We now have a better idea of exactly who the biggest creators are on social media. ESHAP and What’s Trending have partnered to unveil the second annual Creator Map, a guide to the biggest creators by platform. And TheWrap has your first look at their findings.
The Creator Map will be unveiled later today at the first Jupiter Festival Miami, which is sponsored by YouTube. Evan Shapiro, media cartographer and ESHAP founder and CEO; Shira Lazar, What’s Trending founder and CEO; and Jon Goss, CEO of the Lighthouse will unveil the project on the main stage of the event.
Described as the “definitive visual guide to the creator ecosphere,” the Creator Map offers a data-informed view of the creator economy, an industry that can often feel confusing and chaotic from an outsider perspective. For the first time, the top 200 creators across Instagram, YouTube and TikTok will have both their follower counts and Affinity Quotient scores published on the map. Sponsored by Whalar Group and with data powered by Whalar’s creator operating system Foam, the Affinity Quotient measures the depth of audience engagement and places a greater emphasis on active signals such as shares and saves than on passive interactions. That’s an important insight as engagement rather than follower count has become the top metric in the creator economy. The Creator Affinity 100 list was first presented at this this year’s IBC and identified 100 creators generating the greatest affinity among their audiences.
The map also identifies top creators across Snap, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Twitch, Pinterest and Rumble, along with the top Substack publishers and podcasters. Additionally, it identifies some of the top agencies, studios, technology tools, payment platforms and other companies powering the creator ecosystem. Check it out below:
“Mainstream entertainment is not the only sector of media experiencing massive change — the creator economy is also evolving at lightning speed, in real time,” said Shapiro. “More brands, publishers , platforms are entering the creator ecosphere every day in myriad ways. However, this is not a simple, one-size-fits-all universe; it can be complicated to navigate and easy to get lost. And that is why we map. “
“The creator economy is only getting bigger and more complex. We built this map to give people a guide to navigating it, whether you’re a creator building your business, a brand trying to understand the space or a company looking for where the opportunities are,” added Lazar. “It’s about making this ecosystem easier to see, understand and participate in.”
“As the creator economy matures, we’re seeing a fuller picture of where creative output and cultural relevance live. Creators are redefining media and are no longer on the sidelines,” Goss said. “The ‘bigger’ creators will continue to scale, but as algorithms and AI are deepening echo chambers, audiences are searching for what feels fresh, new and distinctive. This is shining a light on those considered ‘smaller’ creators on non-traditional measures, so the creators recognized in this new, refreshing list reflect how culture and trends are moving to broader and deeper places on the internet, and notably in real life.”
If you know the creator economy, you won’t be very surprised by the top creators. MrBeast leads YouTube; Khaby Lame leads TikTok; Kai Cenat leads Twtich; and Joe Roagan leads podcasting. Interestingly, Cristiano Ronaldo is the top name on Instagram, and Kylie Jenner is the top one on Snap.
