As of the first quarter of 2025, photo and video sharing app Snapchat had 460 million daily active users worldwide, up from 460 million global DAU in the fourth quarter of 2024. The app has seen steady increases in daily active users since the beginning of 2019. Snapchat is relevant for teenagers Originally launched in 2011, Snapchat has become one of the most popular social messaging and photo sharing apps worldwide; making its CEO and co-founder Evan Spiegel one of the world’s richest social media entrepreneurs. With almost 800 million active users as of April 2024, Snapchat easily ranks among the most popular social networks worldwide. According to U.S. teenagers in fall 2023, Snapchat is the second most important social network of their generation, ahead of photo sharing competitor Instagram and other networks such as Twitter or Facebook. Overall, 48 percent of U.S. internet users aged 15 to 25 years were reportedly using Snapchat, the highest usage reach among any age group. When it comes to user satisfaction with social media, Snapchat’s performance is fair to middling. According to recent survey data, the social app scored 72 out of 100 points on a consumer satisfaction scale, ranking ahead of Twitter and Facebook but behind Pinterest and eternal rival Instagram.

During the first quarter of 2025, Snapchat had 99 million daily active users (DAU) in North America and 99 million DAU in Europe. Snapchat's largest audience increase came from users outside of North America and Europe, amounting to 262 million daily active users.Snapchat usageSnapchat is one of the most popular social networks worldwide. In 2024, there were almost 513.2 million monthly Snapchat users worldwide. Snapchat’s user penetration in the United States started experiencing a slow decrease in 2022, passing from 40 percent in 2021 to 39.6 percent in 2024. Snapchat companyWhile Snapchat’s annual company revenue grew to 4.61 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, the company has yet to report a positive net income. In the most recently reported fiscal year, Snapchat’s net loss amounted to 1332 million U.S. dollars, highlighting the company’s struggle to monetize their predominantly young user base. As stated in their latest annual report, Snapchat’s user base may be less brand loyal and more likely to follow trends than other demographics, including switching to another product. The company is also fully dependent on advertising revenues and relies on third-party services for application infrastructure services. Subsequently, Snapchat’s research and development spending focuses on product development, advertising technology and large-scale infrastructure. In 2023, the company’s R&D expenditure amounted to 1.9 billion U.S. dollars.

During the fourth quarter of 2023, the number of daily active users on Facebook reached 2.1 billion, a minor increase on the previous quarter. When compared with the number of daily active users in the final quarter of 2022, the platform has gained around 100 million users. Facebook’s penetration rate for the United States in 2023 was 72.13 percent, up from 71.43 percent in 2022. The social network’s audience reach is projected to stand at 75.79 percent by 2027.

Most popular social media websites

As of May 2021, Facebook was the most used social media site in the United States, accounting for 71.8 percent of all social media visits. Ranking in second place was Pinterest with 12.4 percent, followed by Twitter and Instagram, with 9.15 percent and 3.82 percent, respectively. Although other sites remain popular, Facebook’s number of visits made it undoubtably the leading social media platform in terms of social media site visits.

For Generation Z and Millennials in the United States, Facebook was one of the least popular platforms used to connect with others. Gen Z and Millennials preferred video sharing platforms, specifically Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube.

Meta’s revenue

Facebook Inc was renamed as Meta in 2021, in a strategic step toward the metaverse. Meta Platforms is now the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp amongst others, together being known as Meta’s Family of Apps.

Meta’s annual revenue for 2021 was 117.92 billion U.S. dollars, up from 85.97 billion in 2020. Within a decade, the company has increased its annual revenue by approximately 114 billion U.S. dollars. In the most recent fiscal year, Meta’s Family of Apps were responsible for over 115 billion U.S. dollars’ worth of Meta’s revenue.