Rihanna has today overtaken Eminem to become the world's most popular star on Facebook, according to starcount, the social media popularity tracker.

At the time of press (4:30pm GMT) the Bajan star stands at 61,564,736 fans (or likes), with Eminem at 61, 217,673, bringing an end to Eminem's long reign at the top. "Slim Shady" had held the Facebook crown since overtaking Lady Gaga and Michael Jackson in February 2011. Michael Jackson had previously been the most popular star on Facebook since his death in 2009.

The achievement is the culmination of an extraordinary social popularity surge for Rihanna, which saw her usurp Lady Gaga as most popular female on Facebook in July 2011. Less than two years ago a gap of more than 5m Facebook fans stood between Rihanna and Eminem. As starcount had predicted, that gap has finally closed - perhaps helped along by Facebook's purge of fake users over the last week or so.

As well as standing at the top of Facebook, Rihanna has the second most popular YouTube channel among music stars, after Justin Bieber - having surpassed Lady Gaga earlier this year. She stands in fourth place on Twitter at 26m followers, after Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry. On an aggregated basis, starcount.com ranks Rihanna as the third most popular social media star on the planet, after Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber - although on current trends we may soon be celebrating a new Queen of social media.

The top 10 stars on Facebook (by Facebook fans) are:

1. Rihanna - 61,564,736
2. Eminem - 61, 217,673
3. Shakira - 54,784,290
4. Lady Gaga - 53,201,666
5. Michael Jackson - 51,896,491
6. Cristiano Ronaldo - 49,631,046
7. Katy Perry - 47,708,687
8. Justin Bieber - 46,711,467
9. Linkin Park - 45,242,492
10. Akon - 41,812,766