In 2021, TikTok increased its U.S. user base by over 29 percent compared to the previous year. Audience growth of the social video platform is projected to remain in double digits until 2021, before slowing down to a 8.1 percent annual user growth rate in 2022. In 2021, TikTok had 86.9 million users in the United States.

Launched in 2016, TikTok rose to be one of the most popular social app and video platform for global users. In 2021, TikTok had approximately 656 million global users. This figure was projected to increase by around 15 percent year-over-year, reaching 755 million users in 2022. TikTok global installs peaked at the end of 2019, with the app amassing over 318 million downloads. During 2020 and 2021, TikTok download trends experienced a slower growth, amassing 173 million downloads from users worldwide during the last quarter of 2021.

In 2023, social video app TikTok had approximately 102 million users in the United States. This figure is projected to increase by over five percent year-over-year, reaching 107.8 million users in 2024. TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social media apps in the United States and especially popular with younger digital audiences.

TikTok has 102.3 million monthly active users in the US alone. This is forecasted to reach 121.1 million by 2027.

As of February 2025, the United States was the region with the largest TikTok audience by far, with almost 135.79 million users engaging with the popular social video platform. Indonesia followed, with around 107.7 million TikTok users. Brazil came in third, with almost 91.75 million users on TikTok watching short-videos. From Reels to Shorts: social short video takes the internet Between 2021 and 2022 some of the most popular social media platforms have been adding short-video features on the heels of TikTok’s popularity. YouTube Shorts, which rolled out to the global market in June 2021, reached two billion monthly active logged-in users in 2023. In comparison, Instagram’s short-video format Reels, which launched in August 2020, presented a higher view rate than regular videos on the platform between June 2021 and June 2022, as well as a higher likes rate than other content types on Instagram. TikTok business model TikTok is owned by the Beijing-based ByteDance, along with the short-video app Douyin (TikTok’s version for the Chinese market), video platform Xigua, and popular news app Toutiao. While the products intended for domestic market consumption operate in the Chinese digital ecosystem and have a plurality of established monetization methods such as a live-shopping events hosted by famous influencers, TikTok’s main revenue stream comes from online advertising. In 2022, TikTok was estimated to have generated around four billion U.S. dollars worldwide via online advertising.

Instagram's impressive 25.3 percent year-over-year audience growth in 2024 highlights the platform's continued dominance in the social media landscape. This surge outpaces other major platforms, with Pinterest following at 23.2 percent and LinkedIn at 13.9 percent. The growth rates underscore the evolving preferences of social media users and the competitive nature of the industry. Shifting dynamics in social media usage While Instagram leads in growth, it's important to note that Facebook remains the largest social network globally with over three billion monthly active users. However, newer platforms like TikTok are rapidly gaining ground, especially among younger demographics. TikTok's popularity is evident in its 42 percent usage reach in the United States, showcasing its significant impact on user engagement and information discovery patterns. Brand value and customer satisfaction in tech The success of social media platforms is closely tied to their brand value and customer satisfaction. In 2024, technology companies dominated the list of most valuable brands, with Apple leading at 516.6 billion U.S. dollars. Interestingly, TikTok scored highest in customer satisfaction among online networks, achieving 77 out of 100 points. Instagram's growth is further validated by its improved customer satisfaction rating, increasing from 73 to 76 points year-over-year. This demonstrates the platform's ability to meet user expectations while expanding its audience.

Who is the most followed British TikToker? The most successful UK-based TikTok personality in terms of follower count was Gordon Ramsey in 2021. The popular British chef and TV personality reached 30.2 million TikTok followers during the last measured year. MKS.vision ranked second with 18.3 million followers, while Jeremy Lynch ranked third with 16.2 million followers. In terms of engagement rate, samseat dominated the chart of growing influencers on TikTok in the UK, with an engagement rate of approximately 16 percent.

Social media in the UK

Meta products continue to dominate within the UK in terms of social media reach, with approximately 73.5 percent of the country's online audience reported to engage with Facebook and around 56 percent with Instagram as of the third quarter of 2021. Users aged between 25 to 34 years represent the largest social media audience in the United Kingdom.

TikTok and the youth

Engaging with young users is where social video platform TikTok shines. Young adults aged 18 to 24 make up the largest share of the social app’s audience in the UK. In 2021, TikTok was also popular among children aged between 8 and 17 years, with 50 percent of respondents reporting to engage with the popular video platform.

Market leader Facebook was the first social network to surpass one billion registered accounts and currently sits at more than three billion monthly active users. Meta Platforms owns four of the biggest social media platforms, all with more than one billion monthly active users each: Facebook (core platform), WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram. In the third quarter of 2023, Facebook reported around four billion monthly core Family product users. The United States and China account for the most high-profile social platforms Most top ranked social networks with more than 100 million users originated in the United States, but services like Chinese social networks WeChat, QQ or video sharing app Douyin have also garnered mainstream appeal in their respective regions due to local context and content. Douyin’s popularity has led to the platform releasing an international version of its network: a little app called TikTok. How many people use social media? The leading social networks are usually available in multiple languages and enable users to connect with friends or people across geographical, political, or economic borders. In 2022, Social networking sites are estimated to reach 3.96 billion users and these figures are still expected to grow as mobile device usage and mobile social networks increasingly gain traction in previously underserved markets.

