Follower count has usually been one of the main criterions for ranking data on Twitter. This is the first time engagement scores are used to rank politicians, Bollywood actors, TV personalities, musicians, sport stars, and media brands — and not number of followers. In partnership with Times of India, Twitter have launched the Times Twitter Impact List, a series of ranking lists across verticals to showcase that engagement on Twitter is key to create impact.

Key moments in news, entertainment, sports, and culture continue to unfold on Twitter before they break on any other platform, and the key to this is also engagement around these moments from users — who share, Retweet, and help in making a message go viral.

Celebrities and personalities use Twitter to directly communicate with fans across the world, and their impact is measured by the number of engagements of their Tweets. The Times Twitter Impact List therefore is a barometer of how engaging the content they publish on the platform has been for fans, and therefore how “impactful” they are on Twitter. The List indicates which personalities are impactful in making content “go viral” on Twitter. Personalities who innovate, use our native video products, put out interesting content, talk to fans, and share a glimpse of their real-life personalities came out on top on this List.