The 21 most popular Facebook pages in 2017 represent a diverse group of popular actors, musicians, sports franchises, players, and companies, showcasing those with the most appeal among Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)‘s huge global audience.
Those who thought Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) couldn’t possibly expand its reach any further have surely been shocked, as the social media platform continues to reach an ever more stunning percentage of the world population. There were slightly over 2 billion active users on Facebook as of June 2017, including 1.74 billion mobile users.
Likewise, the most popular Facebook pages in 2017 have grown immensely compared to prior years. Seven years ago, the most popular page had just 26 million likes, while the most liked Facebook page in 2017 has over 192 million. We’ve also seen a huge shift in what pages are the most popular on Facebook, which gives us great insight into the broader popularity of people and things around the world and the trends affecting their popularity.
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For example, Zynga’s Texas Hold’em Poker, which was the most popular Facebook page seven years ago didn’t even make this list of the 21 most popular Facebook pages in 2017. Likewise, numerous other pages that were in the top 20 on Facebook years ago could not hang on to their positions in the intervening years. They included the pages for Family Guy, Lady Gaga, Starbucks, Megan Fox, and The Twilight Saga.
While most of them have seen significant increases in likes over the years, some have floundered, like Mafia Wars, which was a hugely popular Facebook game several years ago with 14.39 million likes, ranking it as the 19th-most popular page on Facebook, yet which today has just 17.45 million likes, being surpassed by hundreds of other pages during that time. Doubtless, at least some of the 21 most popular Facebook pages in 2017 will fall off the list in the next five years, while others will rise to take their place.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is making out like a bandit either way, having pulled in $9.32 billion in revenue in the second-quarter of this year, and $1.32 in EPS. Revenue growth was a robust 45% year-over-year, though this did represent the 4th-straight quarter of revenue growth declines, with Facebook warning that it’s running out of places to cram ads into users’ feeds. However, Facebook will look to offset that by driving sales in other areas, including premium video content.
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To uncover the 21 most popular Facebook pages in 2017, we turned to Trackalytics.com’s The Most Liked Fan Pages. The company provides free tracking of social media and website traffic and other analytical data. Check out the results beginning on the following page. And for more reading about the most popular pages on Facebook, check out the 16 Biggest Facebook Groups in 2017.
- Candy Crush Saga – 73,837,020 Likes
Candy Crush Saga kicks off our list of the 21 most popular Facebook pages in 2017, and is the only game to make the list. One of the most popular mobile games in the world, Candy Crush Saga ranks second in U.S revenue behind only Pokemon Go in 2017, averaging $1.55 million daily.
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- McDonald’s – 73,851,275 Likes
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) is the only restaurant to make the list, thanks to its dominant global presence in over 100 countries, with over 37,000 locations spread across them. McDonald’s shares have gained 31% this year, the stock’s best year since 2011.
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- Manchester United – 73,944,000 Likes
Manchester United is the most popular football club in the English Premier League on Facebook, though a couple of La Liga teams are more popular. United is off to a strong start to the season, with 19 points and a +19 goal differential in its first 7 games, though Manchester City has outdone it by one goal on the differential front.
- Taylor Swift – 74,061,306 Likes
Taylor Swift is the first of many singers to make the list of the 21 most popular Facebook pages in 2017, with just over 74 million likes. Swift took a brief break from her social media accounts and deleted her past activity, which had fans stressed out to the max, but the star returned to posting shortly after.
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- Michael Jackson – 74,671,235 Likes
The late pop star and musical icon ranks 17th with 74.67 million likes. A new album of Jackson’s material, titled Scream, was released at the end of September, featuring a selection of Jackson’s classics and the new mash-up track Blood on the Dance Floor x Dangerous (The White Panda Mash-Up).
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- Harry Potter – 74,829,062 Likes
J.K. Rowling is back writing Harry Potter novels again, which her series’ close to 75 million fans on Facebook are mostly thrilled about. However, some fans refuse to even read the new works, out of fear that they could taint the original series, and wish that Rowling would just leave it alone.
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- Will Smith – 75,214,974 Likes
Will Smith is the second-most popular actor on Facebook, topping 75 million likes. Smith has remained a major box office draw for two decades, a feat which very few men can boast of. Smith stars in the upcoming Netflix film Bright, which becomes available in late-December.
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- Mr. Bean – 75,648,815 Likes
Mr. Bean’s use of visual slapstick comedy allowed him to bridge the language divide and endeared him to viewers across the globe. The character’s enduring popularity is all the more stunning given that he appeared in just 14 episodes and two movies. Two separate animated series were also produced.
