The power of social media is growing year by year – 5.04 billion people around the world are now using social media, with 266 million new users coming online within the last year.
In celebration of Women’s Day, recent research by Authority Hacker highlighted the most popular women on major social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube – and how they use their influence and wealth to help others.
The research shows the significant impact of female influencers on social media, with women ranked in the top 100 accounts amassing over 10 billion followers globally.
Leading the pack is Selena Gomez with 589.8M followers, Ariana Grande with 553.3M followers, and Kylie Jenner with 507.5M followers across all platforms. The Kardashian/Jenner family notably occupies six of the top twelve positions, contributing to a staggering 1.89 billion followers, while female musicians collectively hold the remaining spots with almost 3 billion followers.
Instagram emerged as the predominant platform for female influencers, where they hold 42 of the top 100 accounts, accumulating over 6.4 billion followers. The platform’s top 5 female influencers include Selena Gomez (429.8M followers), Kylie Jenner (400.5M followers), and Ariana Grande (380.3M followers), with the Kardashian/Jenner family alone boasting around 1.19 billion followers.
Conversely, TikTok and YouTube show a diverse influence landscape. On TikTok, female influencers like Charli D’Amelio (152M followers) lead with substantial followings, though they hold a smaller portion of the top accounts compared to Instagram. Brands predominantly occupy YouTube, but female influencers like BLACKPINK (92.9M followers) and Taylor Swift (56.5M followers) make significant impacts with their reach and views.
Twitter also sees significant female influence, with personalities such as Rihanna (108.2M followers) and Katy Perry (106.8M followers) leading in followers.
Net Worth, Charities & Impact on The World
The most influential women on social media not only enjoy vast followings but also command impressive wealth, with a combined net worth exceeding $13.6 billion.
Among them, Oprah Winfrey leads with an estimated net worth of $2.8 billion, followed by Kim Kardashian at $1.7 billion, and Rihanna with $1.4 billion. Taylor Swift’s fortune amounts to $1.1 billion in 2024, while both Beyoncé and Selena Gomez each have a net worth of $800 million according to Forbes reports.
The research also focused on discovering what female celebrities do with their wealth and influence to help charities and humanitarian work. On average, the top female influencers and celebrities are supporting around 19 charities and humanitarian causes, according to data from looktothestars.org.
The most popular causes that top female influencers support include AIDS/HIV (19 influencers), Health (18 influencers), Children (18 influencers), Human Rights (17 influencers), and Education (17 influencers).
Some of the most supported charities include Stand Up To Cancer, Red Cross, and UNICEF, with almost 50% of top female influencers supporting these organizations.
In terms of causes and charities supported, Lady Gaga is the most charitable female influencer, with over 76 charities and 37 humanitarian causes supported over the years. She is closely followed by Ellen DeGeneres (54 charities and 31 causes supported) and Miley Cyrus (44 charities and 31 causes).
When looking at monetary support, Oprah leads the way – her charitable foundation alone has donated over $400 million in grants for various humanitarian causes.
Beyoncé and Rihanna have also made a substantial impact. Beyoncé’s BeyGOOD Foundation has donated over $100 million to various causes over the year, and Rihanna has donated $15 million through her Clara Lionel Foundation to support climate justice initiatives in the Caribbean.
More recently, Taylor Swift contributed $1 million to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee – located in the county she grew up in – after tornadoes left hundreds of buildings damaged.
Taylor has also made many generous donations to food banks along her Eras tour route. No specific sum of money that Taylor donated was reported. However, a food bank in Tampa said the star donated enough cash to “place over 125,000 meals on tables.” Another food bank in Arizona was able to purchase 40,000 pounds of fresh produce thanks to her donation.
If you’re interested in furthering the cause of female empowerment, here’s a full list of the women-focused charities that celebrities mentioned in this article have supported:
- 10×10 (Selena Gomez)
- Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (Katy Perry)
- Breast Cancer Research Association (Kim Kardashian)
- Cool Girls (Oprah, Lady Gaga)
- DonateMyDress (Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus)
- Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre (Lady Gaga)
- Elizabeth Fry Society of Greater Vancouver (Lady Gaga)
- Every Mother Counts (Jennifer Lopez)
- GEANCO (Oprah)
- Girls Rock Camp Alliance (Lady Gaga)
- Global Campaign for Education (Shakira)
- Hero In Heels (Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus)
- I Heart My Girlfriends (Kim Kardashian)
- Janie’s Fund (Jennifer Lopez, Miley Cyrus)
- Keep-a-Breast (Katy Perry)
- Libby Ross Foundation (Miley Cyrus)
- Lopez Family Foundation (Jennifer Lopez)
- Lower East Side Girls Club (Oprah)
- Malala Fund (Selena Gomez)
- Oprah’s Angel Network (Oprah)
- Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa (Oprah)
- Peace Over Violence (Oprah)
- (RED) (Lady Gaga)
- Somaly Mam Foundation (Oprah, Lady Gaga)
- V-Day (Oprah)
- We Advance (Kim Kardashian)
- WomenHeart (Kim Kardashian)
- Women’s Fund for Scotland (Beyoncé)
- Women for Women International (Oprah)
- Women in the World Foundation (Oprah)
- YWCA (Miley Cyrus)
Read the full report: https://www.authorityhacker.com/empowering-influence/
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