Market leader Facebook was the first social network to surpass one billion registered accounts and currently sits at more than three billion monthly active users. Meta Platforms owns four of the biggest social media platforms, all with more than one billion monthly active users each: Facebook (core platform), WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram. In the third quarter of 2023, Facebook reported around four billion monthly core Family product users. The United States and China account for the most high-profile social platforms Most top-ranked social networks with more than 100 million users originated in the United States, but services like Chinese social networks WeChat, QQ, or video-sharing app Douyin have also garnered mainstream appeal in their respective regions due to local context and content. Douyin’s popularity has led to the platform releasing an international version of its network, TikTok. How many people use social media? The leading social networks are usually available in multiple languages and enable users to connect with friends or people across geographical, political, or economic borders. In 2025, social networking sites are estimated to reach 5.44 billion users, and these figures are still expected to grow as mobile device usage and mobile social networks increasingly gain traction in previously underserved markets.

In March 2025, ******** accounted for ** percent of all social media site visits in the United States, confirming its position as the leading social media website by far. Other social media platforms, despite their popularity, had to make do with smaller shares of visits across desktop, mobile, and tablet devices combined. ********* ranked second with ***** percent of all U.S. social media site visits, while X (previously Twitter) accounted for ***** percent of the total visits in the country. Additionally, the U.S. is home to the third largest social media audience worldwide. Facebook: mobile vs desktop usage At the beginning of 2022, around ** percent of Facebook users across the globe were using the platform’s social networking services exclusively via mobile phone, while only *** percent reported using their desktop or laptop devices. In September 2022, three Facebook Inc. products occupied some of the leading positions as most downloaded social networking apps on the Apple App Store in the United States. WhatsApp’s messaging platform ranked second with more than *** million downloads, while Facebook and the instant-messaging service Messenger followed ranking third and fifth with *** million and **** million downloads respectively. Social media evolution Between 2012 and 2024, the daily time spent on social networks worldwide experienced an almost constant increase, with users reaching an average of *** minutes per day in 2023, with a decrease to *** daily minutes of engagement in 2024. However, users’ favorite platforms have changed since 2019, and the power balance appears to be shifting further from Facebook’s market dominance. Not only Facebook’s user growth rate is estimated to slow down in the next years, but users belonging to Generation Z appear to prefer video-first social platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube.

The relevance of social media in today’s society is unprecedented, with user penetration reaching high values globally, but especially in Europe. Portugal is no exception, and, in 2024, WhatsApp was the most used social media platform, chosen by over 90 percent of internet users. Close behind was Instagram, selected by a rate of 82.4 percent of respondents. Social media platforms such as TikTok and Pinterest were used by a similar ratio of respondents, between 49 and 40 percent. Threads, on the other hand, was the platform with the lowest usage rate, as it was used by only 11 percent of the online population. In Portugal, social media is mostly for young people and women Social media use is common to all age groups, which exemplifies the democratization of these online platforms. Nevertheless, it is especially between the ages of 25 and 34 that social network penetration is the highest, followed by the age range between 18 and 24 years. Instagram, in particular, is very much used by the youngest generations, and it is women that record the highest usage shares, among all age groups. The Portuguese spend hours on social media daily, especially exchanging messages In Portugal, using social media is among the most time-consuming media activities performed daily. In 2024, the Portuguese spent on average 2 hours and 18 minutes using these social platforms, more than listening to music or reading news online. They mostly dedicated their time on social media sending private messages, and liking and commenting on posts by other users. Posting pictures or videos was performed by less than a half of the population in Portugal, which demonstrates that social platforms are mostly used to communicate with acquaintances.

As of the third quarter of 2024, WhatsApp and Facebook were the most used social media platforms in Mexico, reaching **** percent and **** percent of the country's online audiences. Instagram and TikTok followed, being used by **** percent and **** percent of Mexican internet users each. Messenger was accessed by around ****, while X, Telegram, and Pinterest accounted for smaller shares.

Social media usage in Romania continues to evolve, with Facebook maintaining its dominance while newer platforms gain traction. As of May 2025, ***percent of Romanian respondents reported using Facebook, solidifying its position as the most popular social media platform in the country. Instagram and TikTok followed, with ***and ***percent of users, respectively, highlighting the growing diversity in social media preferences among Romanians. TikTok the new trendsetter in Romania TikTok's popularity in Romania has surged recently, as evidenced by its significant revenue growth. The platform's monthly revenue skyrocketed from approximately ** thousand U.S. dollars in October 2020 to an impressive *** million U.S. dollars by September 2024. This substantial increase reflects the platform's growing user base and engagement levels in the country. However, it's worth noting that TikTok's monthly downloads have fluctuated, peaking at over *** thousand in August 2022 before decreasing to *** thousand in September 2024. Social media usage increases steadily As of January 2024, Romania boasted **** million social media users, with over **** of respondents following friends, family, and acquaintances on these platforms. The primary reasons for social media use in Romania include staying connected with loved ones and filling spare time. This trend partially explains the rise in TikTok users, with the platform poised to potentially surpass Facebook in the near future. Looking ahead, the number of social media users in Romania is forecast to increase by ***** percent between 2024 and 2029, reaching an estimated ***** million users by 2029. This growth trajectory underscores the continued importance of social media in Romanian society.

