Later today Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo made history off the pitch, as the first non-US personality to achieve the milestone of 10 million fans or “likes” on Facebook (or indeed on any social network), according to Famecount.com, the social media statistics service. Ronaldo joins an extremely select club of individuals and brands – all US based so far- to have achieved this measure of popularity.

Ronaldo’s fame also makes him by far the most popular sports person on Facebook of any nation, with more than double the fans of Argentinian striker Lionel Messi, the next most popular. This achievement is all the more remarkable for the fact that Ronaldo plays in a sport with little US profile, drawing a fan base largely outside the US. His Facebook fame is another indicator of the widening geographic reach of Facebook – around three quarters of Facebook’s 500 million plus userbase are now outside the US, with this proportion increasing as Facebook grows internationally while approaching saturation in the US.

Hot on Ronaldo’s heels are a number of other international stars likely to make the 10 million milestone within the next few weeks. The lead character from US medical series House, played by UK Star Hugh Laurie is the second most popular international figure. Hugh Laurie also achieves the distinction of representing the most popular fictional character on Facebook of any country. It is no surprise to see Canadian teen sensation Justin Bieber in third, although the presence of less youthful artists – Bob Marley, The Beatles, Pink Floyd is evidence of the widening age range of Facebook users, with almost half users now aged over 30. Austrian energy drink Red Bull is the only brand to make the international top 10, thanks to innovative use of social media across many platforms.

Across Facebook overall, Ronaldo becomes the 18th entity to reach the 10M milestone. Leading the pack overall are popular Facebook game Texas Hold ‘em on over 22 million fans, with the late Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga the most popular individuals. View the full ranking of Facebook stars here.

Daniel Dearlove, founder of Famecount.com commented “Cristiano Ronaldo’s extraordinary popularity across Facebook shows the extent to which the network has reached out beyond it’s US origins. International stars are seeing their profile across Facebook rise as its userbase extends around the world”.

http://wwwery.com/5461-cristiano-ronaldo-to-become-first-non-us-star-to-achieve-10m-facebook-fans.html