InstagramKylie Jenner has reached another social media milestone and appears to be quickly catching up to the most popular of her famous sisters, Kim Kardashian.
The 18-year-old Keeping Up With the Kardashians cast member and longtime social media star celebrated reaching 50 million followers on Instagram Thursday. Kim, 35, has more than 59.6 million.
Kylie celebrated the milestone by posting a black and white, artistic-looking photo of herself posing seductively in a black bodysuit and blowing a swirl of smoke. The teen posted on her Snapchat last month a video showing her using a vape pen.
Other celebrities, as well as marketing and social media professionals, could learn a lot from Kylie when it comes to growing a fan base. Here are five things she does well:
1. Ruling social media, of course
Kylie, the baby of her family, grew up with social media and cellphones. She was 6 years old when Facebook launched, eight when Twitter was invented and 13 when Instagram came about. She was 9 when the first iPhone hit stores. Like her older sisters, Kylie maintains pages on all three social media platforms. Six months ago, Kylie had 30 million followers on Instagram, her most popular page.
But while Kim may be the reigning Kardashian Queen of Instagram, Kylie rules Snapchat, one of the most popular and fastest-growing mobile apps, which launched in 2011. Kylie started posting regular updates on her account early last year and nowadays shares content there several times a day, far more than on her other social media pages. Six month ago, she announced she had just been dubbed the No. 1 most-viewed person on Snapchat.
She is the only one of Kim's sisters with an account known to the public. Their brother Rob Kardashian, 28, recently made a social media comeback after largely staying out of the public eye due to personal issues and recently joined Snapchat himself.
Over the past year or so, Kylie has posted on her page many photos and videos documenting her life inside and outside her home, with her family, her friends, her dogs and beau Tyga, 26.
"My reality is...I only show people what I want them to see," she said last July. "No one knows what goes on in my day to day but me & who I share my moments with."
In a December 2015 interview with Elle U.K., Kylie said, "Once I have a kid I'm not going to be on Instagram...You know, I'll probably delete my Instagram and just...I don't know, live life."
2. ...and turning up the sexy
Like her celebratory milestone post Thursday, many of Kylie's photos and videos on Instagram and Snapchat have been racy. Others were just controversial.
Her social media popularity has helped garner her more magazine covers and professional photo shoots, some of which have been particularly risqué.
3. Merchandising
And like her sisters, Kylie has also used her social media presence to market her branded products, which boosts awareness of, well, her.
In addition to her hair extensions, she and sister Kendall Jenner, 20, have launched their own lines at PacSun and TopShop and are set to debut their own Kendall + Kylie collection in major department stores later this month. Kylie also launched her own lipstick collection, or Lip Kit, in November.
4. Kylie the Chameleon
Kylie knows that to stay fresh in people's minds, you have to look that way. Kylie launched her own hair extensions line in late 2014 and has since sported a slew of different hair colors and styles.
She switches up her hairstyles more often than anyone else in her family, including Kim, who mostly sticks to her signature long, brunette tresses but debuted a short hairstyle and a platinum blonde color last year, and Khloe Kardashian, 31, who had her hair dyed blond and later, cut short last fall.
And speaking of lips again, also last year, Kylie revealed on Keeping Up With the Kardashians she had gotten temporary lip fillers, following much speculation.
"It's just an insecurity of mine and it's what I wanted to do," she said.
5. Then there's that thing...
Many people have pointed out how Kylie has grown to resemble Kim, with both her looks and her fashion style.
"I feel like I dress like Khloe on my down days and Kim when I'm going out," Kylie told British InStyle last year.
So there's that.
Keeping Up With the Kardashians return Sunday, Feb. 14 at 9 p.m. only on E!