In 2015, TV hosts, pop singers and Islamic preachers were among the top 10 followed Egyptians on Twitter, headed by internationally renowned TV host Bassem Youssef – @DrBassemYoussef – who kept his position for the second year in a row.  

Youssef has also become the most followed celebrity not only in Egypt but in the rest of Africa with 5.9 million followers.   

He scored high in the number of followers and the number of retweets, which ranged from hundreds to thousands.  

Earlier this month, the prominent satirist praised popular Egyptian footballer Mohamed Abu Treika and how he was received warmly in Kuwait during a football game in early December. The post received over 4,000 retweets.  

ابو تريكة عمهم و حارق دمهم. دايما و بالشفا ان شاء الله. pic.twitter.com/Elqig9TT5A

— Dr Bassem Youssef (@DrBassemYoussef) December 18, 2015

The popularity of the renowned ex-footballer Abu Treika played a huge role in making this tweet viral, aside from the popularity of Youssef himself, who had a busy year in the media especially after hosting the international Emmy awards in November.  

Abu Treika had already achieved the highest number of retweets in Egypt in 2015 following a decision by Egyptian prosecutors to confiscate his assets over alleged links to the banned Muslim Brotherhood. 

In his first public reaction over the decision, Abu Treika tweeted the following on 7 May. 

نحن من نأتي بالاموال لتبقي فى أيدينا وليست فى قلوبنا تتحفظ علي الأموال او تتحفظ علي من تتحفظ عليه لن أترك البلد وسأعمل فيها وعلي رقيها .

— AbouTrika Official (@trikaofficial) May 7, 2015

“We earn money to keep it in our hands, not in our hearts. You can seize money or seize whoever you want, but I will not leave this country and I will continue to work here." 

The post has so far been retweeted 18,266 times.

Nevertheless, despite Abu Treika's popularity and having Egypt's top retweeted post in 2015, he did not make it to Egypt's top 10 twitter celebrities in 2015.  

Here is the list of Egypt's most followed celebrities in 2015:

1.     Dr Bassem Youssef "@DrBassemYoussef" – internationally renowned TV host and satirist. Followers: 5.9 Million   

2.     Amr Khaled "@Amrkhaled" – Islamic preacher: 5,573,892  

3.     Amr Diab " @amrdiab" – pop singer: 4,078,817 

4.     Hamza Namira "@HamzaNamira" – singer: 4,017,142 

5.     Mohamed ElBaradei "@ElBaradei" – Egypt’s former vice president: 3,912,947 

6.     Amr Waked "@amrwaked" – internationally renowned actor: 3,128,948 

7.     Hamdeen Sabahy "@HamdeenSabahy" – former presidential candidate and political figure: 3,090,466 

8.     Amr Hamzawy "@Hamzawyamr" – former MP and political researcher: 3,003,522 

9.     Yosri Fouda "@YosriFouda" – TV host and journalist: 2,591,984 

10.   Mustafa Hosny "@MustafaHosny" – Islamic preacher: 2,555,934 

When it comes to Egypt's most followed politicians in 2015, the same names and figures that made it to the list in 2014 continue to be in the lead.

The order of names has shifted, though, with certain politicians gaining more followers, including the founder of Free Egyptians Party Naguib Sawiris and former MP and political science professor Amr Hamzawy.  

 The most followed politicians in Egypt in 2015:

1.     Mohamed ElBarade "@ElBaradei" – Former vice president: 3,912,947 

2.     Hamdeen Sabahy "@HamdeenSabahy" – former presidential candidate and political figure: 3,090,466 

3.     Amr Hamzawy "@Hamzawyamr" – former MP and political researcher: 3,003,522 

4.     Naguib Sawiris "@NaguibSawiris" – Business tycoon and founder of Free Egyptian Party: 2,288,949 

5.      Mohamed Morsi "@MuhammadMorsi" – Egypt’s former president, whose account is still active even though he has been in prison for more than two years: 2,256,610 

6.     Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fatouh "@DrAbolfotoh" – Founder of the Strong Egypt Party and former presidential candidate: 2,175,755 

7.     Wael Ghoneim "@Ghonim" – Prominent 25 January revolution activist who is currently living abroad: 1,736,761  

8.     Gameela Ismail "@GameelaIsmail" – The co-founder of the Constitution Party and a political activist: 1,707,409 

9.     Ayman Nour "@AymanNour" – Former presidential candidate and founder of the Ghad Party: 1,680,875 

10.  Amr Moussa "@Amremoussa" – Former presidential candidate and founder of the Conference Party: 1,546,486 

It should be noted that President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's official twitter account "@AlsisiOfficial" did not make it in the top 10 despite being active throughout the year in covering the president's activities and is considered one of the fastest growing accounts. 

So far, El-Sisi, who was elected in July 2014, has over 580,000 followers.