Deadline Hollywood is reporting that in the wake of the opening of “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” both Robert Downey Jr’s and Zendaya’s Instagram followings increased by 21K each. The article adds: “Homecoming‘s social media stars included Zendaya (62.1M across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram), Downey Jr (53M), and Holland (2.8M).”
In short, RDJ in a few short years has built a social media following that surpasses that of any of the world’s most-read newspapers. Listen: the most-read newspaper in the world - largest circulation - is Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun at just over 10 million and dropping. The most-read newspaper in the U.S. is the Wall Street Journal with a circulation of just over 2 million and a Facebook following of just over 5 million.
Compare to RDJ’s 53 million across his social media, and you’ll know why a mention on RDJ’s Facebook or Instagram is so powerful...in one fell swoop he can reach and influence more people than the biggest newspaper outlets on the planet. It’s a little like having your own media empire.