Which county has the most Facebook users?

              There are more than 378 million Facebook users in India alone, making it the leading country in terms of Facebook audience size. To put this into context, if India’s Facebook audience were a country then it would be ranked third in terms of largest population worldwide. Apart from India, there are several other markets with more than 100 million Facebook users each: The United States, Indonesia, and Brazil with 193.8 million, 119.05 million, and 112.55 million Facebook users respectively.

              Facebook – the most used social media

              Meta, the company that was previously called Facebook, owns four of the most popular social media platforms worldwide, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Facebook, and Instagram. As of the third quarter of 2021, there were around 3,5 billion cumulative monthly users of the company’s products worldwide. With around 2.9 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most popular social media worldwide. With an audience of this scale, it is no surprise that the vast majority of Facebook’s revenue is generated through advertising.

              Facebook usage by device
              As of July 2021, it was found that 98.5 percent of active users accessed their Facebook account from mobile devices. In fact, almost 81.8 percent of Facebook audiences worldwide access the platform only via mobile phone. Facebook is not only available through mobile browser as the company has published several mobile apps for users to access their products and services. As of the third quarter 2021, the four core Meta products were leading the ranking of most downloaded mobile apps worldwide, with WhatsApp amassing approximately six billion downloads.

As of April 2025, almost 32 percent of global Instagram audiences were aged between 25 and 34 years, and 29.5 percent of users were aged between 25 and 34 years. Overall, 16.3 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 413.85 million and 171.7 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 first quarter of 2025, Snapchat had 460 million daily active users.

As of January 2024, Instagram was slightly more popular with men than women, with men accounting for 50.6 percent of the platform’s global users. Additionally, the social media app was most popular amongst younger audiences, with almost 32 percent of users aged between 18 and 24 years.

              Instagram’s Global Audience

              As of January 2024, Instagram was the fourth most popular social media platform globally, reaching two billion monthly active users (MAU). This number is projected to keep growing with no signs of slowing down, which is not a surprise as the global online social penetration rate across all regions is constantly increasing.
              As of January 2024, the country with the largest Instagram audience was India with 362.9 million users, followed by the United States with 169.7 million users.

              Who is winning over the generations?

              Even though Instagram’s audience is almost twice the size of TikTok’s on a global scale, TikTok has shown itself to be a fierce competitor, particularly amongst younger audiences. TikTok was the most downloaded mobile app globally in 2022, generating 672 million downloads. As of 2022, Generation Z in the United States spent more time on TikTok than on Instagram monthly.

Instagram’s most popular post

              As of April 2024, the most popular post on Instagram was Lionel Messi and his teammates after winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup with Argentina, posted by the account @leomessi. Messi's post, which racked up over 61 million likes within a day, knocked off the reigning post, which was 'Photo of an Egg'. Originally posted in January 2021, 'Photo of an Egg' surpassed the world’s most popular Instagram post at that time, which was a photo by Kylie Jenner’s daughter totaling 18 million likes.
              After several cryptic posts published by the account, World Record Egg revealed itself to be a part of a mental health campaign aimed at the pressures of social media use.

              Instagram’s most popular accounts

              As of April 2024, the official Instagram account @instagram had the most followers of any account on the platform, with 672 million followers. Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) was the most followed individual with 628 million followers, while Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) was the most followed woman on the platform with 429 million. Additionally, Inter Miami CF striker Lionel Messi (@leomessi) had a total of 502 million. Celebrities such as The Rock, Kylie Jenner, and Ariana Grande all had over 380 million followers each.

              Instagram influencers

              In the United States, the leading content category of Instagram influencers was lifestyle, with 15.25 percent of influencers creating lifestyle content in 2021. Music ranked in second place with 10.96 percent, followed by family with 8.24 percent. Having a large audience can be very lucrative: Instagram influencers in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom with over 90,000 followers made around 1,221 US dollars per post.

              Instagram around the globe

              Instagram’s worldwide popularity continues to grow, and India is the leading country in terms of number of users, with over 362.9 million users as of January 2024. The United States had 169.65 million Instagram users and Brazil had 134.6 million users. The social media platform was also very popular in Indonesia and Turkey, with 100.9 and 57.1, respectively. As of January 2024, Instagram was the fourth most popular social network in the world, behind Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp.

