A survey conducted in Japan during fiscal year 2023 showed that the messaging app LINE was used by almost ** 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 almost ** 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?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 social media one of the most time-consuming online activities. According to a survey, the leading reasons for using social media are communicating with already existing acquaintances as well as searching for information.

The messaging app LINE was used by 81.6 percent of internet users in Japan during the third quarter of 2024. LINE was the most used social media service, ahead of X, Instagram, and TikTok.

The messaging app LINE is Japan’s most popular online communication tool, reaching 86 million monthly actives users (MAU) in Japan during the third quarter of 2020.

The rise of LINE in Japan

The success story of the messaging service LINE started back in 2011 during the Great East Japan Earthquake. While conventional communication channels had broken down due to power failures and destroyed infrastructure, official sources turned to online options for communicating news and confirming the safety of citizens. The app was released for public use later that year, appealing greatly to Japanese consumers due to its unique and customizable design, allowing both private and business usage simultaneously. LINE Corporation’s annual revenue rose from less than seven billion Japanese yen in fiscal year 2012 to over 227 billion yen in fiscal year 2019, exemplifying the company’s major success since the launch of its app.

Social media usage in Japan

Compared to its neighboring countries, Japan has a relatively low social network penetration rate, being noticeably outpaced by Taiwan and South Korea. While globally leading networks do get their fair share of popularity within the Japanese social media market, a ranking of the most popular social networks based on audience reach showed that LINE had a significantly higher audience reach when compared to internationally successful apps such as Twitter or Instagram.

As of February 2025, India had a total of 413.85 million Instagram users, the largest Instagram audience in the world. The United States had 171.7 million users, and Brazil had 140.7 million. Indonesia, Turkey, and Japan ranked in fourth, fifth and sixth position, respectively. Kazakhstan is the leading country for Instagram audience reach, with 86.2 percent of the population using the social media service. Turkey came in second, with a penetration rate of 85.5 percent and Uruguay ranked third, with 87.1 percent, followed closely by the UAE, Brazil, and Bahrain. It took Instagram 11.2 years to reach the milestone of 2 billion monthly active users worldwide. WhatsApp, also owned by Meta, took 11 years, whilst Facebook took 13.3 years and YouTube took just over 14 years. Instagram’s demographics in the United States As of March 2025, Instagram was the fourth most visited social media service in the United States, after Facebook, Pinterest and X. Out of TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, TikTok was the most used of all three platforms by Generation Z. Overall, 57 percent of Gen Z social media users used Instagram in 2021, down from 61 percent in 2020 and 64 percent in 2019. Instagram finds most popularity with those in the 25 to 34 year age group, and as of January 2025, roughly 28.3 of all users in the United States belonged to this age group. The social media app was also more likely to be used by women. Most followed accounts on Instagram Instagram’s official account had the most followers as of April 2024 with over 672 million followers. Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) had over 628 million followers on the platform, while the Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi (@leomessi) had over 502 million followers. The Instagram accounts of the American singer and actress Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) and the media personality and makeup mogul Kylie Jenner (@kyliejenner) had over 400 million followers each.

During the first quarter of 2023, internet users in Brazil spent an average of three hours and 49 minutes per day on social media. Nigeria and the Philippines also reported high usage levels. By comparison, internet users in Japan spent less than 50 minutes per day on social media. Low levels of daily usage were also recorded in South Korea and the Belgium.

As of January 2023 social network Facebook was ranked first worldwide in terms of active users with almost three billion MAU. Other popular social media include mobile messaging platforms YouTube and WhatsApp, as well as social content sharing networks such as Instagram and social video platform TikTok.

Most social networks are accessible through multiple platforms, but many popular social media started out as mobile apps, demonstrating the growing trend of mobile first development. Examples include Instagram, which initially was launched as an iOS photo editing and discovery app as well as mobile social messenger, as well as TikTok, which recorded 23.7 million downloads worldwide via the Google Play Store alone in June 2023.

Social networking does not only enable users to connect with other people but also with brands and celebrities. Social media has also become a growing source of news for internet users in many countries.

According to a survey on digital usage in China, around 91.8 percent of respondents had used WeChat as of the third quarter of 2023. The short video app Douyin, the social commerce site Xiaohongshu, and the Twitter-like site Weibo, were among the most popular social media platforms in China. How successful is WeChat in China? The country’s most popular messaging app, WeChat, boasts over one billion monthly active users. For many Chinese consumers, WeChat is part of daily life, helping them to organize tasks such as paying bills, ordering food delivery, and calling a taxi. On average, WeChat users spent about an hour and 20 minutes per day on the app. Large user base with high engagement The social media scene in China is huge and mobile-centric. In 2023, the social media penetration rate amounted to 74 percent in China, slightly higher than in countries like the United States and Japan. While the user number has shown signs of reaching a saturation point, Chinese consumers have been spending more time online, with a considerable daily usage of social media.

