Trevor Noah Named SA 2015 Social Star

Comedian Trevor Noah has been named South Africa’s Social Star of 2015 for his powerful performance across multiple social media platforms.
The annual award is presented in conjunction with the release of the South African Social Media Landscape study by technology research organization World Wide Worx and media analytics company Fuseware.
The study is based on access to consumer data from seven major social networks and a corporate survey conducted among more than 100 of South Africa’s leading brands.
It showed that Facebook has grown by 8%, from 12 million to 13million, and Twitter by 12% from 6.6-million to 7.4 million users. Video sharing platform YouTube increased its user base marginally more, with a 15% rise from 7.2 million to 8.28 million users.
The biggest growth has come from photo sharing network Instagram, which rose a massive 133%, from 1.1 million to 2.68 million.
Noah has shown how it is possible to create a successful presence across diverse social media platforms

Noah distinguished himself on social media through his number of followers across different social media platforms. He has 2.6 million twitter followers, 2.6 million Facebook likes, 368 000 Instagram followers and 255 000 subscribers and 26.3 million views on YouTube.

“Trevor has not only made a successful transition from being a leading South Africa performer to being a global media star, but has also shown how it is possible to create a successful presence across diverse social media platforms,” says Managing Director of World Wide Worx Arthur Goldstuck when he announced the award .
“He may be an individual personality, but he also provides a powerful case study of how brands can leverage social networks through quality content.”

Noah does not have the biggest following in any of the individual networks, but is the only person who features among the top performers across all these networks.

He was also responsible for the most Retweeted posting on Twitter in 2015, when he declared that “No one can replace Jon Stewart”, referring to the Daily Show host in whose shoes he will step at the end of September.

More than 16 000 people reposted the tweet. Managing Director of Fuseware Mike Wronski says “It’s not only about being a big name.” 

“Even more important is the extent to which your audience engages with you wherever you are. Trevor Noah is the best example of that in 2015.”

SABC