Eminem has become the world s first person to achieve 30 million Facebook fans, or likes.  The record sees Eminem achieving more likes on the social network than the entire populations of Australia and New Zealand combined. The milestone shows just how powerful social media has become, and artists command huge followings that even governments don't match up to.

It was just 8 months ago that Lady Gaga become the first living person to achieve 10 million Facebook likes, and over the last year a number of stars have seen their Facebook fame explode. In one year, Eminem has seen his Facebook likes grow more than tenfold, from just 2.7m in March 2010. Two weeks ago Eminem overtook Lady Gaga as the most popular living person on Facebook, and last week the US rapper overtook Michael Jackson to become the most popular person of all time on the network.

Yet in the fast shifting world of social media fame Eminem can take nothing for granted. Rihanna, currently on 26.5m fans is the fastest growing star on the network. Both Lady Gaga and Michael Jackson are nipping at Eminem s heels and with her new album approaching release, Lady Gaga is certainly capable of springing surprises. Eminem is also yet to conquer the other social networks. Lady Gaga is the reigning Twitter Queen while Justin Bieber is YouTube King.

Social Media at a Glance

The more fans you have the better, but it doesn't always deliver true success. For artists to be able to leverage their audiences and earn a living is another thing. Even indie artists with over 100,000 fans on facebook will struggle to sell albums directly to audiences. Social media however, is a great influencer, and indirectly boosts sales by creating viral momentum around a person, brand or product.