One Direction Leap Up the Billboard Chart

U.K. 'X Factor' imports One Direction went in one direction on the Billboard chart this week: Up! The adorable quintet's new video for 'One Thing' launched them to the top 10 of Billboard's Social 50 chart.

Billboard tallies its Social 50 chart through social media interaction on YouTube, VEVO, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and iLike. An artist's new "likes," friends, plays and followers are all taken into account.  The chart Bible reports that in the week ending Jan. 15, One Direction saw a 55 percent increase in Facebook fans, a 78 percent increase in VEVO plays and a whopping 318 percent rise in YouTube plays.

The group is already huge in their native U.K. In addition to debuting at No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums chart, their debut album 'Up All Night' became the 16th best-selling British album of 2011. Considering it came out on Nov. 18, that's no small feat!

One Direction's No. 10 spot on the Social 50 is their first U.S. chart position ever, and it couldn't have come at a better time. The blokes will embark on a U.S. tour with Big Time Rush this February. 'Up All Night' will hit American shelves shortly after the boys hit American shores, with a release date of March 20.