Rihanna overtakes Gaga to become new Queen of Facebook
At 12pm GMT just 4000 Facebook fans separated the two divas, and Famecount expects the much faster growing Rihanna to close the gap any time. Only one person, Eminem, on 43 million fans, will then stand ahead.
The achievement marks a spectacular year for Rihanna, who has seen her social media fame explode following the release of Loud last year. In February this year, Rihanna became the fourth artist in history to achieve 1 billion YouTube views and is now the third most viewed star on the network with almost 1.4 billion views, having overtaken Eminem in May. Last week Rihanna became the 13th person in history to achieve 6 million twitter followers. Moreover, just a few days ago, Rihanna achieved the landmark of 40 million Facebook fans, marking the occasion by posting "40 mil! 1 LOVE 'RihannaNavy".
On an aggregated basis, according to Famecount's rankings, Rihanna is now the third biggest social media star in the world, just behind Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber.
The question now becomes, can Rihanna make it all the way to the top? Eminem is currently 3 million ahead on Facebook, but Rihanna is faster growing on the network, and she remains the fastest growing star in the world on YouTube - thanks to her controversial video "Man Down" which has now racked up more than 40 million views. Meanwhile her fame offline continues to build as Rihanna confirmed earlier this week that she will become the new face (and body) of Emporio Armani lingerie.
If she can maintain momentum Famecount may one day be celebrating a new leader in its overall ranking of social media fame.
