The US President’s daughters, a Nobel Laureate and a girl baseball player were among Time magazine’s list of 25 most influential teenagers this year. Barack Obama’s daughters Malia, 16, and Sasha, 13, Malala Yousafzai, the 17-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner and 17-year-old Grammy-winning New Zealand singer Lorde were among the list dominated by 20 girls.
During the announcement on Monday Time said the list was compiled by analyzing the candidate’s social media following, success in business and cultural importance.
Athletes, actors and singers dominated the list. Kiernan Shipka, 14, of Mad Men, Rico Rodriguez, 16, of Modern Family and Chloe Grace Moretz, 17, of The Equalizer’s were among the list of actors. Pop singers Becky G, 17, and Austin Mahone, 18, won hearts as did 17-year-olds pro golfer Lydia Ko from New Zealand, and Afghan National Cycling team member Salma Kakar. Sixteen-year-old Jaden Smith, son of actor Will Smith, made it to the list not only for his acting but also his Twitter following. The Jenner sisters, Kendall, 18, and Kylie, 17, figured for their growing popularity as reality television stars and merchandising careers. South African-Australian YouTube star and actor-musician Troye Sivan was also on the list.
Eighteen-year-old online magazine founder Rookie Tavi Gevinson who is also a fashion writer was proclaimed the face of the Internet age teenagers, while 14-year-old transgender activist Jazz Jennings, and 18-year-old Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong made it to the list.
Teenagers who made it to the list for their business successes included Erik Finman, 15, the founder of online teaching site Botangle.com; 18-year-old YouTube fashion star Bethany Mota, and 18-year-old Rachel Fox who was previously an actress but is now a stockpicker.
Ciara Judge, 16, Emer Hickey, 17, and Sophie Healy-Thow, 17, all from Ireland made it to Time’s list for discovering a bacteria that puts into soil nitrogen collected from the atmosphere.
