How much time do people spend on social media? As of 2025, the average daily social media usage of internet users worldwide amounted to 141 minutes per day, down from 143 minutes in the previous year. Currently, the country with the most time spent on social media per day is Brazil, with online users spending an average of 3 hours and 49 minutes on social media each day. In comparison, the daily time spent with social media in the U.S. was just 2 hours and 16 minutes. Global social media usageCurrently, the global social network penetration rate is 62.3 percent. Northern Europe had an 81.7 percent social media penetration rate, topping the ranking of global social media usage by region. Eastern and Middle Africa closed the ranking with 10.1 and 9.6 percent usage reach, respectively. People access social media for a variety of reasons. Users like to find funny or entertaining content and enjoy sharing photos and videos with friends, but mainly use social media to stay in touch with current events friends. Global impact of social mediaSocial media has a wide-reaching and significant impact on not only online activities but also offline behavior and life in general. During a global online user survey in February 2019, a significant share of respondents stated that social media had increased their access to information, ease of communication, and freedom of expression. On the flip side, respondents also felt that social media had worsened their personal privacy, increased a polarization in politics and heightened everyday distractions.

As of April 2024, around 16.5 percent of global active Instagram users were men between the ages of 18 and 24 years. More than half of the global Instagram population worldwide was aged 34 years or younger.

              Teens and social media

              As one of the biggest social networks worldwide, Instagram is especially popular with teenagers. As of fall 2020, the photo-sharing app ranked third in terms of preferred social network among teenagers in the United States, second to Snapchat and TikTok. Instagram was one of the most influential advertising channels among female Gen Z users when making purchasing decisions. Teens report feeling more confident, popular, and better about themselves when using social media, and less lonely, depressed and anxious.
              Social media can have negative effects on teens, which is also much more pronounced on those with low emotional well-being. It was found that 35 percent of teenagers with low social-emotional well-being reported to have experienced cyber bullying when using social media, while in comparison only five percent of teenagers with high social-emotional well-being stated the same. As such, social media can have a big impact on already fragile states of mind.

In 2023, Meta Platforms had a total annual revenue of over 134 billion U.S. dollars, up from 116 billion in 2022. LinkedIn reported its highest annual revenue to date, generating over 15 billion USD, whilst Snapchat reported an annual revenue of 4.6 billion USD.

Cristiano Ronaldo has one of the most popular Instagram accounts as of April 2024.

              The Portuguese footballer is the most-followed person on the photo sharing app platform with 628 million followers. Instagram's own account was ranked first with roughly 672 million followers.

              How popular is Instagram?

              Instagram is a photo-sharing social networking service that enables users to take pictures and edit them with filters. The platform allows users to post and share their images online and directly with their friends and followers on the social network. The cross-platform app reached one billion monthly active users in mid-2018. In 2020, there were over 114 million Instagram users in the United States and experts project this figure to surpass 127 million users in 2023.

              Who uses Instagram?

              Instagram audiences are predominantly young – recent data states that almost 60 percent of U.S. Instagram users are aged 34 years or younger. Fall 2020 data reveals that Instagram is also one of the most popular social media for teens and one of the social networks with the biggest reach among teens in the United States.

              Celebrity influencers on Instagram
              Many celebrities and athletes are brand spokespeople and generate additional income with social media advertising and sponsored content. Unsurprisingly, Ronaldo ranked first again, as the average media value of one of his Instagram posts was 985,441 U.S. dollars.

As of January 2024, Instagram was slightly more popular with men than women, with men accounting for 50.6 percent of the platform’s global users. Additionally, the social media app was most popular amongst younger audiences, with almost 32 percent of users aged between 18 and 24 years.

              Instagram’s Global Audience

              As of January 2024, Instagram was the fourth most popular social media platform globally, reaching two billion monthly active users (MAU). This number is projected to keep growing with no signs of slowing down, which is not a surprise as the global online social penetration rate across all regions is constantly increasing.
              As of January 2024, the country with the largest Instagram audience was India with 362.9 million users, followed by the United States with 169.7 million users.

              Who is winning over the generations?

              Even though Instagram’s audience is almost twice the size of TikTok’s on a global scale, TikTok has shown itself to be a fierce competitor, particularly amongst younger audiences. TikTok was the most downloaded mobile app globally in 2022, generating 672 million downloads. As of 2022, Generation Z in the United States spent more time on TikTok than on Instagram monthly.

The results might surprise you when looking at internet users that are active on social media in each country.

Which county has the most Facebook users?

