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 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.

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 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 March 2024, WhatsApp was the most used social media and communication app among all internet users in Italy, with almost 84.3 percent of respondents reporting engaging with the platform. Users aged between 14 and 29 presented a higher usage rate than the average country's digital population in all examined platforms, social media, and mobile apps. WhatsApp and YouTube were the most popular platforms for digital users aged between 14 and 29, while social audio platform Clubhouse was used by approximately three percent of young internet users in Italy.

As of June 2023, 28 percent of social media users in the United Kingdom (UK) were aged between 30 and 39 years old. Overall, 22 percent of social networks user in the UK belonged to the 18 to 29 year age group.

Ipsos data on the share of Facebook use among certain age groups in the UK shows that the group between 25 and 34 years of age has the largest share of use and the group between 45 and 54 has the smallest share. All above 55 years of age were in grouped together distorting the data by bringing too many respondents together. Nonetheless the trend is clear: use among the young but not among the youngest is most common and decreases with the age of the respondents group. When compared to the number of Facebook users per age group in the United States as well as to numbers from the Netherlands similar observations can be made.

Facebook is the leading social network worldwide and holds the highest market share of social networks in the UK.

Further information about social media usage in the UK and Facebook can be found in the Dossier: Facebook in the United Kingdom.

According to a Rakuten Insight survey conducted in Thailand in February 2023, about 73 percent of respondents aged 35 to 44 years stated that they made most of their purchases via Facebook in the last 12 months. Meanwhile, the younger Thais chose to buy their products through TikTok, as 63 percent of the respondents aged 16 to 24 stated.

According to a survey of internet users conducted in June 2023 in the United Kingdom, 77 percent of users aged between 25 and 44 years reported using Facebook at least monthly, while over 85 percent of users in the same age reported using YouTube monthly. Overall, 74 percent of social media users aged between 13 and 17 years reported engaging with TikTok, while 90 percent reported engaging with YouTube, while Instagram was used by 53 percent of respondents in the same demographic.

In 2023, Finns in all age groups used Facebook the most for reading, watching, sharing or discussing news. Almost 40 percent of respondents aged 18 to 24 years used Facebook for following the news in Finland. In general, social media services were more popular among younger age groups. Other commonly used social media platforms included WhatsApp, followed by YouTube, and Twitter.

According to a survey on social commerce conducted by Rakuten Insight in Singapore in 2023, approximately 64 percent of respondents between 16 and 24 years answered that they used Instagram for purchases during the last 12 months. The same survey indicated that around 27 percent of Singaporean consumers regularly shopped on social media.

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.

According to a survey conducted by Rakuten Insight in Hong Kong in 2023 on social commerce, among respondents aged 35 to 44, Facebook was the most used social media for online purchasing during the last 12 months. In contrast, Instagram was more popular among respondents under the age of 25.

According to a 2023 survey, 41 percent of users of social media platform users in Brazil were Millennials. Among these platforms, Tumblr and Twitch had the youngest audiences, as with 38 percent and 37 percent of each app were from Generation Z. Meanwhile, Reddit and Snapchat were more popular among Millennial users than the average of other researched networks.

Young adults between 18 and 24 years old were the most likely to be registered on social media platforms in Poland in 2024, with 100 percent of respondents. The share of social media users decreased with the age of respondents.

During the third quarter of 2020, it was found that Facebook was accessed by 78 percent of U.S. internet users aged 26 to 35 years. Overall, YouTube was the most popular social platform across all age groups.

A survey conducted in August 2022 among gamers in the United States found that approximately 56 percent of respondents aged between 16 and 29 years used YouTube to consume content related to gaming or engage in video gaming activities. Discord was the second most popular social media platform among users in this demographic, followed by the social video platform TikTok. In comparison, Facebook was the most popular social media platform in relation to gaming among users aged between 30 and 49 years, with 65 percent of respondents reporting using the platform for gaming-related activities and content consumption.

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 22 percent.

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.

According to a survey on social commerce conducted by Rakuten Insight in Indonesia in 2023, approximately 59 percent of respondents between 25 and 34 years answered that they used TikTok for purchases during the last 12 months. The same survey indicated that around 40 percent of Indonesian consumers regularly shopped on social media.

According to a survey conducted by Rakuten Insight in February 2023 found that 75 percent of respondents in the age group of 25 to 34 years old in India preferred Instagram for social commerce. By contrast, 76 percent of respondents in the 55 years and above age group reported purchasing products from Facebook.