During coronavirus lockdowns in 2020, many UK adults resorted to social media. Facebook and Messenger were the apps with the largest audience reach throughout the year. However apps like WhatsApp, Twitter, Pinterest, Houseparty and especially TikTok, saw a steep jump March and April 2020. As of December2020, there were 11.4 million adults in the United Kingdom accessing TikTok.

The statistic illustrates findings of a survey among male users regarding the use of social media in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2020. During the survey period, it was found that the top two social network apps among males were Facebook and WhatsApp, with a 73 percent respondent share each.

The statistic illustrates findings of a survey among female users regarding the use of social media in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2020. During the survey period, it was found that 85 percent of responding adult females that go online were Facebook users.

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.

Social media's influence in the United Kingdom continues to grow, with 56.2 million active users as of January 2024, representing 82.8 percent of the population. This penetration rate surpasses the global average of 62.3 percent, positioning the UK as a leader in social media adoption. The country's high usage reflects a broader trend of increasing social media engagement worldwide, particularly in Northern and Western Europe. Global social media landscape The social media landscape is rapidly evolving, with China currently hosting over one billion users and India projected to become the largest social media audience by 2029. Notably, Nigeria is expected to see a staggering 142 percent increase in its online networking audience between 2023 and 2029. In 2024, global social media users spent an average of 143 minutes per day on social networks. Facebook is still the market leader Facebook is the most widely utilized social media platform globally, and India boasts 378 million Facebook users, making it the leading country in terms of Facebook audience size. As of April 2024, it was found that men between the ages of 25 and 34 were the largest audience for Facebook, accounting for 18.4 percent of global users. Furthermore, Facebooks second-largest audience base could be found with men aged 18 to 24 years.

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.

During a 2019/2020 survey carried out among owners of small and medium-sized enterprises from the United Kingdom, 27 percent of respondents stated they used Facebook to market their business. The same survey found that 75 percent of UK SMEs used social media for marketing purposes.

The statistic illustrates findings of a survey among the residents aged 56 and older regarding the use of social media in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2020. During the survey period, it was found that 72 percent of respondents that go online were Facebook users.

A survey during the third quarter of 2020 found that 36 percent of Instagram users in the United Kingdom (UK) were using the social network to follow brands or companies. Twitter ranked in second place with 31 percent of Twitter audiences in the UK using the service to follow brands.

The number of social media users in the United Kingdom was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 4.7 million users (+8.92 percent). After the eleventh consecutive increasing year, the social media user base is estimated to reach 57.35 million users and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the number of social media users of was continuously increasing over the past years.The shown figures regarding social media users have been derived from survey data that has been processed to estimate missing demographics.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).

According to a survey conducted by Ofcom in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2020, 16 to 24-year-olds made up the largest group of respondents who had used social media sites or apps in the previous week. This was followed by 25 to 34-year-olds, comprising the second largest group. Overall, social media use was the highest among young adults, decreasing steadily within the older age groups.

Women and social media

In the United Kingdom, more women than men had set up their own social network profile according to an ongoing survey conducted from 2010 to 2019. By 2019, 86 percent of women and 78 percent of men had created social media profiles, a rise from 2010 where only 56 and 51 percent respectively claimed to have done the same. Despite social media having a comparatively larger female user base as demonstrated by the previous figures, the share of advertising audience in early 2020 was nearly evenly distributed between males and females, particularly in the largest audience group of 18 to 44-year-olds.

The growth of influencer marketing

Social media advertising spend has been on the rise in the UK, reaching over three billion British pounds by 2018. This was a near 30 percent increase from the previous year. The sector also experienced a 40 percent increase in spend per year between 2015 and 2017, further demonstrating the growth of this marketing niche. With the rise of YouTube and Instagram, influencer marketing has come to play a crucial role in social media advertising with 68 percent of PR professionals having allocated between 10 thousand and over 100 thousand British pounds for the sector in 2018. In collaborating with influencers who have an established follower-base, marketers are able to quickly build trust, increase reach, and engage audiences effectively.

This survey represents the top social media platforms in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2020 according to the 26-35 age group. The most popular app for them is WhatsApp with 32 percent respondents, who claim it is one of the social media platforms they can least do without. It is followed by Facebook and Instagram, which are both essential for 13 percent of the respondents.

This statistic shows the use of social networks among individuals in Great Britain from 2011 to 2020. As social media takes the world by storm, this figure has seen a year-on-year increase and as of 2020 70 percent of all respondents reported they use social networks. This is a stark increase from the 45 percent who claimed they did so in 2011.

