While many young people use social media in France in 2022, they seem to choose different platforms according to their age group. For instance, Instagram was only used by one-third of the 11-14 but by almost two-thirds of the 15-17 and 18-24. Facebook, in general, was less popular than Instagram, but still used by half of the 18-24. Moreover, TikTok gained a lot of popularity in the last years and on average was used by one out of two young people, regardless of their age group, being even more popular among 15-17.

In 2022, YouTube was the most used social platform among children and teenagers in the United Kingdom, with 88 percent of respondents stating that they had used the service. WhatsApp ranked second, with 55 percent of kids and teens in the UK being active on the platform. Additionally, usage of TikTok and Snapchat increased from 2021 to 2021 among those aged three to 17 in the UK.

Youth accounts on the rise again From 80 percent in 2012, the share of children aged 12 to 15 years of age with a social media account fell to 70 percent in 2018, but increased again in 2020, peaking at 87 percent. Despite some major social networks setting minimum age limits in their terms of service, 30 percent of children aged 5 to 7 years had a social media account in 2020, according to Ofcom.

Facebook falling out of favor with teens Among teens and young adults in the United States, Youtuba and Instagram had a higher reach than any other social network, slightly ahead of Facebook and Snapchat. When you remove young adults from the picture, Snapchat is clearly the most important social network and Facebook barely comes into the equation. Since the Fall/Autumn period of 2017, less than ten percent of teens in the United States said Facebook was their most important social network, compared with more than 34 percent of teens who nominated Snapchat. The new hot trend among Gen Z is TikTok, selected by 29 percent of respondents and ranking second.

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.

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.

As of February 2024, over a third of online users worldwide were aged between 25 and 34 years. Website visitors in this age bracket constituted the biggest group of online users worldwide. Also, 19 percent of global online users were aged 18 to 24 years. The global digital population aged 65 or older represented approximately 4.2 percent of all internet users worldwide. Social media usage and Meta Social media is a major driver of internet use, with a global penetration rate of 62.2 percent. On average, internet users spend 143 minutes per day on social media, highlighting its significant impact on daily online activities. The usage of social media is mostly dominated by Meta platforms, which own four of the largest social media platforms. Facebook leads the ranking with over three billion active users, followed by Instagram and WhatsApp. Instagram's global popularity Meta’s social video platform, Instagram, had long been one of the most engaging social media platforms worldwide, and it was projected to reach 1.44 billion monthly active users. Instagram was particularly favored by users aged 18 to 34, thanks to its ability to offer a variety of interactive content, from images and carousels. This diverse range of content types was a key factor in its popularity among its young user base.

According to a survey conducted in the United States in 2023, 93 percent of social media users aged between 13 and 17 years used YouTube, down from 93 percent in 2022. As for TikTok, 63 percent of U.S. teens used the app, down from 67 percent in 2022. Additionally, Snapchat, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and Twitch all saw a slight decline in usage amongst teens in the United States. Facebook and WhatsApp saw increases in usage among this demographic.

A survey conducted in January 2022 revealed that 18 to 25 year olds constituted the largest share of social media users in India, with 31 percent using six to nine social media platforms at a time. Contrariwise, nearly four-fifths of the respondents aged 56 and above claimed 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.

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.

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.

According to a survey on youths in Malaysia, as of May 2024, 31 percent of the respondents preferred Instagram as their main social media platforms. By comparison, four percent of youths answered X (Twitter) as the social media they used the most.

According to the 2020 survey, WhatsApp was the most popular social media platform among 15 to 25-year-olds in Finland. While 93 percent of respondents stated that they use WhatsApp, YouTube was used by 87 percent of respondents. Other popular social media platforms in this age group included Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat.

In 2019, WhatsApp and YouTube were the most popular social media platforms among 13 to 29-year-olds in Finland. Nearly 90 percent of the respondents to a social media survey said that they used WhatsApp and YouTube. Other highly popular online platforms included Instagram (79 percent), Snapchat (74 percent), and Spotify (72 percent).

One third of 16 to 24-year-olds increased their social media usage

Compared with other age groups, young people aged 16 to 24 years spent the most time on social media in Finland. When asked about day-to-day online activities, 34 percent of Finns in the age group of 16 to 24 years estimated that they had increased their time spent on social media in 2019. That year, 20 percent of 16 to 24-year-olds stated that they spent over two hours on social media on a typical day.

Effects of social media on everyday life of young people

According to a survey from 2019, over 90 percent of Finns aged 13 to 29 years used social media services in a passive manner for reading and following content. Listening to music, liking other user’s content, and following activities of friends were other common ways to use social media in Finland. Nonetheless, the main reason for young people to use these services was communication with friends. The majority of respondents said that social media services complement their real-life interactions, while 45 percent agreed that social media services bring added value and depth to real-life friendships. In fact, nearly 20 percent of 13 to 29-year-olds stated that social media services substitute real-life communication in their everyday life.

As of February 2025, there were 5.56 billion internet users worldwide, which amounted to 67.9 percent of the global population. Of this total, 5.24 billion, or 63.9 percent of the world's population, were social media users. Global internet usage Connecting billions of people worldwide, the internet is a core pillar of the modern information society. Northern Europe ranked first among worldwide regions by the share of the population using the internet in 2024. In The Netherlands, Norway and Saudi Arabia, 99 percent of the population used the internet as of April 2024. North Korea was at the opposite end of the spectrum, with virtually no internet usage penetration among the general population, ranking last worldwide. Asia was home to the largest number of online users worldwide – over 2.93 billion at the latest count. Europe ranked second, with around 750 million internet users. China, India, and the United States rank ahead of other countries worldwide by the number of internet users. Worldwide internet user demographics As of 2023, the share of female internet users worldwide was 65 percent, five percent less than that of men. Gender disparity in internet usage was bigger in the Arab States and Africa, with around a ten percent difference. Worldwide regions, like the Commonwealth of Independent States and Europe, showed a smaller gender gap. As of 2023, global internet usage was higher among individuals between 15 and 24 years across all regions, with young people in Europe representing the most significant usage penetration, 98 percent. In comparison, the worldwide average for the age group 15–24 years was 79 percent. The income level of the countries was also an essential factor for internet access, as 93 percent of the population of the countries with high income reportedly used the internet, as opposed to only 27 percent of the low-income markets.

