Entertainment

Shakira's the Queen of Facebook Likes

by Alanna Bennett

The politics of Facebook likes got complicated around 2009, when hordes of people began realizing they "liked" waaaay too many pages in 2007. You know the type: "Like if you love the feel of the cold side of the pillow," "BeCoMe A FAn If YoUR RanDoM," and so on. There can be a lot of regret associated with Facebook likes. But one person seems to have really benefitted from everyone's urge to click like upon like: Shakira now has more Facebook fans than any other celebrity. Congrats to Shakira! But how did she do this? And what does it mean to be the queen of Facebook?

For one, it means that no one else besides Shakira has raked in more than 100 million Facebook fans. Not even people like Jessica Chastain, who uses Facebook like she's a normal person and/or your cool big sister, but who has only 378,348 likes as of my writing this. Then there's Robert Downey Jr. who has 20 million likes. With her 100 million likes, Shakira is even ahead of Eminem and Rihanna who have 91.9 million and 89 million, respectively. For further comparison, take in the fact that Katy Perry beat Justin Bieber for most-followed celebrity on Twitter with a mere 45.6 million followers as of last November.

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In today's world, it would seem Twitter has overtaken Facebook as the most used form of online celebrity monitoring, but Shakira has made Facebook her own, in part through her constant updates. For instance, her behind-the-scenes look at the recent World Cup. Way to make an international event work for you, Shakira.

Whether Shakira has so many followers because of everyone liking everything they possibly could in the heyday of Facebook, or because she just attracts that many fans, something's working. And it'll be hard for another celeb to take over her position anytime soon.