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 2025, social networking sites are estimated to reach 5.42 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.

As of January 2025, Facebook accounted for around ** percent of the social media market across Asia. Comparatively, Instagram accounted for about ** percent of the social media market in Asia. Meta Platforms, Inc Meta Platforms, Inc., formerly known as Facebook, Inc., is a global technology conglomerate that owns a vast social media portfolio, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Facebook remains one of the world’s most popular social networks, connecting users for sharing content and building communities. Instagram focuses on photo and video sharing, including features like Stories and Reels. In 2024, Meta’s annual revenue reached ***** billion U.S. dollars, with most of its revenue coming from advertising. Meta generated approximately *** billion U.S. dollars in revenue from advertisements in that year. Meta’s market revenue and user base in APAC In 2024, Meta’s revenue from the Asia-Pacific region amounted to nearly ** billion U.S. dollars. The growing mobile-first internet user base in Asia continues to drive engagement on Meta's platforms, solidifying its dominance in the region. Asian countries such as India and Indonesia have some of the highest numbers of Facebook users globally. India also leads globally in Instagram users, reflecting the region's significant contribution to Meta's success.

Among the most popular social media platforms, Instagram is the one that consumers use the most when searching for products to purchase, according to a 2025 survey carried out in Brazil. Around ** percent of shoppers use the platform for this purpose, followed by ** percent who use Youtube. Facebook came in third with a little over ** percent.

During a global 2025 survey, approximately ** percent of responding business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers reported using Facebook for marketing purposes, making it the most used social media platform within that segment. Among responding business-to-business (B2B) marketers, LinkedIn ranked first, mentioned by ** percent. According to the same study, increased exposure and traffic were the leading benefits of social media marketing worldwide.

In August 2025, X, formerly known as Twitter, held a market share of around 34.83 percent in Hong Kong's social media scene in terms of pageviews across all devices, followed by Facebook and YouTube. The American social news and discussion website Reddit has gained traction since the anti-government protests in the city in 2020. Facebook is losing ground A few years before 2017, Facebook controlled over 80 percent of the social media arena in Hong Kong. The drastic change started in 2018, when the networking site lost nearly 11 percentage points and another 19 percentage points in the following year. For many Gen Z and Millennials in the financial hub, Instagram became the favorite social media platform and YouTube was used more often than Facebook. Facebook was still the second place to go after Instagram for product research, it has been losing its appeal among young users and advertisers. Platforms claiming the new spots When it came to advertising audience size, X took the lead. YouTube came in second, however, its ad reach in Hong Kong was among the lowest in the Asia-Pacific region. In comparison, the fourth placeholder Instagram has been picking up steam, reaching 4.14 percent of internet users in Hong Kong. However, the biggest industry threat was TikTok, the most downloaded social media app in Hong Kong as of the time of writing. TikTok’s rising popularity among teenage users may probably change the game of video consumption.

Facebook is the most popular social media used by mothers living with children in the United States. ** percent of moms used Facebook on a regular basis. YouTube and Instagram were the second and third most used platforms with ** and ** percent respectively.

During a 2025 survey, ** percent of respondents from Nigeria stated that they used social media as a source of news. In comparison, just ** percent of Japanese respondents said the same. Large portions of social media users around the world admit that they do not trust social platforms either as media sources or as a way to get news, and yet they continue to access such networks on a daily basis. Social media: trust and consumption Despite the majority of adults surveyed in each country reporting that they used social networks to keep up to date with news and current affairs, a 2018 study showed that social media is the least trusted news source in the world. Less than ** percent of adults in Europe considered social networks to be trustworthy in this respect, yet more than ** percent of adults in Portugal, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Croatia said that they got their news on social media. What is clear is that we live in an era where social media is such an enormous part of daily life that consumers will still use it in spite of their doubts or reservations. Concerns about fake news and propaganda on social media have not stopped billions of users accessing their favorite networks on a daily basis. Most Millennials in the United States use social media for news every day, and younger consumers in European countries are much more likely to use social networks for national political news than their older peers. Like it or not, reading news on social is fast becoming the norm for younger generations, and this form of news consumption will likely increase further regardless of whether consumers fully trust their chosen network or not.

Marketers on Facebook could potentially reach **** percent of the total population of Moldova, according to data as of February 2025. This was the largest advertising reach compared to the other social media platforms presented, followed by TikTok's **** percent.

According to a survey conducted by Rakuten Insight in Hong Kong in 2025 on social commerce, among respondents aged 35 to 44, ******** was the most used social media for online purchasing during the last 12 months. In contrast, ********* was more popular among respondents under the age of 25.

In 2025, the most popular social media network among Generation Z in Germany was Instagram, with a user share of around 78 percent. TikTok and YouTube followed in second place with around 69 and 66 percent user shares, respectively. In contrast, among Baby Boomers, Facebook was the most used social media network, with around 58 percent of Boomers using the platform.

During a 2025 global survey, approximately ** percent of responding business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers said Facebook was the most important social media platform. Among business-to-business (B2B) professionals, LinkedIn ranked first, selected by ** percent. According to the same study, YouTube and LinkedIn were the social media in which most global marketers planned to increase their investments throughout that year.

In Australia in 2025, Facebook had the highest share of users, with **** percent of Australians saying they used the platform. Its counterpart messaging app, Facebook Messenger, was used by just under **** percent of Australians.

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 data from February 2025, Facebook was the most popular social network for news access in the United Kingdom, with ** percent of respondents using the service. YouTube and X (formerly Twitter) ranked second and third, with ** and ** percent of users respectively using the networks for news content.

In Australia in 2025, Instagram was the most popular platform, with **** percent of users expressing a preference for it. WhatsApp followed closely, with ***percent of users favoring it.

As of April 2025, Instagram was slightly more popular with men than women, with men accounting for 52.5 percent of the platform’s global users. Additionally, the social media app was most popular amongst younger audiences, with almost 31.6 percent of users aged between 25 and 34 years. Instagram’s Global Audience As of February 2025, Instagram was the third 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 February 2025, the country with the largest Instagram audience was India with 413.85 million users, followed by the United States with 171.7 million users. Who is winning over the generations? Even though Instagram’s audience is considerably larger than 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 2024, generating 825.48 million downloads. As of 2022, Generation Z in the United States spent more time on TikTok than on Instagram monthly.

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.

Just like for desktop users, Facebook was the leading social media platform for mobile users in Poland, with a 68.25 percent share in April 2025. Instagram and X (Twitter) followed, with a 14.83 percent and a 7.05 percent share, respectively.

In March 2025, market leader Facebook accounted for 60.57 percent of all mobile social media site visits in Canada. Overall, X (formerly Twitter) generated 10.92 percent of social media visits via mobile devices, and Meta's Instagram accounted for 10.09 percent of mobile social media visits in Canada. Pinterest was also popular, ranking second.

As of April 2025, almost 32 percent of global Instagram audiences were aged between 25 and 34 years, and 29.5 percent of users were aged between 25 and 34 years. Overall, 16.3 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 413.85 million and 171.7 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 first quarter of 2025, Snapchat had 460 million daily active users.