As of September 2023, 29 percent of Facebook users in the United States were aged 30 to 39 years, while a further 29 percent of users were aged 50 to 64 years, making these demographics the biggest audiences of the online network in the country. Meta’s Instagram was also popular among users aged 30 to 39 years, who accounted for 32 percent of the audience of the photo-based platform, while those aged 18 to 29 years accounted for another third of the network’s U.S. users. Overall, TikTok and Snapchat were the most popular social media platforms amongst younger audiences, while LinkedIn was the least used platform by those aged 18 to 29 in the United States as of 2023.

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 342 million users in 2029. As of 2023, the social network user penetration in the United States amounted to an impressive 91.56 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 45 percent of all social media visits in 2023, followed by Pinterest with 21.2 percent of visits.

The global social media landscape

As of April 2024, 5.07 billion people were social media users, accounting for 62.6 percent of the world’s population. Northern Europe was the region with the highest social media penetration rate with a reach of 80.2 percent, followed by Western Europe with 78.2 percent and Eastern Asia 74.9 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. 272014 YouTube, Instagram, and WhatsApp followed, all with two billion or more MAU.

As of September 2023, Pinterest was the social network in the United States with the largest share of female users, accounting for almost 70 percent of the image-based platform's audience. Additionally, 62 percent of X's (formerly Twitter)user base were male. Market leader Facebook was used slightly more by women than men in the U.S., as was Instagram.

56.5% of Facebook users worldwide are male. This is in direct contrast to only 43.5% of Facebook being female.

38.5% of Twitter users are aged 25-34 and make up the biggest age group on the platform. Only 6.6% of Twitter users are aged 13-17.

80% of parents say that their children under the age of 11 watch YouTube regularly.

In November 2023, a significant proportion of BeReal users in the United States identified as politically right, indicating that the French mobile-first photo and social media platform has more users who hold a political right inclination than any other social media platform. Reddit gained popularity among users who were politically left in the United States, accounting for 28 percent of the total users. Overall, the selected social media platforms were more popular with politically right users than left or center users.

The most significant cohorts of users on Instagram are aged 25 – 34.

According to a survey conducted in June 2023, adults in the United States spent more time per day on TikTok than on any other leading social media platform. Overall, respondents reported spending an average of 53.8 minutes per day on the social video app. YouTube and Twitter ranked second and third, each with an average of 48 minutes and 34 minutes spent on the platforms per day, respectively.

U.S. teens have time for certain platforms

Different social media platforms attract different demographics, with teenagers in the United States being more drawn to TikTok and YouTube over Facebook. In 2023, teenagers in the United States spent an average of almost two hours on YouTube and 1.5 hours on TikTok every day, 1451257 while Facebook was used by teens for less than half an hour per day. Furthermore, social media habits differ between genders, as teen girls were more likely to spend more time than boys on Instagram.

TikTok is king for teens and Gen Z

Although spending 1.5 hours on the Generation Z app of choice may sound rather modest, some TikTok users devote much more of their time to the platform . According to a survey conducted in the United States in 2022, around eight percent of teenagers in the United States spent over five hours a day on TikTok. 1417187 whereas another 22 percent reported spending between two and three hours daily on the video-based app.

As of November 2023, 66 percent of BeReal users in the United States were from high-income households. After BeReal, LinkedIn also saw a large share of users from high-income households in the United States, with 54 percent belonging to that economic group. Additionally, X (formerly Twitter) was also used more by users with higher incomes.

These are the key social media statistics that you need to know.

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.

There are more male LinkedIn users than females – although it is pretty balanced.

The vast majority of TikTok users are below 30 years old. Approximately 37 million Gen-Zers used TikTok in the US.

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, Facebook 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: a little app called 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 2022, Social networking sites are estimated to reach 3.96 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.

Global ad spend were expected to reach over $134 billion in 2022. This means that it has increased by over 17% yearly.

59% of adults in the united states are using Instagram daily.

Which countries spent the most and least time on social media?

As of September 2023, BeReal was the platform in the United States that most attracted social media users with bachelor's degrees and master's degrees. Overall, 38 percent of TikTok users had a high school degree, as did 38 percent of Snapchat users. Image-based Pinterest was the platform most used by respondents with technical and vocational education.

Snapchat has a reach into 75% of the millenial and Gen Z audience.

I’ve compiled a list of the latest social media user statistics showing just how big social media has become and where it’s likely to go in the future.