              There are more than 378 million Facebook users in India alone, making it the leading country in terms of Facebook audience size. To put this into context, if India’s Facebook audience were a country then it would be ranked third in terms of largest population worldwide. Apart from India, there are several other markets with more than 100 million Facebook users each: The United States, Indonesia, and Brazil with 193.8 million, 119.05 million, and 112.55 million Facebook users respectively.

              Facebook – the most used social media

              Meta, the company that was previously called Facebook, owns four of the most popular social media platforms worldwide, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Facebook, and Instagram. As of the third quarter of 2021, there were around 3,5 billion cumulative monthly users of the company’s products worldwide. With around 2.9 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most popular social media worldwide. With an audience of this scale, it is no surprise that the vast majority of Facebook’s revenue is generated through advertising.

              Facebook usage by device
              As of July 2021, it was found that 98.5 percent of active users accessed their Facebook account from mobile devices. In fact, almost 81.8 percent of Facebook audiences worldwide access the platform only via mobile phone. Facebook is not only available through mobile browser as the company has published several mobile apps for users to access their products and services. As of the third quarter 2021, the four core Meta products were leading the ranking of most downloaded mobile apps worldwide, with WhatsApp amassing approximately six billion downloads.

56.8% of the world’s total population is active on social media.

Gen Z and Millennials are the biggest social media users of all age groups.

The average person has 8-9 social media accounts. This has doubled since 2013, when the average person just had 4-5 accounts.

As of April 2024, almost 32 percent of global Instagram audiences were aged between 18 and 24 years, and 30.6 percent of users were aged between 25 and 34 years. Overall, 16 percent of users belonged to the 35 to 44 year age group.

              Instagram users

              With roughly one billion monthly active users, Instagram belongs to the most popular social networks worldwide. The social photo sharing app is especially popular in India and in the United States, which have respectively 362.9 million and 169.7 million Instagram users each.

              Instagram features

              One of the most popular features of Instagram is Stories. Users can post photos and videos to their Stories stream and the content is live for others to view for 24 hours before it disappears. In January 2019, the company reported that there were 500 million daily active Instagram Stories users. Instagram Stories directly competes with Snapchat, another photo sharing app that initially became famous due to it’s “vanishing photos” feature.
              As of the second quarter of 2021, Snapchat had 293 million daily active users.

Facebook and YouTube are still the most used social media platforms today.

In this post, I'll give you all the social media addiction statistics you need to be aware of to moderate your social media use.

Today the average time spent on social media is 2 hours and 24 minutes today for people aged 16 to 64.

As of April 2024, it was found that men between the ages of 25 and 34 years made up Facebook largest audience, accounting for 18.4 percent of global users. Additionally, Facebook's second largest audience base could be found with men aged 18 to 24 years.

              Facebook connects the world

              Founded in 2004 and going public in 2012, Facebook is one of the biggest internet companies in the world with influence that goes beyond social media. It is widely considered as one of the Big Four tech companies, along with Google, Apple, and Amazon (all together known under the acronym GAFA). Facebook is the most popular social network worldwide and the company also owns three other billion-user properties: mobile messaging apps WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger,
              as well as photo-sharing app Instagram. Facebook usersThe vast majority of Facebook users connect to the social network via mobile devices. This is unsurprising, as Facebook has many users in mobile-first online markets. Currently, India ranks first in terms of Facebook audience size with 378 million users. The United States, Brazil, and Indonesia also all have more than 100 million Facebook users each.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Taking Part survey collects data on many aspects of leisure, culture and sport in England, as well as an in-depth range of socio-demographic information on respondents. The survey is commissioned by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in partnership with three of its non-departmental public bodies (Sport England, Arts Council England and English Heritage). The survey was first commissioned in 2005 as a face-to-face household survey of adults (16+) in England. Since then it has run annually and has also been developed to include further elements, including a child element and a longitudinal element. Further information can be found on the Gov.uk Taking Part web pages. For Taking Part, 2010-2011, also known as Year 6 of the continuous survey, 14,002 adults and 1,116 children aged 11-15 were interviewed. Information was also collected from parents or guardians of 1,590 children aged 5-10. Interviews were conducted face-to-face in home by specially trained interviewers working on behalf of TNS-BMRB using Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI). Different questionnaires were used for fieldwork conducted in Quarters 1-3 to Quarter 4 of the 2010-2011 survey. In Quarter 4, new questions on charitable giving and competitive sport were added to the questionnaire to reflect the new Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) policy priorities. To make space for these new questions, several questions from the barriers section and all attitudinal questions that had been added at the start of 2010-2011, were removed. A Special Licence (SL) access version of this study is held under SN 7345, which contains additional detailed geographic variables (Local Authorities; ACORN Group; ACORN Category; ONS Urban Rural Classification). Users are advised to first obtain the standard EUL version (this study, SN 6855) to see if they are sufficient for their research requirements, as the SL data have more restrictive access conditions. Main Topics: Main topics covered by the survey include: the arts, museums and galleries, libraries, archives, heritage, sport, social capital, volunteering, gambling, the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games, charitable donations, and demographics. Multi-stage stratified random sample Face-to-face interview 2010 2011 AGE ANNIVERSARIES ANTHROPOMETRIC DATA ARCHIVES ARTISTIC ACTIVITIES ARTS BROADCASTING CHILDREN COMMUNITY ACTION COMMUNITY LIFE CULTURAL BEHAVIOUR CULTURAL EVENTS CULTURAL FACILITIES CULTURAL HERITAGE CULTURAL IDENTITY CULTURAL PARTICIPATION DANCE DONATIONS TO CHARITY ECONOMIC ACTIVITY EDUCATIONAL CERTIFI... EMPLOYMENT GAMBLING GENDER HANDICRAFTS HEALTH HISTORIC BUILDINGS HOBBIES HOLIDAYS HOUSEHOLDS HOUSING TENURE INCOME INTERNET USE LEISURE TIME ACTIVI... LIBRARIES Leisure MARITAL STATUS MOTIVATION MOTOR VEHICLES MUSEUMS MUSIC NEIGHBOURHOODS NEWSPAPERS OLYMPIC GAMES PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES READING ACTIVITY RECREATIONAL FACILI... RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION RURAL AREAS SLAVERY SOCIAL ATTITUDES SOCIAL CAPITAL SOCIO ECONOMIC STATUS SPORT SPORT SPECTATORSHIP SPORTING EVENTS SPORTS CLUBS SPORTS FACILITIES Social behaviour an... TELEPHONES TELEVISION VIEWING TIME Time use URBAN AREAS VISITS TO RECREATIO... VOLUNTARY WORK WRITING COMPOSITION tourism and sport

