 18.4 million Twitter followers), Beyoncé Knowles (294.7 million Instagram and 15.7 million Twitter followers) Obama and Canadian born rapper Drake (130.8 million Instagram and 39.9 million Twitter followers) filled the rest of the top 10 places.
Other notable personalities listed in the survey are Nicki Minaj was ranked 11th, NBA legend Lebron James came (12th), Michelle Obama (13th), Lil Wayne (14th), Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson (15th), Chris Brown (16th), Snoop Dogg (17th), Oprah Winfrey (18th), Alicia Keys (19th) and Wiz Khalifa (20th).