How many followers of TikTok’s biggest stars are potentially bogus?

With our past deep dive on fake Instagram followers being so enlightening, we thought we’d turn our attention to the biggest social media player on the block – TikTok.

From influencers and sponsored posts to a shiny new website on your very own web hosting, there’s now an abundance of ways to get the word out about your business. But "#ad" spots with the world’s biggest TikTokers can cost a fair whack, and is it worth the money?

Using Collabstr, we recently analysed the 50 most followed accounts on TikTok – be they celebrities or social media personalities – to reveal those with the highest percentage of suspected fake followers.

And there were a few surprises in store...

The account with the highest percentage of suspicious accounts was, in fact, TikTok’s official account – with 34.9% of 80m thought to be fake. That’s almost 28 million accounts!

Coming in second was social media personality and comedian, Junya Gou (@junya1gou) with an estimated 33.8% of suspicious followers out of 44m. Taking the third spot was US news agency ESPN (@espn) with an estimated 32% fake followers out of 45.4m.

On the flip side, many accounts were found to have more of a genuine following, with Russian blogger and TikToker Liza Anokhina (@anokhinalz) with just 1.3% of her 40.4m following thought to be fake.

American media personality Charli D'Amelio (@charlidamelio) came in second with 9.6% of her impressive 152.9m followers being flagged as suspicious. Rounding off the podium is singer Rosé (@roses_are_rosie) with 12.5% of 42.5m suspected to be fake.

The team also dove into each account’s engagement rate – the metric used to assess the average number of interactions (such as likes, comments, shares) that social media content receives per follower.

Which TikTokers have the lowest engagement?

The accounts with the least engagement may come as no surprise, given they were also found to be the accounts with the most suspicious followers:

  • TikTok: 0.44% engagement rate
  • Junya Gou: 0.56% engagement rate
  • ESPN: 0.73% engagement rate

Which TikTokers have the highest engagement?

On the other hand, the account with the highest rate of engagement was none other than Rosé – member of the highly popular South Korean girl group, Blackpink.

  • Rosé: 17.87% engagement rate
  • Billie Eilish: 17.71% engagement rate
  • BTS: 12.05% engagement rate

We’re sensing a theme here – it appears that swipers on TikTok really love the content being posted by singers and musicians.

Below you’ll find the full data set – were there any surprises for you?

The full data

Name

Handle

Followers

Suspicious followers

Genuine followers

Engagement rate

1 Khaby Lame @khaby.lame 161.8m 28.7% 71.3% 1.26%
2 Charli D'Amelio @charlidamelio 152.9m 9.6% 90.4% 3%
3 Mr Beast @mrbeast 93.9m 27.1% 72.9% 2.94%
4 Bella Poarch @bellapoarch 93.8m 27.1% 72.9% 3.6%
5 Addison Rae @addisonre 88.7m 26.20% 73.80% 3.81%
6 Zach King @zachking 81.3m 27% 73% 3%
7 Kimberly Loaiza @kimberly.loaiza 80.9m 27.7% 72.3% 2.34%
8 TikTok @tiktok 80m 35.2% 64.8% 0.44%
9 Burak Özdemir @cznburak 75m 31.5% 68.5% 0.77%
10 The Rock @therock 74.4m 26.9% 73.1% 3.1%
11 Will Smith @willsmith 74m 26.70% 73.30% 3.27%
12 Domelipa @domelipa 73.6m 27.1% 72.9% 2.95%
13 BTS @bts_official_bighit 64.5m 18% 82% 12.05%
14 Jason Derulo @jasonderulo 59.1m 27.7% 72.3% 2.31%
15 Selena Gomez @selenagomez 58.8m 24.8% 75.2% 5.19%
16 Dixie D'Amelio @dixiedamelio 56.3m 20.4% 79.6% 9.59%
17 Kylie Jenner @kyliejenner 56.1m 23.9% 76.1% 6.06%
18 Spencer X @spencerx 54.9m 28.10% 71.90% 1.87%
19 Younes Zarou @youneszarou 54.5m 28.90% 71.10% 1.07%
20 Bayashi @bayashi.tiktok 54.3m 27.5% 72.5% 2.54%
21 Loren Gray @lorengray 53.9m 28.3% 71.7% 1.74%
22 Willie Salim @williesalim 53.5m 30% 70% 0.91%
23 HOMA @homm9k 53m 28.7% 72.3% 1.27%
24 Karol G @karolg 52.1m 23.9% 76.1% 6.14%
25 Michael Le @justmaiko 51.7m 28% 72% 1.99%
26 Billie Eilish @billieeilish 51.2m 12.3% 87.7% 17.71%
27 Kristina Collins @kallmekris 50.7m 27.3% 72.7% 2.66%
28 Blackpink @bp_tiktok 47.9m 25.3% 74.7% 4.74%
29 Brent Rivera @brentrivera 47.7m 27.7% 72.3% 2.35%
30 Riyaz Aly @riyaz.14 46.6m 25.60% 74.40% 4.37%
31 Vilmei @vilmeijuga 46.5m 30% 70% 0.91%
32 Carlos Feria @carlosferiag 46.2m 29.1% 70.9% 0.99%
33 JoJo Siwa @itsjojosiwa 45.7m 28.1% 71.9% 1.83%
34 ESPN @espn 45.4m 32% 68% 0.73%
35 Pongámoslo a Prueba @pongamoslo_a_prueba 44.8m 25.9% 74.1% 4.14%
36 Ria Ricis @riaricis 44.1m 28.9% 71.1% 1.07%
37 Junya Gou @junya1gou 44m 33.8% 66.2% 0.56%
38 Joe Albanese @joealbanese 43.8m 28.4% 71.6% 1.56%
39 Rod Contreras @elrodcontreras 43.2m 28% 72% 2.01%
40 Niana Guerrero @nianaguerrero 42.8m 27.5% 72.5% 2.52%
41 Avani Gregg @avani 42.6m 19.7% 80.3% 10.3%
42 Rosé @roses_are_rosie 42.5m 12.1% 87.9% 17.87%
43 Paris Saint-Germain @psg 41.6m 28.8% 71.2% 1.19%
44 XO Team @xoteam 41.3m 31.1% 68.9% 0.81%
45 Real Madrid CF @realmadrid 40.6m 28.6% 71.4% 1.38%
46 Liza Anokhina @anokhinalz 40.4m 1.3% 98.7% 4.4%
47 Noel Robinson @noelgoescrazy 40m 29% 71% 1%
48 Paola Montserrat Pantoja Lizárraga @montpantoja 39.1m 26.2% 73.8% 3.81%
49 Lucas and Marcus @dobretwins 38.9m 28.3% 71.7% 1.68%
50 James Charles @jamescharles 38.5m 9.6% 90.4% 3%

Methodology

Data was gathered on 9th April 2024 using lists online and individual TikTok accounts to verify follower numbers. Accounts were then inputted into Collabstr for paid-for checks on estimated percentages of fake followers vs estimated percentages of real followers, along with an estimated engagement rate based on available TikTok data such as likes, comments, shares and saves.