Floor8.com Logo

Ariana Grande Lands Spot on Time's 2019 Most Influential People on the Internet List

By Bernadette Roe

Billboard's 13th Annual Women In Music Event
Billboard's 13th Annual Women In Music Event / Theo Wargo/Getty Images

TIME just published its list of the 25 most influential people on the internet, and our one and only Ariana Grande made the cut. Many of the other names will be very familiar to anyone who even occasionally checks Twitter or follows people on Instagram. Donald Trump made the list, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry also got spots, Jameela Jamil got credit as did Jada Pinkett Smith, along with some lesser-known but very active YouTubers.

Ariana Grande's influence from 2018-2019 has been undeniable. Only months after putting out her album Sweetener, she released Thank U, Next and by February 2019, held all three top spots on the Billboards Top 100 chart, a claim that has not been held by a musician since The Beatles.

According to Time, much of Grande's success and influence is credited to her savvy use of Twitter, posting song lyrics and utilizing internet culture in her art, such as her Mean Girls-inspired music video for "Thank U, Next." With 64.1 million followers on the platform, she can bring attention to her work in an instant.

Not only that, but Grande is Instagram's most-followed musician, with a whopping 159 million followers. She's now the second most-followed person on the app, right after Cristiano Ronaldo.

Time's 2019 list focuses not necessarily on the highest numbers of followers (though of course, that's a necessity for influence) but on the individual's use of the internet. For instance, they point out that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Instagram account is a notable departure from other royals for its independence, and their monthly rotation of the users they follow is a totally new way of gaining notoriety.

View this post on Instagram

This evening, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended #TheLionKing European premiere in London at the Odeon Theatre. In celebration of the film’s release, The Walt Disney Company announced #ProtectThePride, a global conservation campaign to support efforts protecting the rapidly diminishing lion population across Africa. As a part of their commitment to this cause, Disney also made a donation to The Duke of Sussex’s upcoming environment & community initiative which will be formally announced this autumn. The Duke and Duchess are committed to advancing conservation efforts across Africa and around the world, and working with communities to ensure a sustainable future for the planet. This evening Their Royal Highnesses had the pleasure of meeting the cast and creative team behind the film, as well as supporters of @africanparksnetwork, of which The Duke is President. Photo credit: PA images / Getty images - Chris Jackson

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on

The list also included internet users like Chris Godfrey, a London-based advertiser who conceptualized the Instagram egg that wound up beating Kylie Jenner's most-liked ever Instagram photo.

This attention to innovation and creative concepts makes Time's 2019 list a compelling group of individuals worth following. But of course, Ari will always be our #1.