As of January 2025, ** percent of social media users in the United States aged 40 to 49 years were users of Facebook, as were ** percent of ** to ** year olds in the country. Overall, ** percent of those aged 18 to 29 years were using Instagram in the U.S. 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 *** million users in 2029. As of 2023, the social network user penetration in the United States amounted to an impressive ***** 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 ** percent of all social media visits in 2023, followed by Pinterest with **** percent of visits. The global social media landscape As of April 2024, **** billion people were social media users, accounting for **** percent of the world’s population. Northern Europe was the region with the highest social media penetration rate with a reach of **** percent, followed by Western Europe with **** percent and Eastern Asia **** 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. YouTube, Instagram, and WhatsApp followed, all with *** billion or more MAU.

Social media usage in the United Kingdom reveals a diverse landscape across age groups, with the ***** bracket leading at ** percent of users in 2024. Surprisingly, the ***** age group accounted for ** percent, challenging the notion that social networks are primarily for younger users. This distribution highlights the widespread adoption of social platforms among various demographics, reflecting the evolving digital habits of UK adults. Younger users drive emerging platform adoption While established networks like Facebook maintain a strong presence, younger users are increasingly drawn to newer platforms. TikTok, for instance, has gained significant traction among the ***** age group, with over a quarter of UK smartphone users in this bracket using the app. Advertising trust varies across age groups and mediums The effectiveness of social media advertising differs across age groups, with trust playing a crucial role. Among consumers aged *****, ** percent reported not buying products promoted by influencers, indicating a potential shift in how younger audiences perceive and respond to social media marketing.

According to a survey of internet users in Great Britain (GB) conducted between July 20 and 23, over half of respondents aged 18 to 24 reported having used Facebook in this period. The same amount of users in the age cohort reported having used TikTok, while 81 percent used YouTube in the examined time. Overall, Facebook was the most popular social media platform across the older demographics, with 72 percent of users aged between 50 and 64 reporting to having engaged with the Meta-powered social media in the examined period. The 2024 general election in the United Kingdom was held on July 4, and saw parties and politicians make ample usage of social media channels in the weeks before the country casted its vote.

As of September 2024, 46 percent of social media users in the United Kingdom were aged between 30 to 49 years. Overall, one-quarter of social network users in the UK were aged 18 to 29 years. Over 20 percent of social media users in the UK stated that Facebook was their favorite social media platform.

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 February 2025, it was found that around 14.1 percent of TikTok's global audience were women between the ages of 18 and 24 years, while male users of the same age formed approximately 16.6 percent of the platform's audience. The online audience of the popular social video platform was further composed of 14.6 percent of female users aged between 25 and 34 years, and 20.7 percent of male users in the same age group.

As of April 2024, almost 32 percent of global Instagram audiences were aged between 18 and 24 years, and 30.6 percent of users were aged between 25 and 34 years. Overall, 16 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 362.9 million and 169.7 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 second quarter of 2021, Snapchat had 293 million daily active users.

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.

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.

A survey conducted in January 2022 revealed that 18 to 25-year-olds constituted the largest share of social media users in India, with ** percent using six to nine social media platforms at a time. Contrariwise, nearly *********** of the respondents aged 56 and above claimed to not having used social media platforms. The source noticed that people residing in urban areas were using more social media platforms than those in rural areas.

The global social media penetration rate in was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2028 by in total 11.6 (+18.19 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the penetration rate is estimated to reach 75.31 and therefore a new peak in 2028. Notably, the social media penetration rate of was continuously increasing over the past years.

As of January 2025, there were ********* users of Facebook in Ireland, the majority of which were women. People aged 25 to 34 comprised the largest share of users with **** percent, followed by those aged 35 to 44, who accounted for **** percent of users. People aged 65 years and olden made up only *** percent of Facebook's audience in Ireland.

Danes of ages between 16 and 39 were the most active social media users in Denmark in 2020. The share of social media users in that age group was 96 percent in the evaluated period. There was an increase of the share of social media users of older ages. Danes aged between 60 and 74 who used social media were 44 percent in 2017, while the corresponding percentage in 2020 was 63 percent. Overall, the share of participants in social networking grew over the past years.

 Who uses what?

A survey conducted in 2018 found that overall Facebook was the most used social media platform used on a daily basis. 77 percent of women and 68 percent of men in Denmark reported to be daily users. What’s more, 58 percent of females in Denmark used Instagram that year and the male users were 47 percent.

Who uses what?
Denmark stood second among the other Nordic countries regarding the number of social media users in 2020, with 4.1 million users. Sweden led the ranking with 7.3 million users, while Norway and Finland had over three million users each that year.

