This is how many Instagram followers you need to be a 'celebrity'

gigi hadid phone texting instagram

We now know what it's really like to be a fashion influencer on Instagram - but how many followers makes you a 'celebrity'?

These days, there are the verified influencers who have hundreds of thousands, even millions, of devoted fans on social media, but there are also micro influencers - those who have between 2,000 - 50,000 followers on their channels.

So at what point does someone go from small time influencer to Insta-famous?

According to The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), anyone with over 30,000 followers is deemed an online 'celebrity', meaning that they must adhere to strict advertising rules and regulations.

The authority determines the social media guidelines for those with a large following when it comes to ads and sponcon. They have determined that those who fall within the over 30,000 followers category are subject to the advertising rules - something recently highlighted when a mummy blogger promoted over-the-counter sleeping aids.

Celebs and health professionals are banned from promoting medical products, and while she marked the post as an ad, a ruling heard that with 32,000 followers Sarah Willox Knott (@ThisMamaLife) is deemed a celebrity.

Sanofi, the company behind the collaboration, claims the promo was cleared with the heathcare trade body - but this was rejected as a result of Sarah's large following.

The ASA concluded: 'We considered over 30,000 followers indicated that she had the attention of a significant number of people. Given that she was popular with, and had the attention of a large audience, we considered that ThisMamaLife was a celebrity for the purposes of the CAP Code.'

So if you've ever wondered at what point someone becomes a social media celeb, there's your answer.

Jadie Troy-Pryde
News Editor

Jadie Troy-Pryde is News Editor, covering celebrity and entertainment, royal, lifestyle and viral news. Before joining the team in 2018 as the Lifestyle and Social Media Editor, she worked at a number of women’s fashion and lifestyle titles including Grazia, Women’s Health and Stylist, and now heads the Marie Claire UK news desk.