Ronaldo is the most followed player on social media, but Messi has the most viewed posts.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have both achieved great success on the pitch and have competed with each other for a series of awards. Their influence on social media has also been compared by fans.
“Comparing Messi and Ronaldo’s social media presence is like comparing apples and oranges,” SK.agency commented . “The two athletes have very different personalities. Messi is reserved and modest, while Ronaldo is outgoing and bold.”
According to this UK-based event and advertising campaign site, the two players’ social media presence is also based on that personality. Ronaldo is active on social media, posting frequently and generating more revenue, while Messi seems to prefer a quieter approach, sharing less unless it’s related to his football career.
Messi (left) and Ronaldo. Photo: BeSoccer
According to Sportico statistics , Ronaldo is the most followed person on social media platforms, including 633 million followers on Instagram, 170 million on Facebook, 112 million on X and most recently more than 14 million subscribers on YouTube.
The big platform Ronaldo hasn’t joined is TikTok . In fact, he appeared on ByteDance’s short video network in 2023. In one day, the account jumped to 4 million followers, and the single video posted also received more than 10 million likes. However, so many people flooded in that TikTok had to block the Portuguese player’s account. At that time, this also sparked rumors that YouTube banned Ronaldo from creating a channel for fear of “putting financial pressure on the platform”.
Messi has taken a more modest approach to social media. He joined YouTube more than 10 years ago and now has 2.26 million subscribers and 207 videos. The Argentine has 504 million followers on Instagram and 116 million on Facebook, but does not use social media.
triệu lượt theo dõi
Số người theo dõi tài khoản mạng xã hội của Ronaldo và Messi
tính đến ngày 22/9/2024
504504
116116
2.262.26
00
633633
170170
1414
112112
Lionel Messi
Cristiano Ronaldo
YouTube
X
0
200
400
600
800
VnExpress
Ronaldo also actively interacts with users on social media. According to SCMP , earlier this year, when Messi was unable to participate in the tour to China and was criticized by the Chinese audience, Ronaldo posted a video with his Al Nassr teammates on Weibo, wishing fans a happy new year in Chinese. Two hashtags related to the video have been viewed more than 35 million times.
“There are so many stars in the world, Messi is nothing. Ronaldo led the team to send New Year wishes to Chinese fans and friends. Friendship is a two-way street and Ronaldo is friendly to China,” a viewer commented at the time.
With a large following, Ronaldo earns more money from social media than Messi. According to Goal , as of the beginning of the year, the Portuguese player earned more than $470,000 for each sponsored post on Instagram, while the Argentine player earned more than $350,000.
However, Messi has the most interacted post on Instagram. In 2022, the photo celebrating the World Cup championship shared by Messi reached 10 million likes in 39 minutes – the fastest ever. The photo now has more than 75 million likes and two million comments, becoming the most liked photo of a sports athlete.
The image of Messi lifting the World Cup trophy has now received more than 75.2 million likes on Instagram.
In 2018, Real Madrid’s “Gracias Cristiano” message on X after Ronaldo’s move to Juventus received 192,300 shares and 337,200 likes in its first week. Meanwhile, Barcelona’s “Thank you, Leo” tweet when Messi left the club in 2021 attracted 240,100 shares and 629,900 likes in the same period.
Messi also received more attention on social media than Ronaldo when he joined his new club. For example, the announcement that Juventus had signed Ronaldo received 84.1k shares and 140.4k likes in the first week, lower than the 253.1k and 832.1k shares respectively when PSG announced the successful recruitment of Messi.
“If the success of the two players was based on social media statistics and revenue from platforms, Ronaldo would win. He is the ideal model for any brand that wants to leverage celebrity influence to make money,” SK.agency commented. “Messi has remained true to his values, so in a way, he also wins. With Messi, sporting achievements are the focus, he will continue to show sincerity and humility after all these years.”
