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.

In March 2023, Facebook accounted for 45 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. Pinterest ranked second with 21 percent of all U.S. social media site visits, while Instagram accounted for 14 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 81 percent of Facebook users across the globe were using the platform’s social networking services exclusively via mobile phone, while only 1.5 percent reported using their desktop or laptop devices. In October 2021, three Facebook Inc. products occupied the leading positions as most downloaded social networking apps on the Apple App Store in the United States. Facebook’s social media platform ranked first with nearly 2.5 million downloads, while Facebook-owned instant-messaging services Messenger and WhatsApp followed with 2.1 million and 1.4 million downloads respectively.

Social media evolution

Between 2012 and 2020, the daily time spent on social networks worldwide experienced a constant increase, with users reaching an average of 145 minutes per day in 2019 and maintaining the same engagement levels throughout 2020. 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 number of social media users in the United States was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 26 million users (+8.55 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the social media user base is estimated to reach 330.07 million users and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the number of social media users of was continuously increasing over the past years.The shown figures regarding social media users have been derived from survey data that has been processed to estimate missing demographics.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).

65 percent of U.S. respondents answer our survey on "Most used social media platforms by type" with "Social networks (e.g., Facebook)". The survey was conducted in 2023, among 60,267 consumers.Find this and more survey data on most used social media platforms by type in our Consumer Insights tool. Filter by countless demographics, drill down to your own, hand-tailored target audience, and compare results across countries worldwide.

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.

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.

The number of Twitter users in the United States was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2028 by in total 4.3 million users (+5.32 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the Twitter user base is estimated to reach 85.08 million users and therefore a new peak in 2028. Notably, the number of Twitter users of was continuously increasing over the past years.User figures, shown here regarding the platform twitter, have been estimated by taking into account company filings or press material, secondary research, app downloads and traffic data. They refer to the average monthly active users over the period.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).Find more key insights for the number of Twitter users in countries like Canada and Mexico.

The number of Reddit users in the United States was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2028 by in total 10.3 million users (+5.21 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the Reddit user base is estimated to reach 208.12 million users and therefore a new peak in 2028. Notably, the number of Reddit users of was continuously increasing over the past years.User figures, shown here with regards to the platform reddit, have been estimated by taking into account company filings or press material, secondary research, app downloads and traffic data. They refer to the average monthly active users over the period and count multiple accounts by persons only once. Reddit users encompass both users that are logged in and those that are not.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).Find more key insights for the number of Reddit users in countries like Mexico and Canada.

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.

How many people use social media? Social media usage is one of the most popular online activities. In 2024, over five billion people were using social media worldwide, a number projected to increase to over six billion in 2028.

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 59 percent. This figure is anticipated to grow as lesser 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. Mobile-first market 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 151 minutes per day on social media and messaging apps, an increase of 40 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 one billion registered accounts and currently boasts approximately 2.9 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.

During a September 2023 survey among shoppers using social media platforms in the United States, 73 percent of Gen Z respondents said they typically discovered new brands or products on TikTok. When it came to all respondents, Instagram took the lead with 60.2 percent of them saying they discovered new brands or products on it.

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.

During a 2024 survey among marketers worldwide, around 86 percent reported using Facebook for marketing purposes. Instagram and LinkedIn followed, respectively mentioned by 79 and 65 percent of the respondents. The global social media marketing segment According to the same study, 59 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 2024. 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.

As of September 2023, YouTube as the most popular social media platform for global users, with 97 percent of respondents reporting to use the popular video platform. YouTube was also the most popular social media among Gen Z users, with 96 percent of respondents in this age group reporting to have used the video platform as of the examined period. Facebook's usage kept steady among among the general digital population, with around eight in 10 reporting to have used the platform. In comparison, the social media's popularity was in free fall among gen Z users with only four in 10 among those surveyed reporting to engage with the Meta-powered platform.

In a fall 2023 survey, it was found that TikTok was the most important social network for 38 percent of U.S. teens. Snapchat ranked second, with 28 percent of teenagers in the United States stating it to be their favorite, ahead of Instagram. Teens and the internet in the United States It is no secret that the young really know what’s what when it comes to new technologies these days. Especially those born in the internet era and who only know of analog telephones and cameras from stories of their elders seem to be constantly online and always following the latest tech trends. In fact, a recent survey shows that some 92 percent of American teens accessed the internet on a daily basis, where 56 claim to connect several times a day, and 24 percent are connected almost constantly to the internet. Furthermore, the move from desktop computers to mobile devices insured that teenagers would be some of the most fervent users of mobile internet, anytime, anywhere.

According to a 2023 survey of adults in the United States, most respondents expressed concern regarding social media companies data collection practices. About 35 percent of respondents were very concerned about how social media platforms collect their personal data, while 44 percent were somewhat concerned. In contrast, only 17 percent of respondents were not very concerned, and a mere four percent of respondents were not at all concerned about their personal data being collected by these companies.

In 2023, TikTok was the most popular social app used by children in the United States, with 41 percent of respondents reporting using popular mobile-first social app. Surprisingly, X (previously known as Twitter) Reddit, and Facebook ranked second, with roughly the same share of U.S. users aged between four and 18 years. Pinterest ranked third, with 34 percent of respondents in the U.S. reporting to use the image-based app.

In February 2024, adults in the United States aged between 18 and 24, spent 186 minutes per day engaging with social media platforms. In comparison, respondents aged 65 and older dedicated approximately 102 minutes of their day to social media. TikTok was the most engaging social media platform for U.S. consumers aged between 18 and 24 years. The popular video was also the most engaging among users aged 35 and 54 years, commanding between 45 and 50 minutes of users' daily attention. Respondents aged between 55 and 65, reported to spending between 45 minutes daily on Facebook.

As of the third quarter of 2023, the most popular reason for using social media according to users in the United States was to keep in touch with family and friends, with almost 59 percent of respondents choosing this as their leading reason. Overall, 40.9 percent of internet users in the U.S. said that they used social media to fill their spare time, and 31.9 percent said they used it to find content. Live streams, following sports, and making new contacts were other popular reasons for using social networks.

In 2023, Facebook was the social media platform with highest advertising revenues in the United States. The revenues stood at 36.3 billion U.S. dollars. Instagram and TikTok followed, with 21.3 billion and 10.1 billion, respectively.