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 January 2024, #love was the most used hashtag on Instagram, being included in over two billion posts on the social media platform. #Instagood and #instagram were used over one billion times as of early 2024.

[415 Pages Report] The global enterprise social networks market size totaled US$ 6.4 Billion in 2021. Sales in the enterprise social networks market are expected to increase at a 13.9% CAGR, with the market valuation reaching US$ 26.5 Billion by 2032.

Scope of Report

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Overview of the global social commerce market

Market research analysts at Technavio predict that the global social commerce market will grow at a CAGR of around 34% by 2021. The rising use of social media advertising is identified as one of the primary growth factors for this market. The e-commerce industry uses social media platforms for advertising and increasing their customer base. With the rising popularity of social media, e-commerce advertisers use banner display ads and sponsored content to attract customers. These platforms help in effectively engaging the target audience. The posts on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are increasingly viewed and shared by the users. Circulation of the posted content increases traffic to the company's website and expands the customer base. Such benefits have increased the popularity of social media platforms, in turn, propelling the growth of the social commerce market.

Technological innovations have revolutionized social media platforms. Presently, social media platforms are not just limited to interaction among people but are also used for shopping and information exchange. User-friendly social interaction platforms such as Snapchat are increasingly used for marketing products. The usage of chatbots with artificial intelligence (AI) to mimic conversations engages the audience without human intervention. It involves users in self-initiated tasks and quasi-conversations. Such technological advancements in social media will be one of the latest trends that will contribute to the growth of the social commerce market in the forthcoming years.

Competitive landscape and key vendors

The social commerce market is highly competitive due to the presence of several well-established players. The vendors in the market compete based on product portfolio, pricing, delivery options, payment options, policies, varieties, offers, and technological advances. The vendors are also focusing on investing in planning, designing, developing, acquiring new players, and are also expanding their existing facilities. The rising focus of vendors towards delivering advanced technologies will intensify the market’s competitive environment during the next few years.

Some of the leading vendors in the market are -

• Facebook
• Pinterest
• Tencent
• Weibo

The other prominent vendors in the market are Alibaba, Etsy, Fab, iQIYI, LinkedIn, PayPal, Qwiqq, Qzone, Reddit, Renren, Tumblr, and Yahoo!.

Segmentation by device and analysis of the social commerce market

• Laptops and PCs
• Mobiles
• Tablets
• E-readers
• Internet-enabled TVs

During 2016, the laptops and PCs segment accounted for the major shares of the social commerce market. Factors such as the availability of a widescreen and the assistance of viewing multiple screens at once to compare the prices offered by the competing social commerce websites will contribute to the growth of this industry segment in the coming years. This, in turn, will have a positive impact on the social commerce market growth.

Geographical segmentation and analysis of the social commerce market</h2&

In 2023, Meta Platforms had a total annual revenue of over 134 billion U.S. dollars, up from 116 billion in 2022. LinkedIn reported its highest annual revenue to date, generating over 15 billion USD, whilst Snapchat reported an annual revenue of 4.6 billion USD.

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Social Networking Market Size 2025-2029

The social networking market size is forecast to increase by USD 312.3 billion, at a CAGR of 21.6% between 2024 and 2029.

The market is experiencing significant growth, driven by the increasing internet penetration worldwide. This expansion is fueled by the rising number of active social media users, enabling businesses to reach a larger audience through digital platforms. However, the market's growth is not without challenges. Privacy concerns are increasingly obstructing market expansion, as users become more conscious of their online data and demand greater control over their information. Social media advertisements, a major revenue source for social networking companies, are gaining traction, creating intense competition among market players. Companies must navigate these challenges by addressing privacy concerns through transparent data handling policies and effective user data protection measures.
Additionally, innovation in advertising formats and targeting strategies will be crucial for businesses to differentiate themselves and maintain a competitive edge. In summary, the market presents both opportunities and challenges, with increasing internet penetration driving growth while privacy concerns and intense competition shaping the strategic landscape. Companies must effectively address these challenges to capitalize on the market's potential and stay ahead of the competition.

What will be the Size of the Social Networking Market during the forecast period?