With roughly three billion monthly active users as of the second quarter of 2023, Facebook is the most used online social network worldwide. The platform surpassed two billion active users in the second quarter of 2017, taking just over 13 years to reach this milestone. In comparison, Meta-owned Instagram took 11.2 years, and Google’s YouTube took just over 14 years to achieve this landmark. As of January 2022, Facebook’s leading audience base was in India, with almost 330 million users whilst the United States ranked second with an approximate total of 179 million users. The platform also finds remarkable popularity in Indonesia and Brazil. Social Media usage in the United States In January 2021, Facebook was the platform on which users in the United States spent the most time per day. The average time spent on Facebook was 33 minutes, followed by TikTok with 32 minutes and Twitter with 31 daily minutes. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, all major social media platforms saw an increase in daily usage, which then either plateaued or decreased in 2021. At the end of 2021, over a quarter of all Facebook users in the United States belonged to the 25 to 34 year age group and 18.2 percent of users were in the 35 to 44 year age group. In general, Facebook users were more likely to be female. Meta Platforms Meta is Facebook’s recently renamed parent company and had a grand total of 3.59 billion core product users by the final quarter of 2021. Other Meta products include Instagram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Oculus – Meta’s virtual reality subsidiary which produces VR headsets. In 2021, Meta's revenue amounted to 117 billion US dollars, up from around 86 billion U.S. dollars in the previous financial year.

In 2021, there were 1.21 billion monthly active users of Meta's Instagram, making up over 28 percent of the world's internet users. By 2025, it has been forecast that there will be 1.44 billion monthly active users of the social media platform, which would account for 31.2 percent of global internet users.

How popular is Instagram?

Instagram, as of January 2022, was the fourth most popular social media platform in the world in terms of user numbers. YouTube and WhatsApp ranked in second and third place, respectively, whilst Facebook remained the most popular, with almost three billion monthly active users worldwide.

India had the largest number of Instagram users as of January 2022, with a total of over 230 million users in the country. The second-largest Instagram audience could be found in the United States, with almost 160 million people subscribing to the photo and video sharing app.

Gen Z and Instagram

As of September 2021, Gen Z users in the United States spent an average of five hours per week on Instagram. Although Instagram ranked third in terms of hours per week spent on the platform, Gen Z users spent considerably more time on TikTok, amounting to a weekly average of over 10 hours being spent on the mobile-first video app.

Most followed accounts on Instagram

As of May 2022, Instagram’s own account had 504.37 million followers. In terms of celebrities, Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo (@chistiano) had over 440.41 million followers on the social network. Moreover, the average media value of an Instagram post by Ronaldo was over 985,000 U.S. dollars.

The most liked post on Instagram as of May 2022 was Photo of an Egg, which was posted in 2019 by the account @world_record_egg. Photo of an Egg has not only exceeded 55 million likes on the platform, but it also has nearly 3.5 million comments, and the account itself has over 4.5 million Instagram followers. After mysterious posts published by the account, World Record Egg revealed itself as part of a mental health campaign aimed at the difficulties and demands of using social media.

As of 2024, approximately 97.1 percent of the United States' population accessed the internet, up from approximately 71 percent in 2013. The United States is one of the biggest online markets worldwide. In 2024, over 331 million individuals in the country went online. Furthermore, social media apps were among the most popular category of mobile apps used in the market. Social media usage in the U.S. Social media usage in the United States has seen significant growth in recent years, amassing 300 million as of 2024. By the third quarter of 2023, internet users in the U.S. were spending around two hours on social media out of seven hours of internet usage. The most common activities among U.S. users include sending private messages and liking posts or following people, which highlights widespread engagement with social media platforms among internet users in the United States. TikTok surge in the U.S. TikTok continues to be one of the most popular social media platforms in the United States. As of July 2024, 120 million individuals or 45 percent of internet users in the country used the social network. This surge in popularity is the result of user’s high engagement with short-form videos and quick entertainment in which TikTok managed to capture users’ attention. Users in the United States spent an average of 45 hours and 37 minutes monthly in 2023.

During the fourth quarter of 2023, the number of daily active users on Facebook reached 2.1 billion, a minor increase on the previous quarter. When compared with the number of daily active users in the final quarter of 2022, the platform has gained around 100 million users. Facebook’s penetration rate for the United States in 2023 was 72.13 percent, up from 71.43 percent in 2022. The social network’s audience reach is projected to stand at 75.79 percent by 2027.

Most popular social media websites

As of May 2021, Facebook was the most used social media site in the United States, accounting for 71.8 percent of all social media visits. Ranking in second place was Pinterest with 12.4 percent, followed by Twitter and Instagram, with 9.15 percent and 3.82 percent, respectively. Although other sites remain popular, Facebook’s number of visits made it undoubtably the leading social media platform in terms of social media site visits.

For Generation Z and Millennials in the United States, Facebook was one of the least popular platforms used to connect with others. Gen Z and Millennials preferred video sharing platforms, specifically Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube.

Meta’s revenue

Facebook Inc was renamed as Meta in 2021, in a strategic step toward the metaverse. Meta Platforms is now the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp amongst others, together being known as Meta’s Family of Apps.

Meta’s annual revenue for 2021 was 117.92 billion U.S. dollars, up from 85.97 billion in 2020. Within a decade, the company has increased its annual revenue by approximately 114 billion U.S. dollars. In the most recent fiscal year, Meta’s Family of Apps were responsible for over 115 billion U.S. dollars’ worth of Meta’s revenue.