Australia’s top 20 Instagram stars revealed

Confidential has trawled through the social media site to come up with Australia’s top Instagram accounts by follower numbers with Hollywood hunks Chris Hemsworth and Hugh Jackman taking out the first and second spot with more than 50 million and 30 million followers each.Margot Robbie would most likely have come in at third but after quitting the platform and taking a social media break in June, when she had just under 24 million followers, she didn’t make the cut at all.Top 20 Aussies on InstagramBand 5 Seconds of Summer made it as a group, as did individual members, although guitarist Michael Clifford fell just short of the top 20 with 5.5 million followers.Just two ‘influencers’ made the list in personal trainer and author Kayla Itsines in sixth position with 13.3 million followers and Gold Coast mum Tammy Hembrow in eighth with 13.1 million.“It is a great platform for connectivity and it has created a really good foundation for my businesses,” Hembrow told Confidential when contacted.Collating the list was not easy. While numerous apps provide services to measure the success and popularity of social media profiles, none rank purely based on numbers of followers and most focus firmly on influencers rather than bona fide stars.Edigital marketing specialist Mauricio Escobar earlier this year came up with his own list and claimed that while some believe Instagram fame relies heavily on ‘human objectification’, others claim this objectification is valid and acceptable.“The Instagram following count is a way to gauge the popularity of an individual or brand on the social media platform,” Escobar told Confidential. “The number of fans following some of Australia’s top Instagram accounts may be an indicative of the most popular topics, roles and activities people are interested in which can be shaping the general cultural fabric of a nation.The list showcases a great variety of Aussie personalities that due to their unique skills, individual creativity and talent are leaders in different industries, especially in creative sectors such as entertainment, fashion and sport.”Social media can mean big money.Influencers can earn tens of thousands of dollars for a single sponsored post on Instagram while celebrities are paid sometimes millions. If a celebrity doesn’t necessarily engage in sponsored activity, social media nonetheless amplifies their messaging and the brands they work with.The big question, says Sydney tech operator Anthony Richardson, is not so much how many followers someone has but how many of those followers are engaged in a profile and its posts.Richardson runs technology app Q83, which has a big focus on measuring social media engagement so businesses can align with the right talent.“On average an Instagram account only reaches 30 per cent of their followers and even less for Instagram stories, which is an average of six per cent,” Richardson said. “The currency of measuring how much you are paying someone is follower numbers but ensuring the platforms distributing their media is critical to reaching that audience.”Richardson came up with his own list of most influential Australian Instagram users, all of which reach upwards of 300 per cent, including former Bachelor star Lachy Gilbert (@locklangilbert) and Matthew Johnson (@matthewdavidjohnson), I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! winner Abbie Chatfield (@abbiechatfield) and Married At First Sight’s Michael Brunelli (@mbrunelli).NAT – Stay Informed – Social Media

Source: Sun Herald