According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2024, Instagram was one of the most popular social media platforms in South Korea, with around **** percent of survey respondents in that year stating that they used it the most frequently out of all the other social media services provided in the country. The former leader was Facebook, which, together with Instagram and WhatsApp belongs to Meta. Social media in South Korea The number of Instagram users have continuously increased, while Facebook's user numbers had declined. Instagram seems to be widely used by Koreans aged under ** years old, with the share of active users dropping significantly after this age. Facebook, a social media giant, which had a largely increased usage penetration in 2020, had recently come under scrutiny for its user privacy policies. User penetration has declined since then.On-the-go media Social media networks are becoming more and more mobile. Globally, mobile social media users have been increasing, and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future. South Korea is not excluded from this trend - the country leads the world in terms of mobile phone penetration. With South Korea’s smartphone ownership rate at ** percent, the success of social media services in the country looks likely to be determined by how well received they are in the mobile app market.

This statistic presents a ranking of the most popular social networks in South Korea according to social media users. As of December 2015, 59.8 percent of survey respondents named Facebook as their most-used social networking service.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2024, Instagram was one of the most popular social media platforms in South Korea, with around 45.8 percent of survey respondents in that year stating that they used it the most frequently out of all the other social media services provided in the country. The former leader was Facebook, which, together with Instagram and WhatsApp belongs to Meta. Social media in South Korea The number of Instagram users have continuously increased, while Facebook's user numbers had declined. Instagram seems to be widely used by Koreans aged under 35 years old, with the share of active users dropping significantly after this age. Facebook, a social media giant, which had a largely increased usage penetration in 2020, had recently come under scrutiny for its user privacy policies. User penetration has declined since then.On-the-go media Social media networks are becoming more and more mobile. Globally, mobile social media users have been increasing, and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future. South Korea is not excluded from this trend - the country leads the world in terms of mobile phone penetration. With South Korea’s smartphone ownership rate at 96 percent, the success of social media services in the country looks likely to be determined by how well received they are in the mobile app market.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in the third quarter of 2023, around 35 percent of respondents answered that they mostly followed social media accounts of friends, family, or other people they knew. This coincides with the fact that most people mainly use social media for socializing. Other than for socializing, social media are also commonly used to follow influencer accounts. Popular social media accounts Naturally, celebrities and, as the name suggests, influencers have large followings. Among those, K-pop artists specifically were most followed as certain artists and groups have very dedicated fans. This has culminated in all leading positions in terms of followers on Instagram being taken up by members of either girl group BLACKPINK or boy group BTS. Social media usage in South Korea In South Korea, a country known for its high internet speed and coverage, the usage rate of social media is similarly high. Around 90 percent of the population used such services in 2023, and this is only estimated to increase further. Social media were also used by a variety of age groups, with only those under 18 and over 55 years old showing a significantly lower usage level. The most used social networking service in South Korea remains the mobile messenger KakaoTalk.

According to a survey conducted in 2020, the most used social media among Millennials in South Korea was Instagram, with **** percent of respondents answering to use it. Following was Facebook with a user share of **** percent.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2023, around 96 percent of respondents aged between 18 and 24 years old stated that they were using social media. The share of social media users increased across most age groups compared to the previous year. Facebook and Instagram While domestic social media networks like Kakao Story or Naver Band enjoy wide popularity in South Korea, Instagram was the most frequently used social media in South Korea, overtaking Facebook. As of March 2024, Instagram had around 23.9 million users, while Facebook had about 27.4 million users in South Korea alone. Nevertheless, the popularity of Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, is undeniable, especially among younger generations. While the number of Facebook users is decreasing, the number of Instagram users is increasing. Social media usageThe majority of users were using social media for its original purpose: socializing. It was also popular to check posts or contents created by other users of the same social media platform. A 2024 survey found that 55 percent of respondents aged 25 to 34 years stated that they used social media to read news. While the platform of choice differed, YouTube was the most common social media platform used for news.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2025, around ** percent of respondents stated that they use YouTube as a news source. This was followed by the South Korean messenger app KakaoTalk at ** percent. Relative low trust in news The usage rate of YouTube as a news source was especially high for South Koreans aged between 55 years and older. Meanwhile, around one in five South Koreans stated that they trusted news on social media. All in all, South Koreans were found to be rather skeptic of news in their country. A survey by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found that the share of South Koreans who trust the news was relatively low. News consumption  According to the South Korean government, the share of news readers in South Korea fell from around **** percent in 2011 to around **** percent in 2021. The share was especially low for South Korean aged 60 years and above, and especially high for South Koreans in their thirties. Meanwhile, the share of online newspaper readers among news readers increased up to **** percent in 2021.

According to data provided by NapoleonCat, South Korean women aged between 25 and 34 years old were most likely to use Instagram as of April 2025. They accounted for around 18.6 percent of users, so roughly 4.5 million users.Instagram users and followingAs of April 2025, around 24.22 million Instagram users were South Korean. Instagram’s popularity is growing, while the popularity of Facebook is declining, especially among younger users. The most popular South Korean Instagram profiles are those of celebrities. The most followed ones were all of K-Pop artists. Social media usageSocial media is increasingly important for South Koreans and almost every South Korean aged between 18 and 34 years old is using social media. A different survey found that the most people followed accounts of people they know, even before celebrities. Accordingly, most respondents were using social media for its original purpose: socializing.

Korean Companies’ SNS Analytics Data provides important information to analyze consumer opinions and trends on social media. This data includes social media posts, comments, and likes. Collected from platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, it helps investors analyze consumer sentiment, evaluate brand awareness, and optimize marketing strategies, helping in the valuation of Korean companies based on their social media presence and consumer engagement.