Explore in-depth regional segment analysis with market size data - historical 2019-2023 and forecasts 2025-2029 - in the full report.
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The market continues to evolve, with dynamic patterns emerging across various sectors. Customer acquisition and sales conversion are key areas of focus, as social CRM and mobile marketing strategies gain traction. User engagement remains a priority, with social listening and social network analysis providing valuable insights. Big data and data analytics play a crucial role in informing business decisions, while media relations and crisis communication strategies adapt to the digital landscape. Influencer marketing and viral marketing campaigns continue to shape consumer behavior, with conversion optimization and organic reach driving growth. Live streaming and user-generated content offer new opportunities for brands to engage with audiences.

Data visualization and machine learning are transforming how businesses analyze and respond to market trends. E-commerce platforms and social commerce are disrupting traditional retail models, with advertising platforms and social media marketing becoming essential tools for businesses. Algorithm updates and link building strategies impact search engine optimization and content strategy. Privacy concerns and network externalities are shaping the platform economics, while network effects drive user growth. Content creation tools and search engine optimization are essential for effective brand building, with public relations and sentiment analysis playing a critical role in reputation management. Video marketing and customer satisfaction are key drivers of brand loyalty, with data security and competitor analysis essential for maintaining a competitive edge.Social media platforms continue to evolve, offering new opportunities for businesses to connect with their audiences and build strong brands.

How is this Social Networking Industry segmented?

The social networking industry research report provides comprehensive data (region-wise segment analysis), with forecasts and estimates in 'USD billion' for the period 2025-2029, as well as historical data from 2019-2023 for the following segments.

Type

  Advertising
  In-app purchase
  Paid apps


Distribution Channel

  Google
  Apple
  App Store Distribution


Service

  Communication
  Entertainment
  Socialization
  Marketing
  Customer service


Platform

  Website-based
  Mobile apps
  Hybrid platforms


Geography

  North America

    US
    Canada


  Europe

    France
    Germany
    Italy
    Spain
    UK


  Middle East and Africa

    UAE


  APAC

    China
    India
    Japan
    South Korea


  South America

    Brazil


  Rest of World (ROW)

By Type Insights

The advertising segment is estimated to witness significant growth during the forecast period.

In the dynamic landscape of the market, various entities intertwine to shape its evolution. Big data and machine learning fuel social media analytics, enabling targeted advertising, conversion optimization, and customer satisfaction. Social listening and sentiment analysis inform brand monitoring, reputation management, and crisis communication. Social crm and community management foster customer loyalty and engagement. Mobile marketing, including user-generated content and live streaming, e

In terms of revenue, The Android Segment was the largest segment with 57.12% Share of Total Revenue Generated in 2021. North America was the dominated region with 43.63% of total revenue market share in 2021. Increasing content creator communities across the world as well as rising in the number of social media users is driving the growth of the market. Additionally, the growing use of short video platforms increases brand awareness and reach. Increasing use of short video platforms by marketers and advertisers to promote brands, brands sponsorships, affiliate marketing, advertisements, and subscription videos. Marketers and advertisers attest to the usefulness of these short video platforms, the distinctive form of storytelling mediums, in reaching out to their target audience, particularly hiring influencers. This factor is driving the growth of the market. However, privacy relate issues with some short video platforms can hamper the growth of the market. A short video platform is a platform that enables users to create, edit, upload, and share short-format videos to help influencers and businesses quickly increase their reach. Short video platform provides users and creators with an immersive experience and ample stimulation. Through this platform, any kind of brief video content can be produced such as instructional videos, entertainment videos, videos showcasing products, explainer or educational videos, and others. With the aid of these young platforms, the creator community is growing quickly, and short video platforms are places for enjoyment where people consume and interact with the content.

The social commerce app RED, or Xiaohongshu, has become a crucial social media platform for cosmetics brands in China to reach their target consumers. According to a survey on social marketing in China conducted in late 2021, about ** percent of RED's users showed a strong interest in cosmetics products. When it comes to automobile advertising, the Chinese TikTok sister app Douyin has the highest share of car enthusiasts.