According to a May 2024 survey, WhatsApp was the most popular social media platform in Mexico. At that time, ** percent of those interviewed said they had an active account on the messaging app. Also owned by Meta Platforms Inc., Facebook and Instagram ranked second and third, being used by ** and ** percent of respondents, respectively.

Social media penetration and demographics Close to ** percent of the Mexican population was expected to be on Facebook by the end of 2023 (slightly below the estimated ***** percent for the United States during the same period). Its popularity in the North American country relies heavily on young internet users: when it comes to the distribution of Mexican Facebook users by age group, more than ** percent were between 18 and 34 years old. All news just a click away According to a February 2022 survey, half of internet users in Mexico used Facebook for news consumption, while YouTube is used by ** percent of the country's online audiences for the same function. This preference was also observed across all age groups: more than a third of the country's news consumers across all demographics turned to the Meta-owned social network to find, read, watch, share, or comment on the news.

How many people use social media? Social media usage is one of the most popular online activities. In 2025, over *** billion people were estimated to be using social media worldwide, a number projected to increase to over *** billion in 2030. Who uses social media? Social networking is one of the most popular digital activities worldwide, and it is no surprise that social networking penetration across all regions is constantly increasing. As of January 2023, the global social media usage rate stood at ** percent. This figure is anticipated to grow as less developed digital markets catch up with other regions when it comes to infrastructure development and the availability of cheap mobile devices. In fact, most of social media’s global growth is driven by the increasing usage of mobile devices. The mobile-first market of Eastern Asia topped the global ranking of mobile social networking penetration, followed by established digital powerhouses such as the Americas and Northern Europe. How much time do people spend on social media? Social media is an integral part of daily internet usage. On average, internet users spend *** minutes per day on social media and messaging apps, an increase of ** minutes since 2015. On average, internet users in Latin America had the highest average time spent per day on social media. What are the most popular social media platforms? Market leader Facebook was the first social network to surpass *** billion registered accounts and currently boasts approximately *** billion monthly active users, making it the most popular social network worldwide. In June 2023, the top social media apps in the Apple App Store included mobile messaging apps WhatsApp and Telegram Messenger, as well as the ever-popular app version of Facebook.

When it comes to the most well-known social networks in the United States, YouTube and Facebook are leading the pack with a brand awareness of 96 and 95 percent respectively, among internet users. For this study, brand awareness was surveyed employing the concept of aided brand recognition, showing respondents both the brand's logo and the written brand name.

During a 2025 survey among marketers worldwide, approximately ** percent said Facebook was the most important social media platform. LinkedIn and Instagram followed, respectively mentioned by ** and ** percent of respondents. Why marketers use social media as a branding channel According to the same study, the leading benefits of social media marketing were increased exposure and traffic. In other words, mastering a brand's presence on such platforms can make a company's products and services known across multiple demographics as well as generate traffic for its online sales. Marketers' favorite social media platforms The survey also revealed that business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) marketers' top social media can vary. While B2C professionals bet on Facebook and its still massive usage rate, B2B strategists focus on LinkedIn, where companies can see and be seen. However, the social media video platforms in which marketers wanted to invest more were YouTube and Instagram.

During a 2024 global survey among marketing and media leaders, around ** percent reported using X (formerly known as Twitter) for their content marketing efforts; ** percent turned to Facebook. According to the same study, Facebook and Instagram were the social media platforms most used by global marketers for organic content and paid ads.

During a 2025 survey among marketers worldwide, around 83 percent reported using Facebook for marketing purposes. Instagram and LinkedIn followed, respectively mentioned by 78 and 69 percent of the respondents. The global social media marketing segment According to the same study, 60 percent of responding marketers intended to increase their organic use of YouTube for marketing purposes throughout that year. LinkedIn and Instagram followed with similar shares, rounding up the top three social media platforms attracting a planned growth in organic use among global marketers in 2025. Their main driver is increasing brand exposure and traffic, which led the ranking of benefits of social media marketing worldwide. Social media for B2B marketing Social media platform adoption rates among business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) marketers vary according to each subsegment's focus. While B2C professionals prioritize Facebook and Instagram, both run by Meta, Inc., due to their popularity among online audiences, B2B marketers concentrate their endeavors on Microsoft-owned LinkedIn due to its goal to connect people and companies in a corporate context.

In 2024, around ** percent of people in Germany used social media to send private messages. Other popular activities included liking and commenting on posts.Access millions of exclusive survey results with Statista Consumer Insights.

YouTube and Facebook have been the two dominant popular social media platforms in Czechia in 2024, both with around ** percent. They were followed by Instagram and Pinterest with ** and ** percent, respectively.

