Sports marketing agency Euromericas released a study showing that Lionel Messi is the footballer with the most influence on social media, according to SPORT. Messi is followed on the list by Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Andrés Iniesta of Barcelona and ManU's Wayne Rooney. Messi, "with 93 million Facebook friends, is the clear social media winner, without having an official Twitter account." Ronaldo has 24 million Twitter followers and 68 million on Facebook. The "videos of his top plays and photos from games are well recognized in the virtual world." Neymar's "continuous posting of photos on all his official accounts is making him steadily grow more and more in this world." He has 25 million followers on Facebook and 9 million on Twitter and "experienced an inflection point when he joined Barcelona." Iniesta "is in fourth place with 16 million Facebook followers and 8 million Twitter followers." Rooney is "more active on Facebook than on Twitter and tends to post photos after every game, with his 18 million Facebook followers putting him in fifth place" (SPORT, 3/31).
