Justin Bieber (Photo: Taylor Hill)When Justin Bieber posted a photo of himself mooning the camera on Instagram this weekend, the timing was somewhat hilarious: The 18-year-old phenomenon has just officially surpassed Gaga as the most popular person on Twitter.
We're sure Bieber wasn't deliberately mocking Gaga with the gesture. But, regardless, the pop superstar has definitively stolen the crown from longtime holder Gaga--who has held the social media honor since 2010--on Monday night. As of this posting, he has 33, 337,997 Beliebers following him; while Gaga “only” has 33, 332, 282 Little Monsters on her trail.
According to Twittercounter, which provides detailed stats on the outlet’s top 100 most followed people, Bieber is adding new followers at an average rate of about 37,000 daily. Since Gaga is close on his heels with around 29K new friends a day, we probably can expect to see the two artists’ first-and-second places flip-flop back and forth at least few times this year.
At any rate, both entertainers have little to worry about regarding their popularity. To put their numbers into perspective, both have more followers than the entire population of Texas (29 million)—and are not too far off from the number of the most populous state in the nation, California (38 million).
Neither Bieber nor Gaga has commented yet on the Twitter displacement. Katy Perry remains in 3rd place behind the two, with around 31.5 million followers. The President of the United States only makes 5th place on the list, with 26 million.
Lady Gaga still reigns supreme on Facebook, with nearly 55 million "likes" to Bieber's nearly 51 million.
Could Bieber’s mildly naughty rear-end photo be accountable for the little surge he needed to plow past Gaga on Twitter? Only Beliebers can say for sure. We’ll be waiting to see what the always-creative Gaga decides to cook up in response!
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