With over 80 000 followers on Twitter, the often controversial 5FM DJ and Idols Judge Gareth Cliff is by far SA’s most followed individual on the micro-blogging site and this for me comes as no surprise given the issues Cliff often raises. In a recent research report produced by Twitaholic.com, Cliff is closely followed by Proteas Captain Graeme Smith who has just over 70 000 followers. SA’s funny man Trevor Noah comes in a distant third with about 56 000 followers.

I think what really sets Cliff apart from other SA celebs on Twitter is the simple fact that he is interesting. Although I personally chose to unfollow him at some point because of some of the issues he raised, the fact of the matter is that Cliff is well in tune with the socio issues of the day and this understandably makes him have that “follow appeal”.

This report by Twitaholic also in some ways further confirms the fact that Twitter can be viewed as platform for a “popularity contest”. It shows you who is popular and who is not. Again if one looks at the international stats, it is quite evident that Twitter is dominated by celebs. According to Twittercounter.com, pop star Lady Gaga is the world’s number one Twitter user boasting of close to 8 million followers. Twittercism.com argues that the number of followers one has is more often than not “a fair representation your social status”. It is also easily noticeable that the top influencers on Twitter such as Cliff and certainly Lady Gaga do not follow many users. Twittercism notes that follower ratio is crucial and generally gives you a clear indication on who is who on the site.

“Follower ratio is massively important, too. Two different accounts (X & Y) each with ten thousand followers are not necessarily equal. If profile X is following 500 people, and profile Y is following 10,001, then profile X wins”.