Taylor Swift may be Time magazine's Person of the Year, but that doesn't mean she's the most popular singer on the internet. Pop star Selena Gomez has her beat when it comes to follower counts on several social media platforms.
The Disney alum was the most listened to musician among American TikTok users in 2023, according to the company's year-end roundup. She also took the No. 2 spot among users worldwide behind Mexican singer and internet personality Kimberly Loaiza.
Gomez was also the second most popular musician among TikTok users worldwide.
The two top 10 lists also include artists like Ice Spice, Cardi B and BTS. But Swift doesn't appear anywhere on either even though her track "Cruel Summer" was the tenth most popular song among American TikTok users in 2023. That's not where the trend ends. Swift has 23.3 million followers on the app, which is an eye-watering number. But it's not even half of the 59.3 million followers Gomez has courted on the platform.
The trend also holds true on Instagram. Swift has 278 million followers there while Gomez has 429 million. The online casino Ice 36 dug into the Instagram data with statistics gleaned from the website Social Blade. They found that Gomez gained 83.6 million followers this year while Swift only added 47.9 million. But it seem like Swift's fans are more engaged with her on Instagram. She got an average of 7.1 million likes per post compared with Gomez's 5.7 million.
Swift doesn't have Gomez beat on Facebook either, where her 80 million followers are trailing the other star's 89 million.
YouTube is one platform where Swift managed to beat Gomez. She's courted 55.6 million subscribers while Gomez only has 34.3 million. The Ice 36 survey also found that Swift has bested Gomez when it comes to Google search traffic. She's been looked up 133.1 million times while Gomez has only been searched for on 82.6 million different occasions.
TikTok's year-end run down came during the same week Swift was named Time magazine's Person of the Year.
Gomez has a clear edge even though she only released one track this year. "Single Soon" only made it to No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100. The singer also hasn't put out a studio album since 2020's Rare, which spent one week on top of the Billboard Albums Chart like her other two LPs Stars Dance and Revival.
Swift on the other hand had two No. 1 singles with "Cruel Summer" and "Is It Over Now?" Her other 2023 singles "Karma" and "Slut" made it to the No. 2 and No. 3 spots respectively. The songwriter's re-recorded versions of Speak Now and 1989 released this year both made it to No. 1 on the Albums Chart.
Gomez has only released one track this year while Swift has had several No. 1 singles.
There's no reason to believe Gomez and Swift are duking it out behind the scenes.
Gomez made the fourth most popular video TikTok of the year, a clip showing her pre-flight skincare routine. The video that's been liked nearly 25 million times features Swift's 2020 track "Cardigan."
Fans found this heartwarming. "You using Taylor's sound is everything," one commenter said. "The support is so cute."
Swift's track "Cruel Summer" was the tenth most popular song amongst American TikTok users in 2023.
