Xavier Lur used Twitterholic stats in order to identify the most-followed users in a number of countries.  When, as a group, they’ve attracted a big fan base, it’s a good sign for Twitter’s standing in a region.  So we’ll discuss a few of the ones in which WebProNews tends to be a little more well-read.

 

First up: India.  Dina’s Twitter account is on top here, with 2,454 followers.  Dr Mani and Amit Agarwal aren’t far behind, with 2,150 and 2,099, respectively.  Not a bad showing, all in all.

Australia’s next.  Darren Rowse has attracted the most attention on Twitter in this land, with 20,885 followers.  Andrew Richardson is behind him, with 9,773, and Tim Bulchalka is third, with 5,683.  Canada turned out similar numbers, with its top three accounts (Amber MacArthur, Rob Bloggeries, and doshdosh) reaching 17,546, 11,235, and 8,050 people, respectively.

Twitter’s doing even better in the UK.  Stephen Fry leads with 32,058 followers.  Then – somehow – Mashable (21,704 followers) wound up in front of John Cleese (17,124 followers).  (No disrespect to the Mashable crew, of course, the situation’s just a little mind-boggling from a Monty Python fan’s perspective.)

Finally, we get to good old America, in which the president-elect’s account is leading with 149,001 followers.  Kevin Rose is next, with 79,096 followers, and CNN’s account, with 67,669 followers, wraps up the top three.

Raise an eyebrow, snicker, or do whatever else you like, but Monty Python fans will remember that the Black Knight survives his encounter with King Arthur, and so perhaps there’s something to Powerset’s assertion.  Heck, Barney Pell, who’s trading titles from CEO to CTO, seems downright happy about the shakeup.

“The changes we are making now position us for a next phase that promises to be really exciting,” he writes near the end of a 1,000-word blog post.  “We will bring our technology out in real products that users will enjoy and that will trigger changes across the entire ecosystem of search.  I think the next year is going to be an amazing time for Powerset and I am as passionate as ever about Powerset, our technology, our team and our future.”

All right.  We’ve heard some implausibly positive stuff out of Powerset before, and not much came of it.  But Steve Newcomb, the guy who said that stuff and announced a September release, is actually the now-gone COO, so it could be time to give the company another chance.

Or, if things go poorly, time to watch Powerset bleed on Google.