Smith came in fourth behind MrBeast, Rhett and Link, and Kai Cenat, the top-ranked influencer on Twitch with 12.7 million followers.
In a year where originality has been questioned, controversial content creator Nara Smith has been ranked the fourth most influential creator in the world for 2024 by US magazine Rolling Stone.
The magazine's staff reviewed data from CreatorIQ, an influencer marketing platform for businesses that ranks and tracks the 25 most influential influencers in the world.
Smith came in fourth place, behind YouTuber MrBeast in third place, his best friends Rhett and Link in second place, and Kai Senat, the top overall influencer on Twitch with 12.7 million followers.
Other notable influencers on the list include music journalist Anthony Fantano, ranked 11th, and political commentator Hasan Pikar.
This nod The Rolling Stones This comes after Smith was nominated in the South African Social Media Awards (SASMA) Food Influencer of the Year category.
The SASMA recognition has caused huge controversy among South Africans as her rival, local cooking content creator Onezwa Mbola, was not nominated.
“For a content creator to be nominated, they must either nominate themselves or their fans must submit a nomination. In the case of Onezwa Mbola, there was no nomination from her or her supporters,” explained SASMA spokesperson Weza Matomane. The Citizen.
“Nara Smith, on the other hand, was nominated by one of her fans, which led to her selection in this category,” he added.
Related article: SASMAs address controversy over Nala Smith's appointment and exclusion of Onezwa Mbola
Comparison
Mbola and Smith have always been compared due to their similar content. In June this year, Mbola posted a video of herself on her Instagram Reels explaining how Smith was stealing her content ideas and posting them as his own, and how it made her sad.
“I specifically stated that I'm not the first to do something, and I understand that. I'm not talking about recipes, I'm talking about a pattern of stealing ideas,” Mbola told The Citizen.
“I'm literally making recipes for people to replicate, which is fine, but the issue isn't replicating the recipes, it's that they're literally replicating my content, my content style and profiting from it without giving me credit,” Mbola told the publication at the time.
Following this, Smith threatened legal action against Mburoa: “Nothing happened and I didn’t respond to anything. [to the legal action threat]” Mbola said. The Citizen.
Also read: Onezwa Mbola: “I'm not talking about recipes, I'm talking about patterns to steal ideas”
Fod Day
Mbola lives in the village of Willowvale in the Eastern Cape, where he cooks from ingredients he grows himself.
Her cooking videos are even more exciting thanks to her son, who turns 5 today.
“My son is attached to me. He does everything I do. When I'm in the garden he's in the garden, when I feed the animals he's there. But what I really enjoy is cooking together,” she said with a laugh.
Read now: Former Masterchef contestant Onezwa Mbola talks country living and cooking
