Reaching a Twitter milestone

Do you remember who the first person was that followed you on Twitter? Do you remember when you finally reached 100 followers? How about 500?

Several Bermuda Twitter accounts went over either the 500- or 1,000-follower mark in June. 

The multi-talented Joanne Ball-Burgess saw a huge surge this past month as she went from 940 followers to 1,049. She is a judge on the popular East Africa dance TV show Sakata. Ms Ball-Burgess, who is known as Judge Joanne, told the Bermuda Sun that her recent rise could be attributed to the show getting ready to start its third season. 

Also reaching the 1,000 follower milestone was Bermuda SoMe (social media) hero Laurel Burns and the Corporation of Hamilton (@cityhallCOH).

Ms Burns said: “It is a milestone, as I follow people based on shared interests and some of the things they share. My follower count has grown organically since I joined twitter so it’s exciting that 1000 plus people actually might enjoy the things that I post.

There were a handful of Tweeters who went past the 500 mark, including Premier Michael Dunkley, Bermuda Sun Arts and Lifetsyle editor /sub-editorSarah Lagan, Shari-Lynn Pringle, Emedia, Jonathan Tankard, @ZeeVanity and Deep Blue Communications director Jeremy Deacon. 

Mr Deacon said: “It is very flattering that more than 500 people think I have something interesting to say.”

A sentiment echoed by Ms pringle, who said: “I love Twitter. I’m honoured that 500 people find me interesting enough to follow my randomness. I will do my best to keep them.” Ms Lagan said: “It feels like quite a milestone though I have to admit there are plenty of followers I’ve never met or heard of. Regardless, strangers and acquaintances alike, hitting this figure encourages me to make my content ever more exciting and engaging.”

Overall, former WWE champ and current Fox news commentator John Layfield remains on top with 516,000 followers. He also had the biggest gain last month with 11,000 people deciding to follow his account.

The rest of the top 10 remain the same with no changes. Devaune Ratteray had the month’s second biggest gain with 600 followers, with Collie Buddz adding 500 to his total.

Forbes journalist Clare O’Connor could reach five figures in followers in July as she is at 9,770 and just outside the top 10 at #11, and she also had the fourth biggest gain of the month with 207 followers. 

Dudley Freedom saw the biggest drop in followers with a loss of 1,000, while Elbow beach lost 500 from its account. Both hairdresser Catrina Azevedo and Huddersfield striker Nahki Wells lost 100 followers.

The top 50 will be posted online. The cutoff numbers: #100 @MissThang with 886, #150 @ladiesroombda with 571. There are now 166 accounts in Bermuda with at least 500 followers. 

If you want to be included on the next, list e-mail Don Burgess at [email protected] or Tweet him @DonatBDASun.