During December 2024, social media users aged 18 to 24 and 25 to 35 years old comprised the biggest user groups of Instagram in Portugal. At the same time, the age groups of 25 to 34, 35 to 44, and 45 to 54 years old made up the biggest user groups of Facebook and Messenger. Facebook registered its highest use among people aged 25 to 34 years old, at 23 percent. Instagram registered 27 percent of users within the age group of 25 to 34 years old. The highest age group among Messenger users was 25 to 34 years old, at ** percent.

As of April 2024, around 16.5 percent of global active Instagram users were men between the ages of 18 and 24 years. More than half of the global Instagram population worldwide was aged 34 years or younger.

              Teens and social media

              As one of the biggest social networks worldwide, Instagram is especially popular with teenagers. As of fall 2020, the photo-sharing app ranked third in terms of preferred social network among teenagers in the United States, second to Snapchat and TikTok. Instagram was one of the most influential advertising channels among female Gen Z users when making purchasing decisions. Teens report feeling more confident, popular, and better about themselves when using social media, and less lonely, depressed and anxious.
              Social media can have negative effects on teens, which is also much more pronounced on those with low emotional well-being. It was found that 35 percent of teenagers with low social-emotional well-being reported to have experienced cyber bullying when using social media, while in comparison only five percent of teenagers with high social-emotional well-being stated the same. As such, social media can have a big impact on already fragile states of mind.

As of June 2025, 24.2 percent of Facebook users in the United States were aged between 25 and 34 years, making up Facebook’s largest audience in the country. Overall, almost 19 percent of users belonged to the 18 to 24-year age group. Does everyone in the U.S. use Facebook? In 2024, there were approximately 250 million Facebook users in the U.S., a figure which is projected to steadily increase, and reach 262.8 million by 2028. Social media users in the United States have a very high awareness of the social media giant. Expectedly, 94 percent of users had heard of the brand in 2025. Although the vast majority of U.S. social networkers knew of Facebook, the likeability of the platform was not so impressive at 68 percent. Nonetheless, usage, loyalty, and buzz around the brand remained relatively high. Facebook, Meta, and the metaverse A strategic rebranding from Facebook to Meta Platforms in late 2021 boded well for the company in Mark Zuckerberg’s attempt to be strongly linked to the metaverse, and to be considered more than just a social media company. According to a survey conducted in the U.S. in early 2022, Meta Platforms is the brand that Americans most associated with the metaverse.  

According to a survey of younger internet users conducted in the United Kingdom in 2021, ** percent of respondents aged between 16 and 17 years old used social media, while ** percent had their own social media profile. Over **** in ** respondents belonging to the 12 to 15 year age group used social media, whilst ** percent had their profiles. Overall, around *** ***** of those aged three to four years used social media, and *********** of this age group had their own social media profile.

Instagram in Belgium Instagram, launched in 2010, is a popular social media app that focuses on photo and video sharing, which continues to grow in popularity around the globe. There were approximately **** million Instagram users in Belgium in August 2025, which is ** percent of the country’s total population. Furthermore, Belgian women were more likely to use Instagram than their male*counterparts, accounting for ** percent of users. As for age and gender, the majority of users of the social media app were women in the 25 to 34 years age group, followed by women aged between 18 and 24 years. From December 2018 to January 2025, the penetration rate of Instagram increased in Belgium by a total of ** percent. In comparison, neighboring country Luxembourg’s penetration rate increased by over ** percent during this same time frame. Social media in Belgium There were an estimated **** million social networking users in Belgium in 2025 and this is expected to increase to ***** million users by 2026. In 2024, the penetration rate of active social media users in Belgium was **** percent, compared to 46.6 percent in Luxembourg and nearly ** percent in the Netherlands. Although Instagram had *** million users in Belgium in 2024, Facebook remained the app with the largest audience, as Facebook ended 2023 with *** million users in Belgium. Twitter's user base in 2023 amounted to approximately **** million users in Belgium, and LinkedIn had just over *** million users.

As of January 2024, women in the age group of 25 to 34 years accounted for 15.8 percent of social media users in South Africa. This was higher compared to 14.9 percent for men in the same age bracket. Female young adults aged 13 to 17 years also accounted for 15.8 percent of social media audiences in South Africa. In all age groups, the share of women users was higher (except individuals between 35 and 44).

As of January 2025, users aged 25 and ** made up the largest audience of Facebook, accounting for **** percent of the platform's audience. Similarly, users aged 25 to 34 constituted the largest share of Instagram's user base in Sweden, making up **** percent of its audience.