Mainstream: Britney Spears beats out Larry Page for the most followers on Google+

Much has been made of Google+’s future since its official launch. We’ve seen our fair share of Google+ is dead articles, and have had quite a few rebuttals of our own, on why Google+ is here to stay, who’s helping that happen, and why brands should be getting on board.

One of the essential ingredients for any social network to go mainstream is to have a few celebrities here and there using the service, and gaining a huge following in the process.

While Ashton Kutcher and CNN, soon joined by Britney, raced to reach the 1 million follower mark on Twitter, Ashton came out on top. But it would seem that the first celebrity to reach that number on Google+ might be Britney Spears herself.

She did manage to surpass Kutcher and become the most followed person on Twitter, and she’s just managed to snag that accolade on Google+ as well.

Her following is growing at such a fast rate that she may be the first user to reach 1 million followers. Since its launch, Google’s CEO Larry Page has been at the top of the list of followers, added to more than 700,000 circles.

Britney has just shot past Larry, but despite the fact that she has the most followers, other users like Larry himself, along with Tom Anderson and photographer Trey Ratcliff, get the same amount, if not more interaction on their posts, proving that it’s not just about the number of followers you have, but also the content you post.

So Britney Spears now claims top spot, followed by Larry Page, Snoop Dogg, Mark Zuckerberg and Tyra Banks.

Other celebrities and prominent names making it into Google+’s top 20 include Richard Branson, Paris Hilton, Hugh Jackman, Dolly Parton, Pitbull and the Dalai Lama. TThe eclectic mix of names with significant followings on Google+ certainly suggests that the social platform is far from dead.

While making any fast and loose prediction about its future is simply nothing more than a guessing game, if these names and figures are anything to go by, it could be a signal that Google+ is on its way to becoming mainstream.