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- Justin Bieber – 78,743,737 Likes
It shouldn’t rank as much of a surprise that Justin Bieber made the list of the 21 most popular Facebook pages in 2017. One of the first stars to be found on YouTube, Bieber remains one of the most followed and scrutinized celebrities in the world. All four of Bieber’s studio albums have hit #1 in the U.S and Canada.
- Rihanna – 81,469,717 Likes
Rihanna is the first celeb on the list to top 80 million likes, and ranks as one of the best-selling female musical artists of all time. After a prolific album-producing run from 2005 to 2012, Rihanna has released just one studio album in the past five years.
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- YouTube – 83,180,807 Likes
Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)‘s video site YouTube is the first of three websites to make this list. Its Facebook likes represent only a tiny fraction of its 1.5 billion-strong audience, which watches 3.25 billion hours worth of video per month, or over 2 hours per person.
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- Leo Messi – 89,348,380 Likes
Leo Messi is the second-most popular footballer in the world based on Facebook likes (you probably know who the top one is; if not, you’ll find out soon), with close to 90 million of them. The FC Barcelona striker has 11 goals in 7 La Liga games this season, all of which his team has won.
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- Tasty – 89,651,209 Likes
Tasty is the somewhat surprising (or completely surprising) most popular website in the world in terms of Facebook likes (not including Facebook itself), beating even YouTube. BuzzFeed’s food portal Tasty offers an extremely minimalist approach to website design, with nothing but articles about food. The value it provides readers on Facebook is likely why it ranks so highly, delivering them nothing but focused content.
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- Eminem – 90,061,281 Likes
The 21 most popular Facebook pages in 2017 wouldn’t be complete without the inclusion of Eminem, who enjoys the support of over 90 million people. It’s been four years since Eminem’s previous album, but fans won’t have to wait too much longer. Eminem and P!nk teamed up on the song Revenge, released last month.
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- Vin Diesel – 101,255,569 Likes
Vin Diesel is the most popular actor in the world on Facebook, with more than 40 million more likes than Fast & Furious co-star Dwayne Johnson, with whom he’s been feuding with on social media recently. Surprisingly, Diesel also recently came to The Rock’s defense, after the latter was accused of holding up the next film in the series by fellow co-star Tyrese Gibson. Diesel said on Instagram that it would be unfair to put the blame solely on The Rock’s broad shoulders for the delay.
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- FC Barcelona – 103,590,688 Likes
FC Barcelona, or Barça, is the second-most popular football club in the world and one respected the world over for its charismatic play. While FC Barcelona currently enjoys a nice lead in the La Liga standings, including by seven points over fierce rival Real Madrid, they were soundly defeated by Real Madrid in both legs of the Spanish Super Cup in August.
- Shakira – 104,333,081 Likes
Shakira is the most popular singer in the world on Facebook, with over 104 million likes. She ranks slightly higher than FC Barcelona, which happens to be the team that her current partner, Gerard Pique plays for. A recent rumor that the two have split appears to be false.
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- Coca-Cola – 106,001,541 Likes
The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) ranks as the most popular company on Facebook besides Facebook itself, with 106 million likes, just 4,000 likes behind the third-ranked page. Coke currently controls 26% of the soft drink market worldwide, giving it nearly double the market share of fierce rival PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP). It also has nearly 3-times as many Facebook likes as its rival. Coke shares are up nearly 10% this year, though that slightly trails the market.
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- Real Madrid C.F. – 106,005,545 Likes
Real Madrid is the most popular football club in the world, and the second-most popular organization, with a slight lead over Coca-Cola in Facebook likes. Despite its popularity, it’s only estimated to be the fifth-most valuable sports franchise behind Man U, Barcelona, the New York Yankees, and the Dallas Cowboys.
- Cristiano Ronaldo – 122,609,236 Likes
If there was any doubt, Cristiano Ronaldo cements football’s status as the most popular sport in the world, being the second footballer to make the list, along with three clubs, while no other sports personalities or teams were even close. Ronaldo is off to a slow start this season, without a goal in his 3 appearances. He has averaged more than a goal per game in La Liga play with Real Madrid throughout his illustrious career.
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- Facebook – 192,142,769 Likes
Rather fittingly, Facebook’s own Facebook page tops the list of the 21 most popular Facebook pages in 2017, with over 192 million accounts liking the page. A number of other Facebook pages also have 192 million likes according to Trackalytics, including Facebook Brasil, Facebook India, and Facebook for Every Phone, though we haven’t bothered listing all of these separately, as they appear to be interconnected with the main Facebook page, despite slightly different like totals.
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