The statistic illustrates findings of a survey among the residents aged 36-45 regarding the use of social media in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2020. During the survey period it was found that the most popular app, used by nearly 80 percent of respondents, was WhatsApp.

This statistic shows the results of a survey on the online platforms most used by PR agencies for social media branding in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2019. During the survey it was found that 85 percent of UK PR professionals stated that they used Twitter for social media branding.

According to a 2020 survey run in the United Kingdom (UK), Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp was the most popular social media platform among those aged 26 to 35. Out of all the respondents, 85 percent had an account on the social networking site. Facebook came in second place, with 80 percent of respondents claiming they used the service while YouTube and Instagram featured third and fourth respectively.

Facebook as a leading digital ad platform

Facebook continues to dominate the social media market in the UK, its penetration rate having been on the rise since 2015. By 2022, the social media platform’s share of monthly active users is forecast to reach 62.44 percent of the United Kingdom’s population. As a platform with such widespread reach not just within the UK but around the world, Facebook is perfectly poised to become a leading online advertising tool. In fact, the social network giant brought in nearly 23 percent of all digital advertising revenue in the United Kingdom in 2018, the highest among all social media platforms. This is forecasted to reach 28 percent by 2021, narrowing the gap with market leader Google.

The news and social media

Facebook remains, albeit to a lesser extent, a news source for nearly 30 percent in the United Kingdom according to figures until 2018. Although this number is significantly lower than in countries such as Italy and Spain where around half of the surveyed population turned to Facebook for news, it is no small figure and one would think that such numbers would reflect a positive perception of social media as a news source. A 2019 survey demonstrated however, that this was not the case with social media ranking lowest in terms of level of trust against other sources such as traditional media, online media, and owned media.

This survey represents the essential social media platforms in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2020 according to males. The most essential app for men is WhatsApp, 21 percent of men claim it is one of the social media platforms they can least do without. It is followed by Facebook, which is essential for 12 percent of the men, and Twitter and Instagram which are important for six percent of male users.

This survey represents the top social media platforms in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2020 according to the 15-25 age group (Gen Z). The most popular app for them is Instagram with 27 percent of respondents claiming it is one of the social media platforms they can least do without. It is followed by WhatApp and Messenger, which are essential for 19 percent and 13 percent of respondents respectively.

Audience reach

Its ability to engage users and serve highly relevant advertisements based on visitor habits and interaction on a platform makes social media a highly effective marketing tool. Facebook, the leading app amongst Gen Z has roughly 2.7 billion active users globally and is able to reach a large audience at relatively low cost. According to a 2019 survey, it is also the preferred way 18-24 year-olds in the UK want to hear from brands.

Gen Z and social media marketing

According to a survey conducted in 2019, whilst different age groups followed brands on social media for varying reasons, Gen Z and Millennials mainly did so in order to receive discounts as well as product updates. This makes them ideally positioned for social media advertising. Despite this, opinion still varies when it comes to influencer led marketing, with a majority of UK consumers believing brands should be more transparent in disclosing their use of influencers and 88 percent believing they should be informed in such a case.

Based on a survey conducted in 2020, the following statistic depicts the creation of social networking profiles among internet users in the United Kingdom (UK), by age group. It was found that 88 percent of respondents aged 16 to 24 years reported having a profile on social media sites or apps, accounting for the largest demographic across all surveyed age groups.

Decline of Facebook as a platform
While most of the main social networking sites have been growing in popularity, the use of Facebook has been in decline. Launched in 2004, the social media site was used often by 86 percent of UK respondents in 2013. This had fallen to 57 percent by 2020, relative to the growing use of WhatsApp and to a lesser extent Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat, all of which offer a tailored social media experience compared to Facebook’s multi-function approach. This however, does not undermine Facebook’s dominance as the number of its product users worldwide (including that of Instagram and WhatsApp) has been growing steadily, reaching nearly 3.45 billion by the first quarter of 2021.

The rise of alternative messenger apps As consumer concern over data sharing and privacy continues to rise, an increasing number of social messenger users are leaving Facebook-owned WhatsApp for alternatives such as Telegram, Signal, and Threema. WeChat, the most popular alternative to WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger had 1,2 billion monthly active users as of April 2021 and was the fifth most popular messaging app globally.

The population share with internet access in the United Kingdom was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 2.9 percentage points. After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the internet penetration is estimated to reach 89.24 percent and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the population share with internet access of was continuously increasing over the past years.The penetration rate refers to the share of the total population having access to the internet via any means. The shown figures have been derived from survey data that has been processed to estimate missing demographics.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 more than 150 countries and regions worldwide. All input data are sourced from international institutions, national statistical offices, and trade associations. All data has been are processed to generate comparable datasets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).