Twitter: How many followers does Lady Gaga REALLY have?

  • Pop star has almost 30million followers, but research by British company Status People finds that only 29 per cent are regular tweeters
  • Company has developed tool to expose the fraudulent accounts which inflate follower numbers

By Rob Preece

PUBLISHED: 12:29 EST, 26 August 2012 | UPDATED: 12:29 EST, 26 August 2012

In a world where big numbers mean big business, the size of a celebrity's Twitter following is of great interest to fans and advertisers alike.

But how many of the millions of Twitter users who follow stars such as Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber are real?

Most people with Twitter accounts will have been bombarded with indecipherable messages apparently sent by 'spambots' who don't exist.

And now a British firm claims it may have found a way to root out the fake and fraudulent accounts that make some celebrities' Twitter follower counts artificially high.

Lady Gaga has the most-followed account on Twitter

Justin Bieber has more than 27million Twitter followers, but how many of them are real?

Faking it: Lady Gaga (left) and Justin Bieber (right) each have almost 30million Twitter followers, but how many of them are real?

High notes: Singer Katy Perry has the third most-followed Twitter account in the world

High notes: Singer Katy Perry has the third most-followed Twitter ac! count in the world

Start-up company Status People says it has devised a software tool that divides followers into three categories - the fake, the inactive and the good.

It began working on the project after it was reported that the former Tory MP Louise Mensch had as many as 40,000 fake followers.

The tool is intended to expose the true scale of the problem, and it matters because the number of followers a person has can be translated into financial worth by advertisers and marketing companies.

Having a large Twitter following can help earn celebrities lucrative sponsorship deals to promote products on the web.

Ricky Gervais is a prolific tweeter followed by thousands

Katherine Jenkins is a prolific tweeter followed by thousands

Famous for their tweets: Ricky Gervais and Katherine Jenkins are both prolifc tweeters whose messages are followed by thousands of fans

Rio Ferdinand used Twitter to promote a chocolate bar

Katie Price is among a host of celebrities who have used Twitter to promote products

Commercial break: Rio Ferdinand and Katie Price are among a host of celebrities who have used Twitter to promote products

British stars who have promoted items on the micro-blogging website include Katie Price and Manchester United footballer Rio Ferdinand.

Twitter users seeking to increase their influence can pay! website s to generate thousands of followers for them.

CELEBRITY HITLIST: THE 10 MOST-FOLLOWED ACCOUNTS

1. Lady Gaga (@ladygaga)

2. Justin Bieber (@justinbieber)

3. Katy Perry (@katyperry)

4. Rihanna (@rihanna)

5. Britney Spears (@britneyspears)

6. Barack Obama (@BarackObama)

7. Shakira (@shakira)

8. Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13)

9. Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian)

10. YouTube (@YouTube)

Source: Twitaholic.com

It has been reported that as little as 260 could secure 220,000 new followers for an account.

Lady Gaga and Bieber both have almost 30million followers, while fellow singers Katy Perry, Rihanna and Britney Spears each have follower counts in the region of 20million.

But Status People's software suggest that a large proportion of those followers may be imaginary tweeters.

Company executive Rob Waller told the Observer: 'A fake account is set up to follow people or send out spam. They normally have no followers, but follow large numbers of people.

'An inactive account is one in which there has been no activity for a while. They could be real people, but we would describe them as consumers of information rather than sharers of information.

'A good account is everything that remains.'

Status People's tool, which analyses an account's 100,000 most recent followers, shows that only 29 per cent of Lady Gaga's are 'good'.

Britney Spears has almost 20million Twitter followers

Only three celebrities worldwide have more Twitter followers than Rihanna

Stars: American pop singers Britney Spears and Rihanna each have about 20million Twitter followers

Targeted: Former Tory MP Louise Mensch was reportedly followed on Twitter by about 40,000 fake followers

Targeted: Former Tory MP Louise Mensch was reportedly followed on Twitter by about 40,000 fake followers

Similarly, only 30 per cent of the almost 5million accounts who follow Wayne Rooney are classed as good.

David Cameron's official account has a slightly larger proportion of good followers - 37 per cent of the 2.1million users who receive its updates.

After the revelation that she had fake followers, Mrs Mensch tweeted: 'I've asked @Twitter in the UK to see if they can remove the 40k spambots and reset me to my 66k count... need a better filter.'

The former politician, who quit the Commons earlier this month to spend more time with her family, has since seen her follower count rise to about 96,000.

HOW FAKE TWITTER FOLLOWERS CAN RAISE A COMPANY'S PROFILE ONLINE

Targeted: Former Tory MP Louise Mensch was reportedly followed on Twitter by about 40,000 fake followers

Some businesses seek to gain more recognition by paying internet sites to help raise the number of Twitter followers they have.

The exercise is artificial, involving the creation of thousands of fake accounts, but a quick search on the web brings up scores of sites that offer the service.

The sites work in two ways.

The first uses a type of software identifies Twitter accounts that include certain keywords, such as 'football'.

Those accounts are then 'followed' in the hope that their owners will follow back.

The other way in which sites operate is to use programs to create artificial accounts, which can then be sold by the t! housand.

The extra followers can be a nuisance for some Twitter users, however.

Louise Mensch, pictured, found that thousands of fake followers were receiving her updates.