Following the news that Twitter has purged millions of locked accounts, many of which were suspected to be fake users or bots, many top accounts have seen their follower counts dip significantly, with Twitter’s own account losing the most followers, dropping by almost 8m.

Data released by Socialbakers found that, among the top 500 accounts on the social platform, most lost between two and three per cent of their followers. Twitter’s own account was hit hardest, losing 12.4 per cent of followers, with rapper 50 Cent seeing the next highest percentage drop at 6.3 per cent, followed by Ashton Kutcher at 5.89 per cent and Nicki Minaj at 5.75 per cent.

Outside of Twitter’s official account, Katy Perry lost the largest number of followers, with over 2.8m purged from the pop star’s account, but this represented just 2.59 per cent of her total followers. Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Barack Obama, Taylor Swift and Ellen DeGeneres all also lost over 2m followers during the operation.

Beyond Twitter, only two brands were among the top 20 most significant drop in followers by total number; YouTube, which lost 2.02m followers, and Instagram, which lost 1.44m. By percentage of followers, Twitter was joined by People magazine (5.46 per cent), TwitPic (5.32 per cent) and China Xinhua News (5.24 per cent).

“The fact that Twitter is taking steps to remove fake accounts is sending a message that they have become more vigilant about eliminating illegitimate activity on the platform,” said Yuval Ben-Itzhak, CEO of Socialbakers. “This is a step in the right direction as Twitter shows its commitment to delivering an authentic ‘digital pollution’ free environment for both marketers and users.

“Improved transparency from platforms as a whole will help marketers who are looking to discover authentic influencers, better measure their impact, and focus their marketing activities on audiences that are open to engaging with them.”