According to an April 2024 survey, one-quarter of adults in the United States preferred to use social media as their primary choice for online search. Within different generations, Gen Z showed the highest interest in using social platforms over search engines to find information online, with around 46 percent of those respondents stating they preferred this method.

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 global survey, in 2023, more than half of global Gen Z respondents stated that they use social media for brand information, compared to ** percent of them who used search engines. Social media proves to be the more preferred and used channel for brand discovery and information.

According to a survey conducted in 2024, around 41 percent of respondents in the United States claimed to have used the video-based platform TikTok as a search engine. The usage of social media for conducting online searches, commonly referred to as social search, is gaining popularity among younger generations, with the majority of Gen Z respondents opting for social media over traditional search engines for this purpose.

Among the most popular social media platforms, Instagram is the one that consumers use the most when searching for products to purchase, according to a 2025 survey carried out in Brazil. Around ** percent of shoppers use the platform for this purpose, followed by ** percent who use Youtube. Facebook came in third with a little over ** percent.

According to a 2024 survey in the United States, around 91 percent of respondents mentioned Google as the most helpful platform when searching for information. Other conventional search engines, such as Bing and DuckDuckGo, were mentioned by approximately a fifth of respondents for the same matter. In addition, YouTube ranked second among all platforms, being cited by 39 percent of respondents, whereas TikTok was mentioned by 17 percent of respondents.

During a 2025 survey among marketers worldwide, around 83 percent reported using Facebook for marketing purposes. Instagram and LinkedIn followed, respectively mentioned by 78 and 69 percent of the respondents. The global social media marketing segment According to the same study, 60 percent of responding marketers intended to increase their organic use of YouTube for marketing purposes throughout that year. LinkedIn and Instagram followed with similar shares, rounding up the top three social media platforms attracting a planned growth in organic use among global marketers in 2025. Their main driver is increasing brand exposure and traffic, which led the ranking of benefits of social media marketing worldwide. Social media for B2B marketing Social media platform adoption rates among business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) marketers vary according to each subsegment's focus. While B2C professionals prioritize Facebook and Instagram, both run by Meta, Inc., due to their popularity among online audiences, B2B marketers concentrate their endeavors on Microsoft-owned LinkedIn due to its goal to connect people and companies in a corporate context.

In recent years, social media has taken on a growing significance as a search channel for products and brands, particularly among younger consumers, surpassing search engines. According to a survey conducted in 2022, ** percent of Gen Z consumers stated that they used social media to gather additional information before making a purchase, whereas ** percent of respondents relied on search engines for the same purpose.

In the United States, Gen Z are the most likely to search for product information through social media platforms. According to a survey conducted in 2023, over ******************** of U.S. shoppers between 18 and 26 years old start the purchasing process through this shopping channel.

As of February 2025, the average daily social media usage of internet users worldwide amounted to 141 minutes per day, down from 143 minutes in the previous year. Currently, the country with the most time spent on social media per day is Brazil, with online users spending an average of 3 hours and 49 minutes on social media each day. In comparison, the daily time spent with social media in the U.S. was just 2 hours and 16 minutes. Global social media usage Currently, the global social network penetration rate is 62.3 percent. Northern Europe had an 81.7 percent social media penetration rate, topping the ranking of global social media usage by region. Eastern and Middle Africa closed the ranking with 10.1 and 9.6 percent usage reach, respectively. People access social media for a variety of reasons. Users like to find funny or entertaining content and enjoy sharing photos and videos with friends, but mainly use social media to stay in touch with current events and friends. Global impact of social media Social media has a wide-reaching and significant impact on not only online activities but also offline behavior and life in general. During a global online user survey in February 2019, a significant share of respondents stated that social media had increased their access to information, ease of communication, and freedom of expression. On the flip side, respondents also felt that social media had worsened their personal privacy, increased polarization in politics, and heightened everyday distractions.

A 2019 survey of online consumers in the United States revealed that 46 percent of respondents used Facebook as their primary social channel to find out about new products. Instagram was the second most-used social channel for finding new products, with 37 percent of U.S. online consumers browsing the image-sharing platform for shopping purposes. In contrast, only 11 percent of U.S. online consumers browsed Twitter to find out about new products.

A survey conducted in 2024 found that 64 percent of Gen Z respondents in the United States had used TikTok as an online search engine. This is the highest rate across all generations, with the use of the video-based platform decreasing in accordance with the older cohorts. The practice of social search is most popular among younger generations, with the majority of Gen Z respondents opting for social platforms over traditional search engines for performing online searches.

When asked if they thought social platforms were a better place to find out about new products than online searches, some ** percent of Gen Z shoppers gave an affirmative answer, as compared to ** percent of Millennials. The survey, which was conducted in the United States in May 2021, included more than ***** consumers from across the country.

People use different social networks for a wide range of purposes. In a February 2019 survey, Instagram ranked first among social media survey for viewing photos but ranked head-to-head with Snapchat in terms of being the preferred social network for video consumption. Also, 47 percent of respondents stated that they used Pinterest to find or shop for products, a rate that no other social platform was able to match in that regard.

According to a May 2025 survey in the United States, around 54 percent of respondents mentioned ChatGPT's capacity to summarize complex topics as the main reason to use the chatbot as a search engine. The tool feeling cluttered and requiring fewer clicks than traditional search were mentioned by approximately 29 percent and 33 percent of respondents, respectively.

The number of Twitter users in the United States was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2028 by in total 4.3 million users (+5.32 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the Twitter user base is estimated to reach 85.08 million users and therefore a new peak in 2028. Notably, the number of Twitter users of was continuously increasing over the past years.User figures, shown here regarding the platform twitter, 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.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).Find more key insights for the number of Twitter users in countries like Canada and Mexico.

In the initial quarter of 2023, over ************** of global internet users turned to social media as their primary avenue for accessing brand-related information. Nearly half of the surveyed individuals cited social networks as one of their main sources for brand information, with video platforms and question-and-answer sites trailing closely behind.

The number of Reddit users in the United States was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2028 by in total 10.3 million users (+5.21 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the Reddit user base is estimated to reach 208.12 million users and therefore a new peak in 2028. Notably, the number of Reddit users of was continuously increasing over the past years.User figures, shown here with regards to the platform reddit, 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. Reddit users encompass both users that are logged in and those that are not.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).Find more key insights for the number of Reddit users in countries like Mexico and Canada.

According to an April 2024 survey, 34 percent of adults in the United States preferred to use traditional search engines for online search. However, the use of social media usage for finding information online is growing as a trend, especially among younger generations. Approximately 18 percent of respondents used both methods for online searches depending on specific needs, while 48 percent of interviewees primarily used either social media or search engines for this task.

This statistic presents the share of social media users in the United States who have altered their social media accounts due to applying for a job, sorted by age group. According to the September 2018 findings, 29 percent of respondents aged 18 to 29 years stated to have altered their social media account when applying for a job. In total, 18 percent of social media users had changed their social media accounts when job hunting.