As of January 2024, #love was the most used hashtag on Instagram, being included in over two billion posts on the social media platform. #Instagood and #instagram were used over one billion times as of early 2024.

Teenagers are the 2nd largest group of people affected by social media addiction. Teens ages 13 to 18 years old spend a significant amount of their free time on social media with an average of 3 hours a day.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.Next Steps (also known as the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE1)) is a major longitudinal cohort study following a nationally representative group of around 16,000 who were in Year 9 attending state and independent schools in England in 2004, a cohort born in 1989-90.The first seven sweeps of the study were conducted annually (2004-2010) when the study was funded and managed by the Department for Education (DfE). The study mainly focused on the educational and early labour market experiences of young people.In 2015 Next Steps was restarted, under the management of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) at the UCL Faculty of Education and Society (IOE) and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. The Next Steps Age 25 survey was aimed at increasing the understanding of the lives of young adults growing up today and the transitions out of education and into early adult life.The Next Steps Age 32 Survey took place between April 2022 and September 2023 and is the ninth sweep of the study. The Age 32 Survey aimed to provide data for research and policy on the lives of this generation of adults in their early 30s. This sweep also collected information on many wider aspects of cohort members' lives including health and wellbeing, politics and social participation, identity and attitudes as well as capturing personality, resilience, working memory and financial literacy. Next Steps survey data is also linked to the National Pupil Database (NPD), the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), the Individualised Learner Records (ILR) and the Student Loans Company (SLC). There are now two separate studies that began under the LSYPE programme. The second study, Our Future (LSYPE2) (available at the UK Data Service under GN 2000110), began in 2013 and will track a sample of over 13,000 young people annually from ages 13/14 through to age 20.Further information about Next Steps may be found on the CLS website.Secure Access datasets:Secure Access versions of Next Steps have more restrictive access conditions than Safeguarded versions available under the standard End User Licence (see 'Access' section).Secure Access versions of the Next Steps include:sensitive variables from the questionnaire data for Sweeps 1-9. These are available under Secure Access SN 8656. National Pupil Database (NPD) linked data at Key Stages 2, 3, 4 and 5, England. These are available under SN 7104.Linked Individualised Learner Records learner and learning aims datasets for academic years 2005 to 2014, England. These are available under SN 8577.detailed geographic indicators for Sweep 1 and Sweep 8 (2001 Census Boundaries) - available under SN 8189 and geographic indicators for Sweep 8 (2011 Census Boundaries) - available under SN 8190. The Sweep 1 geography file was previously held under SN 7104.Linked Health Administrative Datasets (Hospital Episode Statistics) for years 1998-2017 held under SN 8681.Linked Student Loans Company Records for years 2007-2021 held under SN 8848.When researchers are approved/accredited to access a Secure Access version of Next Steps, the Safeguarded (EUL) version of the study - Next Steps: Sweeps 1-9, 2004-2023 (SN 5545) - will be automatically provided alongside. SN 5545 - Next Steps: Sweeps 1-9, 2004-2023 includes the main Next Steps survey data from Sweep 1 (age 14) to Sweep 9 (age 32).Latest edition informationFor the seventeenth edition (September 2024), data and documentation for Sweep 9 (Age 32) have been added to the study. Main Topics: The content of the Next Steps Sweep 9 (Age 32 Survey) covers the following topics: Household relationship - Module includes information on: current relationship, previous cohabiting relationships, children (previously reported and new to household), childcare, non-resident children, non-resident parents, other household members (previously reported and new to the household).Housing - Module includes information on: current and previous housing, homelessness.Activities and employment - Module includes information on: activity history, current activity, current employment, employment at age 25, employment details for first job after full-time education, second job, prospective employment, employment support, work attitudes, and partner employment.Finance - Module includes information on: current pay/salary main job, pay/salary from