Most-Adopted Individuals on Social Media in 2016 vs. 2026

A decade ago, Selena Gomez was the undisputed queen of Instagram with 103 million followers. 

Katy Perry ruled Twitter with 94.5 million. TikTok didn’t exist in the United States yet. And the idea that a soccer player or a platform owner could dominate these rankings would have seemed far-fetched.

Fast-forward to 2026, and the list of the most followed people on Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok tells a wildly different story about who commands attention online — and what kind of fame actually lasts.

Follower counts have become one of the clearest, most public scorecards for celebrity relevance. They rise and fall with album drops, controversies, viral moments and long stretches of silence. 

Tracking who gained ground, who lost it and who appeared out of nowhere over a 10-year window reveals something the daily scroll can’t: the deeper currents reshaping digital culture.

Instagram In 2016: Pop Stars and Reality TV Ran the Show

The 2016 Instagram top 10, per Forbes, was almost entirely American, almost entirely female and heavily tilted toward music and the Kardashian-Jenner orbit.

Here’s where Instagram stood 10 years ago:

1. Selena Gomez — 103 million followers
2. Taylor Swift — 94.1 million
3. Ariana Grande — 90.5 million
4. Beyoncé — 89.4 million
5. Kim Kardashian West — 88.5 million
6. Cristiano Ronaldo — 83.2 million
7. Kylie Jenner — 80.3 million
8. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson — 71.8 million
9. Nicki Minaj — 69.6 million
10. Kendall Jenner — 69.6 million

No men cracked the top five. Cristiano Ronaldo, at No. 6, was the lone athlete. A strong majority of the list could fit inside two industries: music and reality television.

Who Has the Most Followers on Instagram In 2026?

The current rankings are a different animal. 

Two soccer superstars now hold the No. 2 and No. 3 spots. Instagram’s own account sits at No. 1 with 699 million followers, making it the single most-followed profile on the platform. 

Taylor Swift dropped out of the top 10 entirely. Nicki Minaj deactivated her account last year. Kendall Jenner was replaced by her sister Khloé Kardashian.

The top 10 today is dominated by soccer stars, Kardashian-Jenner sisters and singers. And The Rock is standing strong.

1. Instagram — 699 million
2. Cristiano Ronaldo — 671 million
3. Lionel Messi — 511 million
4. Selena Gomez — 415 million
5. Kylie Jenner — 391 million
6. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson — 390 million
7. Ariana Grande — 372 million
8. Kim Kardashian — 353 million
9. Beyoncé — 307 million
10. Khloé Kardashian — 299 million

Ronaldo’s jump from 83.2 million to 671 million is staggering — an eightfold increase. Messi wasn’t on the 2016 list at all. Selena Gomez held the No. 1 spot in 2016 and still commands the No. 4 position with 415 million, quadrupling her count. Instagram itself, though, now outpaces every human on the platform.

Twitter In 2016 vs. X In 2026

Twitter’s 2016 leaderboard, per TIME, was a mix of pop stars and one politician.

1. Katy Perry — 94.5 million
2. Justin Bieber — 90.2 million
3. Taylor Swift — 82.2 million
4. Barack Obama — 80.1 million
5. Rihanna — 68.1 million
6. Lady Gaga — 64.6 million
7. Ellen DeGeneres — 63.8 million
8. Justin Timberlake — 57.3 million
9. Kim Kardashian West — 49.3 million
10. Britney Spears — 49.3 million

The platform is now called X, and the shift in who leads it mirrors a shift in how the platform itself functions. 

It should come as no surprise that Elon Musk, the owner of the platform, is the most followed person on X. The platform’s official X account, by comparison, only has 60.3 million.

World leaders fill the next spots, with former President Barack Obama, current President Donald Trump and current Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi coming in at No. 2, 3 and 4, respectively. 

NASA is the only brand in the top 10. Celebrities round out the rest.

1. Elon Musk — 234.4 million
2. Barack Obama — 119 million
3. Donald Trump — 110 million
4. Narendra Modi — 106.1 million
5. Cristiano Ronaldo — 105.7 million
6. Rihanna — 96.4 million
7. Justin Bieber — 89.9 million
8. NASA — 88.9 million
9. Katy Perry — 85.2 million
10. Taylor Swift — 78.9 million

Katy Perry went from No. 1 to No. 9. Musk, who wasn’t anywhere near the 2016 list, now leads it by more than 115 million followers. Lady Gaga, Ellen DeGeneres, Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears all fell off. Ronaldo, again, muscled his way in — appearing in the top 10 on both Instagram and X.

TikTok: The Platform That Didn’t Exist In 2016

TikTok was released in the U.S. in 2017, according to JP. It wasn’t part of the social media conversation in 2016, and now it’s a benchmark for many celebrities’ success.

The platform’s early growth revolved around Charli D’Amelio, who led the way with 105 million followers by the end of 2020, per Global Stats. At that time, Addison Rae, Zach King, Bella Poarch, Spencer X and Loren Gray were the only others with at least 50 million followers.

Then came Khaby Lame. In May 2021, he entered the top 10 with 40 million followers and never looked back. He grew that number to 143 million by June 2022 when he overtook D’Amelio as the most followed person on TikTok, per Global Stats.

Here’s the top 10 as of February 2026:

1. Khaby Lame — 160.4 million
2. Charli D’Amelio — 155.8 million
3. MrBeast — 124.7 million
4. TikTok — 92.9 million
5. Bella Poarch — 92.7 million
6. Addison Rae — 88.3 million
7. Zach King — 84.4 million
8. Willie Salim — 84 million
9. Kimberly Loaiza — 83.7 million
10. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson — 79.7 million

TikTok’s top 10 looks nothing like Instagram’s or X’s. Most of the names on this list built their fame on the platform itself rather than bringing it from somewhere else. 

The exceptions: MrBeast (at No. 3 with 124.7 million) and The Rock, who is the only person appearing in the top 10 on both Instagram and TikTok.

What These Lists Reveal About Where Attention Is Heading

A few patterns jump out when you put all four lists side by side. Cristiano Ronaldo’s trajectory across platforms is the decade’s most dramatic individual climb. 

The Kardashian-Jenner family has maintained its grip on Instagram across the full 10 years, cycling different sisters in and out but never losing its hold. And platforms’ own accounts (Instagram on Instagram, TikTok on TikTok) now rank among the most-followed profiles, competing directly with the humans who use them.

The biggest takeaway for anyone tracking where digital culture is moving: the 2016 lists were almost exclusively American pop stars. 

The 2026 lists are global, cross-platform and increasingly split between entertainment figures, world leaders and creators who were unknown a few years ago.