Social network X/Twitter is particularly popular in the United States, and as of February 2025, the microblogging service had an audience reach of 103.9 million users in the country. Japan and the India were ranked second and third with more than 70 million and 25 million users respectively. Global Twitter usage As of the second quarter of 2021, X/Twitter had 206 million monetizable daily active users worldwide. The most-followed Twitter accounts include figures such as Elon Musk, Justin Bieber and former U.S. president Barack Obama. X/Twitter and politics X/Twitter has become an increasingly relevant tool in domestic and international politics. The platform has become a way to promote policies and interact with citizens and other officials, and most world leaders and foreign ministries have an official Twitter account. Former U.S. president Donald Trump used to be a prolific Twitter user before the platform permanently suspended his account in January 2021. During an August 2018 survey, 61 percent of respondents stated that Trump's use of Twitter as President of the United States was inappropriate.

As of February 2025, India was the country with the largest YouTube audience by far, with approximately 491 million users engaging with the popular social video platform. The United States followed, with around 253 million YouTube viewers. Brazil came in third, with 144 million users watching content on YouTube. The United Kingdom saw around 54.8 million internet users engaging with the platform in the examined period. What country has the highest percentage of YouTube users? In July 2024, the United Arab Emirates was the country with the highest YouTube penetration worldwide, as around 94 percent of the country's digital population engaged with the service. In 2024, YouTube counted around 100 million paid subscribers for its YouTube Music and YouTube Premium services. YouTube mobile markets In 2024, YouTube was among the most popular social media platforms worldwide. In terms of revenues, the YouTube app generated approximately 28 million U.S. dollars in revenues in the United States in January 2024, as well as 19 million U.S. dollars in Japan.

As of the third quarter of 2024, internet users in South Africa spent more than **** hours and ** minutes online per day, ranking first among the regions worldwide. Brazil followed, with roughly **** hours of daily online usage. As of the examined period, Japan registered the lowest number of daily hours spent online, with users in the country spending an average of over **** hours per day using the internet. The data includes the daily time spent online on any device. Social media usage In recent years, social media has become integral to internet users' daily lives, with users spending an average of *** minutes daily on social media activities. In April 2024, global social network penetration reached **** percent, highlighting its widespread adoption. Among the various platforms, YouTube stands out, with over *** billion monthly active users, making it one of the most popular social media platforms. YouTube’s global popularity In 2023, the keyword "YouTube" ranked among the most popular search queries on Google, highlighting the platform's immense popularity. YouTube generated most of its traffic through mobile devices, with about 98 billion visits. This popularity was particularly evident in the United Arab Emirates, where YouTube penetration reached approximately **** percent, the highest in the world.

As of February 2025, China ranked first among the countries with the most internet users worldwide. The world's most populated country had 1.11 billion internet users, more than triple the third-ranked United States, with just around 322 million internet users. Overall, all BRIC markets had over two billion internet users, accounting for four of the ten countries with more than 100 million internet users. Worldwide internet usage As of October 2024, there were more than five billion internet users worldwide. There are, however, stark differences in user distribution according to region. Eastern Asia is home to 1.34 billion internet users, while African and Middle Eastern regions had lower user figures. Moreover, the urban areas showed a higher percentage of internet access than rural areas. Internet use in China China ranks first in the list of countries with the most internet users. Due to its ongoing and fast-paced economic development and a cultural inclination towards technology, more than a billion of the estimated 1.4 billion population in China are online. As of the third quarter of 2023, around 87 percent of Chinese internet users stated using WeChat, the most popular social network in the country. On average, Chinese internet users spent five hours and 33 minutes online daily.

Im Januar 2025 lag die Anzahl der Nutzer von sozialen Netzwerken bei rund **** Milliarden. Im Jahr 2015 lag die Zahl der Social-Media-Nutzer bei rund **** Milliarden. Beliebteste soziale Netzwerke weltweit Im Ranking der größten sozialen Netzwerke und Messenger weltweit lag Facebook im Februar 2025 mit rund **** Milliarden monatlich aktiven Nutzern (MAUs) auf dem ersten Platz. Auf Platz zwei folgte mit rund *** Milliarden Nutzern das zu Google gehörende Videoportal YouTube. Rang drei ging mit jeweils **** Milliarden Nutzern weltweit an Instagram sowie den Messaging-Dienst WhatsApp. Verweildauer auf Social Networks weltweit An der Spitze des Rankings der Länder mit der höchsten durchschnittlichen Nutzungsdauer von sozialen Netzwerken für das Jahr 2024 befand sich Kenia mit *** Minuten pro Tag. Darauf folgte Chile mit täglich *** Minuten im Durchschnitt. Deutschland belegte mit *** Minuten pro Tag einen hinteren Platz im Ranking. Japan bildete das Schlusslicht mit einer durchschnittlichen Social-Media-Nutzungsdauer von ** Minuten täglich.