The most-used social media site among teenagers and young adults in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2020 was YouTube. A survey carried out by AudienceProject revealed that 82 percent of 15 to 25-year-olds said they used the video-sharing platform, making it more popular than Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram.

YouTube stars

The leading celebrity YouTube channel in the UK in terms of the number of subscribers is Ed Sheeran. The pop singer had a 42.8 million subscribers as of December 2019. Other popular celebrity channels were One Direction and Adele, although Ed Sheeran had more subscribers than both of these combined.

Social media and generational differences

Comparing the social media sites most used by other age groups reveals some interesting differences. In the 26 to 35 age group, Facebook was the most popular social media platform with 82.5 percent. Of those aged 36 to 45, less than 30 percent used Facebook, and just 13.2 percent used YouTube.

According to a 2023 study, 50 percent of kids in the United Kingdom used TikTok, making the short-video sharing platform the most popular social media among users aged between four and 18 years. X (formerly known as Twitter) followed with a reach of 43 percent, while Facebook ranked third with a 40 percent audience reach.

Mobile use and kids on apps

Coming in all price ranges, mobile phones have become a common entry point for children to access the wonders of the internet. Despite their ubiquitous usage, many Brits still have doubts about kids using them: as of January 2023, only 15 percent of respondents considered it appropriate to give primary school children smartphones. In 2023, half of UK children between eight and 11 years of age were reported to have a smartphone, while among kids aged between five and seven, 20 percent were reported to own smartphones. Tablets were still the most used device among the youngest users, with almost seven to 10 UK kids aged between three and four using them to watch videos; four in 10 users aged between eight and 11 reported watching videos on mobiles.

A childproof digital environment In 2021, the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK's data protection regulation body, approved the Age-Appropriate Design Code. The code covers the design of features and functionalities for global apps, games, connected devices, and news sources to adopt an age-appropriate design. Additionally, apps might be required to get parental permission before collecting personally identifiable information about children. According to a study of 400 apps hosted on the Google Play Store, only five percent required parental permission when collecting data. In April 2023, TikTok was fined 14.5 million euros (or 12.7 million pounds) by the ICO for failing to get parental approval for accounts of kids aged under 13 years.

The relevance of social media in today’s society is unprecedented, with user penetration reaching high values globally, but especially in Europe. Portugal is no exception, and, in 2024, WhatsApp was the most used social media platform, chosen by over 90 percent of internet users. Close behind was Instagram, selected by a rate of 82.4 percent of respondents. Social media platforms such as TikTok and Pinterest were used by a similar ratio of respondents, between 49 and 40 percent. Threads, on the other hand, was the platform with the lowest usage rate, as it was used by only 11 percent of the online population. In Portugal, social media is mostly for young people and women Social media use is common to all age groups, which exemplifies the democratization of these online platforms. Nevertheless, it is especially between the ages of 25 and 34 that social network penetration is the highest, followed by the age range between 18 and 24 years. Instagram, in particular, is very much used by the youngest generations, and it is women that record the highest usage shares, among all age groups. The Portuguese spend hours on social media daily, especially exchanging messages In Portugal, using social media is among the most time-consuming media activities performed daily. In 2024, the Portuguese spent on average 2 hours and 18 minutes using these social platforms, more than listening to music or reading news online. They mostly dedicated their time on social media sending private messages, and liking and commenting on posts by other users. Posting pictures or videos was performed by less than a half of the population in Portugal, which demonstrates that social platforms are mostly used to communicate with acquaintances.

The number of Instagram users in the United Kingdom was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2028 by in total 2.1 million users (+7.02 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the Instagram user base is estimated to reach 32 million users and therefore a new peak in 2028. Notably, the number of Instagram users of was continuously increasing over the past years.User figures, shown here with regards to the platform instagram, 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.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).

This statistic gives information on the most popular social media sites used by teenage and young adult internet users in the United States as of the third quarter of 2020. During the survey period, it was found that 63 percent of responding internet users aged 15 to 25 years used social photo sharing app Instagram.

Despite Snapchat's dominance, Facebook continues to be the more widely used social networking site used by teenagers and young adults7. A total of 50 percent of respondents currently use Facebook, compared to 48 percent of respondents who stated that they used Snapchat. Yet when teens, whose average age was 16, rated their most important social network, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter where given more important ratings than Facebook. These social networks are being increasingly visited via mobile devices.

According to the results of the surveys conducted from March to August 2019, nearly 92 percent of Mexican fixed internet users between 18 and 24 year old stated to use Facebook. Furthermore, 79 percent of respondents between 25 and 34 years old said they used WhatsApp. The same popularity applied for mobile social networks, in which Facebook appeared as the most used social media among users of all ages.

As of 2021, roughly 92 percent of the respondents aged 14-22 years old in the Netherlands indicated they actively use WhatsApp, making What's App and Instagram the most used app in this generation in 2021. Since the previous year, TikTok has become increasingly used by this age group, increasing by 19 percent compared to 2020.