Pop singer and fashion enthusiast Lady Gaga has made Internet history once again: She's the first person to collect 10 million Twitter followers.
Yes, that's pretty impressive.
To put things into perspective consider that the individuals with the next largest Twitter followings are teen heartthrob Justin Bieber with 9.6 million followers, president Barack Obama with about 8 million, and pop sensation Britney Spears with 7.8 million. And to further understand how nuts Gaga's number is, know that a lowly tech blogger like yours truly hasn't even managed to hit 6,000 followers yet.
The sheer ridiculousness of Gaga's achievement aside, it's noteworthy that this isn't even the first time that she's beaten everyone senseless when it comes to hitting Internet records. In fact, social media tracking site FameCount points out that the Twitter record "marks the third in a series of social media landmarks for Lady Gaga and the world over the past year. In July 2010, the pop princess was the first living person to achieve 10 m Facebook likes, and in October 2010, Gaga became the first to reach 1 bln views on YouTube. On an aggregated basis, according to Famecount’s rankings, Lady Gaga stands supreme" in all things social media.
The site goes on to elaborate that Gaga may not be the queen of social media for too long though:
Soon after [Gaga hit] a billion on YouTube, Justin Bieber stormed past to seize the YouTube crown. Meanwhile, Eminem pushed Lady Gaga into second place on Facebook three months ago. On Twitter, Lady Gaga has been undisputed champion since toppling Britney Spears in August 2010. While she remains Queen for now, Justin Bieber – the world’s fastest growing Twitter user - has been steadily closing in over the past year, and may soon challenge, not only for Twitter, but for overall dominance on social media. Other Twitterers to watch include Barack Obama, who has seen his fame bounce following the Bin Laden mission, and Katy Perry, one of the fastest growing on the network.
Ah well, we'll see how long Gaga hangs on to her crown, but for now we'll just let her celebrate her accomplishment in her own quirky way:
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Rosa Golijan writes about tech here and there while coping with a Twitter obsession. Sam Spratt — the guy who made the Lady Gaga illustration — on the other hand, is all about Facebook and Tumblr.