According to a survey of internet users in Great Britain (GB) conducted between July 20 and 23, over half of respondents aged 18 to 24 reported having used Facebook in this period. The same amount of users in the age cohort reported having used TikTok, while 81 percent used YouTube in the examined time. Overall, Facebook was the most popular social media platform across the older demographics, with 72 percent of users aged between 50 and 64 reporting to having engaged with the Meta-powered social media in the examined period. The 2024 general election in the United Kingdom was held on July 4, and saw parties and politicians make ample usage of social media channels in the weeks before the country casted its vote.

A survey conducted in Japan during fiscal year 2024 showed that the messaging app LINE was used by **** percent of the respondents. While globally leading networks such as Instagram, X, and Facebook do get their fair share of popularity within the Japanese social media market, the only platform able to compete with LINE in terms of penetration rates is YouTube, which was used by **** percent of the respondents. What makes LINE so popular? The success story of the messaging service LINE started back in 2011 during the Great East Japan Earthquake. While conventional communication channels in affected areas had broken down to a large degree due to damages brought about by the earthquake and the subsequent tsunami, official sources as well as private individuals turned to online options for communicating news and confirming the safety of friends and family members. The LINE app, which was initially developed for communication between employees at NHN Japan, a Japanese subsidiary of the South Korean internet powerhouse Naver, was released for public use later that year. It appealed greatly to Japanese consumers due to its unique and customizable design, which allowed for both private and business usage. Today, the app is operated by LY Corporation, which is part of a joint venture between SoftBank Group and Naver. How do Japanese use social networks? Partly due to spread of smartphones in the 2010s, social media platforms have become increasingly important in people's daily lives. As a comparison of social network penetration rates of different countries shows, a vast majority of people in Japan use social networks. People in Japan on average spend several dozen minutes per weekday on social media, making this activity one of the most time-consuming online activities. According to one survey, the leading reasons for using social media are communicating with already existing acquaintances as well as searching for information.

Facebook remained the largest market share among social media platforms across India, at roughly ** percent as of August 2025. The Meta-owned social network site has consistently led the country's social media market since 2019. However, Instagram, the second leading social media platform has been increasingly gaining market share and closing the gap with its sister company. Commercial social media usage in India Apart from creating user-generated content, Indians have leveraged social media to grow their businesses. As consumption via online channels increased, social media began playing an important role in stimulating the Indian economy. Among the most popularly used social media platforms in India, Facebook was increasingly used for digital marketing. On the other hand, Instagram emerged as the country’s leading platform for influencer collaboration. Meta Platforms Since its launch in 2004, Facebook has quickly gone on to become the social media giant it is today. Having acquired leading social media platforms Instagram and WhatsApp, the company rebranded itself as Meta Platforms Inc. in 2021. The following year, Meta generated a revenue of nearly *** billion U.S. dollars. The company has further set its sights on bringing the metaverse to life to enhance the online experience of over ***** billion Facebook users across the world.

As of the third quarter of 2024, WhatsApp was by far the most used and favorite social media platform in Spain. Up to **** percent of the country's internet users used the instant messaging app, while networks like Instagram and Facebook followed were used by around **** and ** percent of online audiences, respectively. TikTok and Telegram were accessed by around **** and **** percent of users each, while X and Facebook Messenger accounted for smaller shares of the population.

When asked which social network they were most likely to shop on, ***percent of global online shoppers named Facebook in 2025. Also operated by Meta (formerly Facebook, Inc.), Instagram ranked second, with ***percent of respondents choosing it as the most likely to be used for this type of activity.

As of January 2025, ** percent of social media users in the United States aged 40 to 49 years were users of Facebook, as were ** percent of ** to ** year olds in the country. Overall, ** percent of those aged 18 to 29 years were using Instagram in the U.S. The social media market in the United States The number of social media users in the United States has shown continuous growth in the past years, and it is forecast to continue increasing to reach *** million users in 2029. As of 2023, the social network user penetration in the United States amounted to an impressive ***** percent, meaning that more than nine in ten people in the country engaged with online platforms. Furthermore, Facebook was by far the most popular social media platform in the United States, accounting for ** percent of all social media visits in 2023, followed by Pinterest with **** percent of visits. The global social media landscape As of April 2024, **** billion people were social media users, accounting for **** percent of the world’s population. Northern Europe was the region with the highest social media penetration rate with a reach of **** percent, followed by Western Europe with **** percent and Eastern Asia **** percent. In contrast, less than one in ten people in Middle Africa used social networks. Facebook’s popularity is not limited to the United States: this network leads the market on a global scale, and it accumulated more than three billion monthly active users (MAU) as of 2024, which is far more any other social media platform. YouTube, Instagram, and WhatsApp followed, all with *** billion or more MAU.

As of the third quarter of 2024, WhatsApp was the favorite social media platform for 37.7 percent of internet users in Spain. Besides being the favorite social network in the country, it was also the most used platform in the country. Instagram and TikTok were the platforms of choice for 24.3 percent and 12 percent of the respondents each, while Facebook was the favorite for 8.8 percent of interviewees. Other messaging apps like LinkedIn, Discord, and Facebook Messenger ranked much lower in terms of popularity.