The global online press release services market is estimated to be valued at USD 457.4 million in 2020 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.2% during the forecast period 2021-2026. The market is driven by the increasing popularity of online PR and the growing number of businesses that use online PR services to reach their target audience. Additionally, the growing trend of content marketing and the increasing use of social media as a marketing tool are also contributing to the growth of the market. Market dynamics:

The increasing growth of digital marketing is a primary factor propelling the expansion of the online press release service industry. The expansion of internet penetration and smartphone use has increased consumer reliance on digital platforms to search for information. This has given online press releases more prominence as a tool for raising brand awareness and enhancing internet visibility. The demand for personalized and targeted press releases that resonate with specific audiences is expanding as the media environment becomes more fragmented. Businesses can design and distribute tailored press releases to various media outlets and online platforms thanks to online press release services, maximizing their reach and impact. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies are being used more frequently in the online press release service sector, streamlining the press release writing, distribution, and tracking processes. By utilizing AI-powered tools, businesses can produce high-quality press releases that are optimized for search engines and social media. The market for online press release services is becoming more competitive as new entrants emerge and established players expand their operations. To differentiate their offerings and win over new customers, service providers are concentrating on providing value-added services, such as media outreach, influencer marketing, and analytics reporting.

To identify vulnerabilities in self-regulatory practices, we focused on what we expected to be five social media platforms with a major role in sharenting practices, which were selected considering their demographic distribution among the population, and following a discussion with our non-academic project partners: Facebook; TikTok; Instagram; You Tube; Twitter. Textual data was retrieved from each of these platforms’ relevant self-regulatory documents (mostly terms and conditions, and community standards, even if some additional documents targeting, for instance, specifically parents were identified and considered for the analysis). This data is publicly available online and, after an initial screening, all sections of the documents that could (broadly) be relevant to sharenting, digital harms and crimes, moderation practices, minors and their parents/guardians were selected for the analysis and collated in the file here avilable.

Especially over the past 15 years, the creation of new "online identities" (the social identity that we acquire in cyberspace) and the expansion of the usability of our "digital identity" (the digital storage of our attributed, biographical or even biological identities) have entailed, alongside many advantages, also new and emerging risks and crime vulnerabilities, as identity information can be misused in many ways and create severe harms. Existing research in this context has so far focused on the illegal access to personal information (e.g. through hacking or social engineering techniques) but has overlooked the risky behaviours of individuals willingly sharing identifying (and potentially sensitive) information online. In this context, an area of particular interest that has been particularly overlooked is the one connected to the sharing of identifying and sensitive information of minors, who are often overexposed online in good-faith by parents and guardians in so called "sharenting" practices. Beyond risks due to negative psychological repercussions in ignoring children's desire to having (or not) an online identity, there are concerns regarding the potential for grooming and child abuse, and the potential for identity crimes (such as identity fraud and identity theft), especially keeping in mind that today's children, in a few years, will be those employing digital identities in many aspects of their lives, and will need a clean and curated digital identity to be fully part of many aspects of our society.

The proposed project combines traditional and innovative cross-disciplinary approaches to further this emerging line of inquiry. The project does so by offering a better understanding of sharenting practices, their motivations, and the risks associated with them. It provides a better understanding of the existing technical and regulatory loopholes and gaps enabling potentially harmful sharenting practices. It also develops a better understanding of the perception of the problem by parents and guardians (our "target population"). The project can therefore enable better targeted awareness-raising activities; an improvement of the tools we currently have to study, prevent and mitigate the negative impacts of sharenting practices.

The result of this research will be of significant importance for social media users (and specifically for those in our target population) by raising awareness and promoting sustained behavioural change to minimise cyber risks. The results will also be of relevance for the work of law enforcement in better addressing crimes potentially facilitated by certain sharenting practices such as grooming and identity crimes.

More in general, the proposed approach will improve our understanding of criminogenic opportunities available in social media, supporting new avenues of investigation. By integrating insights and expertise from criminology and computer sciences, the proposed project also has important implications for demonstrating interdisciplinary methodological developments and promoting best practice for ethical online research.

The research project is structured around seven cumulative work-packages to allow the research team to build a solid body of original data (currently not available to researchers) but also to promote engagement and effective communication with a non-academic audience (primarily, law enforcement, and parents and guardians). Throughout the project, we will be supported by our Project Partners (UK Safer Internet Centre; Kidscape; Arma dei Carabinieri); together with Dame Prof. Wendy Hall and other stakeholders, the Project Partners will be also part of our Advisory Board.

As of April 2024, Bahrain was the country with the highest Instagram audience reach with 95.6 percent. Kazakhstan also had a high Instagram audience penetration rate, with 90.8 percent of the population using the social network. In the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and Brunei, the photo-sharing platform was used by more than 85 percent of each country's population.

