Summary:
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For years, follower count defined influence. Affinity 100 ranks creators based on audience engagement, challenging assumptions.
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Top 10 creators offer unique reasons for audience return. Larger names show different patterns of response. AQ measures typical post engagement.
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AQ captures audience response to posts, not sales. The ranking reveals the importance of engagement over reach.
Who are people actually showing up for?
For years, follower count has been the easiest way to describe a creator’s influence. It tells us how many people chose to follow someone, but not what happens when that creator posts. Do viewers keep watching? Do they respond? Do they share it with someone else?
That is the question behind the inaugural Affinity 100, a ranking from What’s Trending founder Shira Lazar and media cartographer Evan Shapiro, sponsored by Whalar Group and its digital operating system, Foam. Using data provided by Foam, the list looks at audience engagement rather than treating reach as the final word on impact.
The results challenge some familiar assumptions. Historian and educator Blair Imani ranks No. 1, while MrBeast ranks No. 85. The top 10 also includes B. Dylan Hollis, Ash Baber, De’arra Taylor, Chris “Speedy Morman” Morman, Eric “Rico Taquito” Sedeño, DeMarcus Shawn, Tineke Younger, Jackie Aina and Quenlin Blackwell.
What the rankings reveal
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The top 10 does not represent one platform, one subject or one formula for success. Imani makes complex history and social issues accessible through her Smarter in Seconds series. Hollis has made strange vintage recipes into a format audiences instantly recognize as his. Aina has built more than a decade of beauty content on expertise and a willingness to challenge brands on shade range and inclusivity.
Each gives audiences a specific reason to return. The strength of that connection becomes even clearer when you look beyond the first 10 names.
Golloria, at No. 12, tests the darkest shades in beauty launches and speaks to an audience that has often been left out of the product development conversation. Amelia Dimoldenberg, at No. 48, turned the deliberately awkward Chicken Shop Date into a recognizable entertainment format of her own. Dr. Judith Joseph, at No. 67, brings professional expertise to approachable conversations about mental health.
Their content could not be more different. What they share is a distinct perspective that audiences actively seek out. For brands and media companies, that raises a better question than “How big is their following?”: “Why do people pay attention to this creator?”
The rankings of some larger names tell a different but equally important story. Druski is No. 53, MrBeast No. 85, Dude Perfect No. 89 and Mark Rober No. 90. These creators have grown in different ways, but each has built something beyond an individual social account, from recurring entertainment formats to teams and businesses.
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Look at the scores behind the surprise: Blair Imani has an AQ of 100, MrBeast 35.7 and Druski 53.7. These are comparative scores within this ranking, not percentages of viewers who engaged. They do not mean Imani reaches more people, or that MrBeast and Druski have less cultural impact. They show a different pattern of response to a typical post among the creators who qualified for this list.
One possible reading is that as a creator becomes a larger media operation, the audience relationship shifts. People may still feel connected to the person while also showing up for a character, a show or a broader brand. That can create enormous reach and value without producing the same concentration of engagement on a typical post. The ranking shows the difference in measured response; it cannot tell us the cause.
The Affinity 100 is not saying those creators matter less. It is showing why total scale and audience response should not be mistaken for the same thing. A creator reaching millions of casual viewers and one prompting a high proportion of viewers to engage can both be influential, but in different ways.
How the Affinity Quotient works
The Affinity Quotient, or AQ, was developed for this list by What’s Trending and Evan Shapiro in collaboration with Whalar Group and Foam. It measures how audiences respond to a creator’s typical post using public likes, comments, shares and views across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Shares count twice. The analysis uses a 30 day window and compares creators against others on the same platform before producing the final ranking.
Creators first had to rank in the top 50 by followers on at least one platform and appear on a major creator list or receive an eligible industry award within the past year. In other words, follower count helps determine who qualifies for consideration, but it does not determine who ranks at the top.
This is a snapshot of eligible creators over a 30 day period, not a census of everyone creating online. AQ captures observable response to posts, not sales, trust or every form of cultural impact. It gives us a more revealing view of something follower counts alone can miss: whether people are doing more than simply scrolling past.
Last year, our Creator Ecosphere Map charted the people, platforms and businesses reshaping media. The Affinity 100 looks more closely at the creators at the center of that shift, using a different measure of engagement. It is a new lens, not a year-over-year leaderboard. For creators, the takeaway is that a distinctive voice, expertise or format can matter as much as size. For brands, the challenge is to decide what kind of influence they actually need before choosing a partner.
The biggest audience is not always the most engaged one. And the most impactful creator may not be the first name you expected.
Explore the full Affinity 100 below.