second job, debt, income from other sources, partner's salary, benefits, other income, household income, pensions, savings and investments, subjective disposable income and attitudes to debt/saving/pension and future planning.Educational qualifications - Module includes information on: current education, educational qualifications, fees paid while in education, partner educationHealth - Module includes information on: general health, height and weight, illness/disability, exercise, sleep, diet, Covid-19.Identity, attitudes, and social and political participation - Module includes information on: attitudes, ethnic group, leisure, national identity, partner ethnicity, politics, social networks and social support, trust.Self Completion - Module includes information on: age at menarche, cognitive assessment, crime, difficult events, domestic violence, drinking, drugs, financial circumstances, financial literacy, gender identity and sexual orientation, health, loneliness, mental health, migration, personality, pregnancy history, relationship quality, school, sexual behaviour, smoking and well-being. The content of the Next Steps Sweep 8 (Age 25 Survey) covers the following topics: Household relationships: This module included information on current relationship, previous cohabiting relationships (dating back to September 2006), children, childcare, non-resident children, non-resident parents, and other household members.Housing: This module covered current and previous housing (summary data is collected about the different addresses the study members have lived in since they were 16, if other than the parents' home).Employment: Included information about current activity, current employment, second job, prospective employment (for unemployed), activity history, employment details for first job after September 2006 (aged 16), employment support, work attitudes, and partner employment. Data on current economic activities and activity history was obtained back to the time of the last interview and no earlier than September 2006.Finance: This module captured current pay/salary main job, pay from second job, income from other jobs, partner's income, benefits, income from other sources, household income, pensions, and debt. Education and job training: The module included job training, education since previous interview/September 2006, current education, fees, and partner's education.Health and wellbeing: Included information on general health, height and weight, exercise, sleep, diet, accidents and injuries. Identity and participation: This module provided information on young people's ethnicity and religion, measures of trust, risk, patience, meritocratic beliefs, adult identity, leisure, politics, social networks and social media participation.Self-completion module: The self-completion module included data on gender identity, locus of control, overall life satisfaction, mental health, self-harm, crime and harassment, drinking and smoking behaviour, drugs, bullying, sexual behaviour, and pregnancy history. A key component of the Age 25 Survey sweep is data linkage to administrative records held about individuals by government departments. At Sweeps 1-4 information was gathered on: the young person's family background;parental socio-economic status;personal characteristics;attitudes, experiences and behaviours;attainment in education;parental employment;income and family environment as well as local deprivation;the school(s) the young person attends/has attended;the young person's post-16 plans. The questionnaires at Sweeps 5-7 consisted of two modules: Household Information Module: included questions on the young person's household situation details of any persons living with themYoung Person Module: topics included demographics, attitudes to local area, activity history and current activity, jobs and training, qualifications being studied, higher education, attitudes to work and debt, childcare and caring responsibilities, young people Not in Education Employment or Training (NEET), Apprenticeships, information, advice and guidance, risk behaviours, relationships and sexuality, and own children. The additional 'Monthly Main Activity' dataset takes responses to the Activity History section of the questionnaire at Sweeps 4-7 and synthesises this information into variables that represent a monthly time series running from September 2006 (two months after the respondents completed compulsory education) until May 2010 (the first month of interviews for Sweep 7). For each of the 45 months in this period, this file contains the respondent's derived 'main' activity which is classified as one of Education, Employment, Apprenticeship/Training or Unemployed/Inactive (NEET). Multi-stage stratified random sample Telephone interview Self-administered questionnaire: Computer-assisted (CASI) Face-to-face interview