KINGSTON, Jamaica – Coming out of a pandemic, the year 2022 was filled with hope and untapped potential for many of us. This could also be said for some of Jamaica’s social media personalities and content creators, who gave us something positive and hilarious to focus on during the difficult times.

Some of these content creators have blossomed and expanded their reach beyond just social media, and connected to their audiences through different ways. But we will always go back to our first love of meeting our favourites on their social media platforms.

While we came for the laughs, we stayed and added to their ever-growing list of followers because they share a part of themselves with us. So here is OBSERVER ONLINE’s top 10 social media personalities of 2022 (in no order).

Tami Chin-Mitchell and Wayne Mitchell- ‘Meet the Mitchells’

The Mitchells have become Jamaica’s favourite family to watch navigate various tasks and issues. Famous from their time in the music industry, Tami and Wayne Mitchell burrowed further into the hearts of their viewers since launching their YouTube channel, which currently has over 227,000 subscribers. The channel follows the musicians, their sons (Jax, Atlas and Oz), Wayne’s younger brother Alex, ‘MoMo’ the nanny and the most recent addition, daughter Ivy Arrow. The relatable family banter keeps us coming back and, with their most recent deal with CVM-TV, we are able to see them even more often than before.

Juliet “Julie Mango” Bodley

Julie Mango gained social media fame during the COVID-19 pandemic on the video-centric streaming platform TikTok, where she performed hilarious skits depicting a Jamaican’s typical response in various scenarios. Her over 470,000 followers on the platform are still completely engaged by Bodley’s fresh views and her sense of humour, and have stayed with her as she shows the more serious side of her personality through her work as a mental health advocate. Due to her growth in popularity, Bodley has also scored some ambassador deals, taken on the task of being keynote speaker at events outside of Jamaica, and most recently worked with Google narrating a video explaining six facts about reggae legend Bob Marley.

Andre ‘Deno Crazy’ Dixon

Comedian Deno Crazy gained popularity through his humorous skits depicting Jamaica’s culture that remains unmatched. He has gone on to have collaborations with other talented Jamaican comedians and with dancehall artiste Govana in his ‘Hamants Convo’ music video series where Deno plays ‘Wicked-man Chris’. Dixon’s fame skyrocketed and caught the attention of the corporate world which led to him landing an endorsement deal with communication provider Flow for the company’s ‘Yaad and Road’ campaign. To top things off, the man who was only being featured in music videos is now a full-blown artiste himself, gaining musical stardom with his song ‘Thunda’ featuring 450.

Jhaedee “Jaiifraiis” Richards

Jaiifraiis started out bringing a different flavour of comedy to his subscribers on YouTube and is now racking up followers as he hosts the ‘Toxic Talk’ podcast which sees various popular personalities from various backgrounds passing through and sharing their ‘toxic’ opinions. Some of the guests of ‘Toxic Talk’ include Denyque, Pamputtae and Nino TNS, among others. This is the second podcast series from the vlogger with the first being ‘Let’s Be Honest’ where he discussed topical subjects with guests.

Shanice ‘Shanzi’ Allen and Jermaule ‘Nino’ Adair

The entrepreneur and promoter power couple of Shanice ‘Shanzi’ Allen and Jermaule ‘Nino’ Adair were household names long before the two became one. Shanzi had been popular since her days at St Andrew High School for Girls and Nino was a well-known party promoter. But their fan base grew when their love story captured the hearts and minds of many, who had the opportunity to follow their journey on their YouTube channel Shanzi & Nino and other social platforms such as TikTok and podcasts. Their engagement announcement on the channel in 2021 had fans beaming with excitement, some went into a frenzy, while others anticipated the nuptials. Still, the highlight of the year came with the ‘Royal Wedding’ known as the Adairing Moment. And even after the wedding, the Adairs continue to leave a mark on the many supporters who are rooting for the couple’s success in all their endeavours.

Queen Ladi Gangsta and Duwayne ‘Dowey’ Scarlett

Recording artiste and social media star Queen Ladi Gangsta aka ‘Queenie’ and her husband, Duwayne ‘Dowey’ Scarlett’s whirlwind romance has had social media buzzing since they tied the knot in March 2021. Though the couple may have enjoyed happier times, many have witnessed the series of back and forths between the two on social media, which has shed light on the many challenges the couple has endured. But despite their marital troubles, the two have experienced much highlight in a more positive way through music. Queenie is known for her tracks such as ‘Double Tap’, ‘June Plum’ and the couple’s joint single ‘One Man To Me Goodie’. Recently, Queenie made an appearance on Sting, the so-called greatest one-night reggae and dancehall show on Earth, for a lyrical clash against A’mari, which received mixed reviews from many dancehall fans.

Kareem ‘Bwoyatingz’ Weathers

Kareem Weathers, who is more known by his social media moniker, Kareem Bwoyatingz, quickly gained a following with his Bwoyatingz Podcast on YouTube,which aims at giving a voice to topics that many would consider taboo. Through his successes as a podcaster, he ventured into radio where he was allowed the opportunity to channel his podcast on the Nationwide airwaves with ‘Bwoyatingz After Dark’. The radio show is geared towards educating and informing listeners on thought-provoking discussions such as relationship, sex, mental health and much more. Even recently, the radio station announced that Bwoyatingz will be a part of a duo with Honica ‘Honi-B’ Brown that will replace Khadine ‘Miss Kitty’ Hylton on the station’s airwaves.

Osbourne ‘Peanut Dread’ Ellis

All you have to say is ‘Radam!’ and one knows something that was enjoyable a second ago is about to become painful. Thanks to Peanut Dread the word has become popular, and so did the man, who always has the ears of his listeners when he shares a story. While situations have not been completely positive for the storyteller, it is undeniable that Peanut Dread has touched many Jamaicans, even Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who used the popular term as a warning during a public address.

Ramiesh Desouza

This experimental chef kept tongues wagging all 2022. The young chef exercised his imagination as he stunned Jamaican audiences with some rather unorthodox food combinations.His creative methods and choice of locations remain controversial as throughout the year he debuted Ackee ice cream, Curry banana skin and Ackee and Chicken Foot Pizza along with a host of other ‘different’ dishes. With 172.3k followers on Tik tok this chef/ influencer continues to grow as he earned collaborations with many reputable companies such as Red Stripe and JP Farms. De Souza’s influence was demonstrated when he raised money to open a restaurant via crowdfunding site GoFundMe – all thanks to his followers. Rameish Desouza’s restaurant is set to open in downtown Kingston.

Donna ‘Aunty Donna’ Gowe

Aunty Donna still has a hold on the old and young generations who have been following her since she gained popularity for her humanitarian work. She is known for going live and sharing stories that usually results in her coming up with some of the funniest sayings that are bound to go viral. These usually keep viewers occupied until the next Instagram live that will surely create another viral moment. She is witty, funny and relatable to all age groups, and has expanded her brand into selling her ‘Nyam Bad’ fruit cakes through the Sweet Jamaica Shopping website.

To round out our list of top social media personalities, here are some honourable mentions who remained influential in 2022: Tanaania Tracey, Basilia Barnaby-Cuff, Kerry-Ann ‘Chiney-K’ Collins, Rohan Perry aka ‘Quite Perry’, Russhaine Berry aka ‘Dutty Berry’, Danar ‘Dan-Dan’ Royal and Taveionn Telfer.