Weighted frequency of marketing techniques used in all posts featuring food products/brands on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok between June 1, 2021, and May 31, 2022, posted by the top three most popular SMIs with adolescent males and females aged 13–17.

Public relations (PR) firms benefited from robust economic recovery and a digitalization push. While the pandemic's negative economic effects resulted in a considerable decline in revenue, a sharp economic recovery, fuelled by higher corporate profit and advertising expenditure in 2021 and 2022, significantly bolstered PR firm demand. While PR firms continue to be contracted across core spheres, such as lobbying efforts and PR campaigns, high interest rates have curtailed smaller businesses' abilities to procure PR services consistently. Growing external competition from in-house alternatives also harmed revenue growth. Nonetheless, PR firms could weather the storm, as a diverse array of clients and pivoting to digital media caused revenue to grow an annualized 0.4% to an estimated $1.2 billion over the past five years. However, revenue fell 0.6% in 2024 alone amid a slump in advertising expenditure and corporate profit. PR firms have contended with rising competition from advertising agencies, communications companies and marketing agencies over the past five years, all of which have expanded their product offerings to include public relations. In addition, many multinational and diversified media companies have acquired smaller firms to reach new markets. For example, in 2024, major player Publicis Groupe announced an acquisition of a commerce marketing organization, highlighting the push by PR firms to diversify their outreach. However, elevated demand for PR services, high profit and expanding scope of public relations activities have encouraged new entrants to the industry. Public relations agencies have adapted to these conditions, particularly by quickly adopting a below-the-line approach to services, whereby outreach efforts are tailored to a targeted audience instead of exposure to as many people as possible. PR firms are poised to benefit from a mix of positive economic factors and the continued pivot to digital platforms. Anticipated growth in corporate profit and more significant advertising and public relations budgets will allow companies to invest more in marketing campaigns, offering PR firms more demand niches. Public relations agencies will more effectively navigate social media platforms, blogs and other forms of digital communication to shape client perceptions. Since these efforts are expected to prove more successful than traditional methods, PR firms are anticipated to experience sustained growth. Overall, revenue is expected to grow an annualized 2.6% to an estimated $1.3 billion through the end of 2029.

Cross-Platform and Mobile Advertising Market size was valued at USD 143.4 Billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 929.08 Billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 26.31% during the forecast period 2024-2031.

Global Cross-Platform And Mobile Advertising Market Drivers

Increasing Smartphone Penetration: Statista estimates that the worldwide smartphone user base will reach 6.92 billion by 2023. This constitutes 85.8% of the world's population, creating a large audience for mobile advertising.

Growth of Social Media Usage: According to DataReportal, the global social media user base reached 4.95 billion in January 2024, accounting for 61.4% of the global population. This extensive use opens up substantial prospects for cross-platform advertising strategies.

Rising Digital ad Spending: According to eMarketer, global digital ad spending is expected to reach USD 645.80 Billion by 2024, with mobile advertising accounting for 69.9%. This pattern implies a significant move toward mobile and cross-platform advertising methods.

Increased Time Spent on Mobile Devices: App Annie (formerly data.ai) reported that global consumers spent an average of 4.8 hours per day on mobile devices in 2021, a 30% increase from 2019. This increased interaction opens up more chances for advertising to reach their target demographic across numerous channels.

Weighted frequencies of collected food product/brand related posts on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok between June 1, 2021, and May 31, 2022, posted by the top three most popular SMIs with adolescent males and females aged 13–17.

As of February 2025, it was found that men between the ages of 25 and 34 years made up Facebook's largest audience, accounting for 18.5 percent of global users. Additionally, Facebook's second-largest audience base could be found with men aged 18 to 24 years. Facebook connects the world Founded in 2004 and going public in 2012, Facebook is one of the biggest internet companies in the world with influence that goes beyond social media. It is widely considered as one of the Big Four tech companies, along with Google, Apple, and Amazon (all together known under the acronym GAFA). Facebook is the most popular social network worldwide and the company also owns three other billion-user properties: mobile messaging apps WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, as well as photo-sharing app Instagram. Facebook usersThe vast majority of Facebook users connect to the social network via mobile devices. This is unsurprising, as Facebook has many users in mobile-first online markets. Currently, India ranks first in terms of Facebook audience size with 378 million users. The United States, Brazil, and Indonesia also all have more than 100 million Facebook users each.