As of March 2025, the boy group BTS had the most followers on social media application TikTok in South Korea, with around 71.4 million followers. Another K-Pop group being successful on TikTok was YG's Black Pink, taking the third overall place with roughly 49.9 million followers, while the second place was claimed by their member Rosé.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2023, around ** percent of respondents aged between 18 and 24 years old stated that they were using social media. The share of social media users increased across most age groups compared to the previous year. Facebook and Instagram While domestic social media networks like Kakao Story or Naver Band enjoy wide popularity in South Korea, Instagram was the most frequently used social media in South Korea, overtaking Facebook. As of March 2024, Instagram had around **** million users, while Facebook had about **** million users in South Korea alone. Nevertheless, the popularity of Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, is undeniable, especially among younger generations. While the number of Facebook users is decreasing, the number of Instagram users is increasing. Social media usageThe majority of users were using social media for its original purpose: socializing. It was also popular to check posts or contents created by other users of the same social media platform. A 2024 survey found that ** percent of respondents aged 25 to 34 years stated that they used social media to read news. While the platform of choice differed, YouTube was the most common social media platform used for news.

According to a survey conducted in the second and third quarter of 2024, 83 percent of South Koreans reported to use KakaoTalk. KakaoTalk is a messaging app developed in South Korea and owned by Kakao Corporation. Kakao TalkKakaoTalk, often referred to as KaTalk, is a free mobile messenger for smartphones. Since its launch in 2010, it has grown to have around 48.9 million monthly active users in the fourth quarter of 2024. While the application is free to use, the company sells so-called emoticons in their app-shop and operates a gift system. Emoticons are stickers, most often depicting popular characters, that the users can send to their contacts in the chatrooms. Kakao’s own characters, “Kakao Friends” became fashionable enough to be sold in KakaoTalk merchandise stores all over the country. As of 2017, it was reported that the company was selling around 5,500 sticker packs in their mobile store. Social media usageSouth Korea has the one of the fastest internet worldwide as well as an internet penetration rate of over 97 percent. Naturally, the majority of citizens use social media on a daily basis. While older generations prefer domestic platforms, like Naver BAND, international platforms, like Facebook or Instagram, were more popular among younger social media users. Nevertheless, YouTube is widely popular among South Koreans of all ages. In a survey among 19 to 59-year-old consumers, only 0.8 percent of respondents stated that they have never heard of the streaming platform. According to Reuters, around 47 percent of respondents aged 55 years or older used YouTube as a news source.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2024, around **** percent of respondents stated that communication applications are among their top three most used smartphone apps. Photo and video applications followed at a **** respondent share. Other multimedia services were often accessed via mobile devices, like reading, music, or video streaming. Meanwhile, the most popular instant messaging application in South Korea that year was KakaoTalk. What is KakaoTalk? KakaoTalk, often shortened to KaTalk, had accumulated around **** million domestic users by 2023, equaling over ** percent of the South Korean population. The service is operated by the Korean company Kakao Corporation. Besides a chatting and call function, the app also offers public chatting rooms, shopping, and gift exchanges. Users can purchase emoticons resembling comic GIFs using the company's own characters as motives or independent artists' designs. Merchandise with these company-owned characters, Kakao friends, are sold in dedicated stores in big cities. Social media in South Korea Other popular communication media included other commonly known social media platforms, like Meta’s Instagram and Facebook. With South Korea being one of the most well-connected countries to the internet with broad access and high speed, social media usage in the country is among the highest worldwide.Despite the high access to both internet and smartphones across all groups, those aged between 18 and 34 years old were the most likely to use social media services as opposed to only one out of four for those aged 55 years and older.

South Korea Internet Usage: Social Media Market Share: Mobile: Sina Weibo data was reported at 0.000 % in 25 Dec 2024. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.040 % for 24 Dec 2024. South Korea Internet Usage: Social Media Market Share: Mobile: Sina Weibo data is updated daily, averaging 0.000 % from Jul 2024 (Median) to 25 Dec 2024, with 55 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.070 % in 06 Dec 2024 and a record low of 0.000 % in 25 Dec 2024. South Korea Internet Usage: Social Media Market Share: Mobile: Sina Weibo data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Statcounter Global Stats. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Korea – Table KR.SC.IU: Internet Usage: Social Media Market Share.

According to a survey conducted in 2020, the most used social media among South Korean members of Generation Z was Facebook, with **** percent of respondents answering to use it. In line with the decreasing user penetration of Facebook, the usage rate among Generation Z also decreased compared to the previous year.

The data set for a the article 'Social media and K-Pop: reasons for its rise and popularity'.

This statistic depicts the most frequently accessed social media among users aged 18 to 24 years in South Korea in 2018. During the measured time period, **** percent of social media users aged between 18 to 24 years in South Korea accessed Facebook the most.

Population-level national networks on social media are precious and essential for network science and behavioural science. This study proposes a data collection strategy for scraping online social networks at the population level, and thereby serving as a “ground truth” for the validation of both ego-centric and socio-centric data collection approaches. We proposed a set of validation approaches to evaluate the validity of our approach. Finally, we re-examined classical network and communication propositions (e.g., 80/20 rule, six degrees of separation) on the national network. Our proposed strategy would largely flourish the data collection pool of population-level social networks and further develop the research of network analysis in digital media environment.

This statistic shows the results of a survey about social media usage and awareness in South Korea in June 2018. According to this survey, almost ** percent of participants stated they primarily consumed funny texts and videos and current hot issues or trends on social media.

As of the third quarter of 2024, Kakaotalk was named as the most favorite social media platform in South Korea by around ** percent of respondents in a survey. It was far ahead of Instagram at **** percent.