Politicians and journalists are the most popular Facebook users in Ukraine, according to a new survey by internet and social media watchdog Watcher based on the number of subscribers, not friends.
The most popular user, according to the ranking, is boxer and politician
Vitaliy Klitschko, who has 32,628 subscribers. His account is run partly by his
press service and partly in person. Posts written by press service are signed
“PS”. Posts by Klitschko appear to mark special occasions, like his recent Hard
Talk interview on British news outlet BBC or the release of former interior
minister Yuri Lutsenko from prison. Klitschko stays away from discussions in
comments.
It isn’t
Klitschko’s first Facebook victory. In 2011 a joint page of Vitaliy and
Wladimir Klitschko was named the most popular Facebook personal page in
Ukraine. Its lead was huge, with over 329,000 subscribers, while others didn’t
even reach 20,000.
Second most
followed figure on Ukrainian Facebook is Mustafa Nayem, a prominent reporter at
Ukrainska Pravda, a popular news site. Nayem has 26,904 subscribers. His page
is a place for lively discussions, mostly on political issues.
One of the
latest started when Nayem and his colleague Sergiy Leshchenko (No. 12 in the
Facebook users chart) described how they called the police to a restaurant that
allowed customers to smoke, thus violating the law. Readers’ opinions were
split, with some condemning Nayem for snitching while others supported his
position.
Another
journalist Vitaly Portnikov occupies the third spot in the chart. The political
columnist, TV host and chief editor of TVi channel has some 24,000 subscribers.
Portnikov posts links to his articles, announces his TV appearences and shares
some personal photos from trips.
Olexandra
Kuzhel, an opposition lawmaker and one of Batkivshchyna’s main speakers, is
next. Her page is mostly devoted to politics.
Number five
is Hennadiy Balashov, a former parliamentarian who now hosts a radio show about
business. He has 13,157 subscribers.
They are
followed by singer Maria Burmaka, opposition member of parliament Anatoliy
Hrytsenko, Batkivshchyna leader Arseniy Yatseniuk, journalist Vakhtang Kipiani,
and Oleh Lyashko, leader of the Radical Party in parliament.
Released
from prison on April 7, Yuri Lutsenko registered on Facebook on April 15 and is
already 23rd in the chart, with over 4,000 subscribers. It is unclear whether
he runs it personally, since the only thing he published so far is a video
statement and several photos from his archive.
The chart
is formed by people signing up themselves or recommending other Facebook users.
While signing up is available for everyone, only users with over 1,000
subscribers can be added based on a recommendation.
Kyiv Post staff writer Olga Rudenko can be reached at rudenko@kyivpost.com
