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 2025, social networking sites are estimated to reach 5.42 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.

In 2022, Instagram was the world's leading social media app, with *** million downloads WhatsApp ranked second with *** million downloads, while Telegram surpassed the remaining mobile versions of Meta-owned social media platforms Facebook and Messenger. Newcomer BeReal, a photo-sharing social media app launched in 2020, entered the ranking in tenth position with over ** million global downloads during the examined year.

As of February 2021, YouTube had a global penetration rate of 62 percent, followed closely by Meta's Facebook, with 61 percent. Overall, instant messaging service WhatsApp had a global penetration rate of 52 percent. Additionally, 12 percent of people used TikTok, and one in ten people around the world use messaging service Telegram.

In 2021, Instagram was the social media app that generated the most downloads in the United States. The photo and video-sharing app had 72 million downloads in the country. WhatsApp was the second most downloaded app, with 63 million downloads. Facebook Messenger ranked third, generating approximately 46 million downloads from users in the country during the examined period.

In terms of carbon dioxide emissions from social media apps in 2021, ******* (**** grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per minute) was first in the ranking, closely followed by Facebook (**** gEqCO2) and LinkedIn (**** gEqCO2), all apps with low carbon emissions. The social network with the most impactful news feed in terms of carbon dioxide emissions was TikTok. This is because this social network is based exclusively on watching videos and preloads videos from the newsfeed.

Social media users were the highest across India as of February 2021 for messaging app Whatsapp, at *** million. YouTube followed during the same time, with Facebook ranking third. The government in the country introduced new rules under its IT-law earlier that year with the aim of social media platforms self-regulating by focusing on stronger guidelines.

More than three-quarters of the Russian online population aged 16 years and older used the Telegram messenger, thus making it the most-used social media platform among those listed in the ranking. WhatsApp ranked second, with a penetration rate of nearly 74 percent, followed by VK and TikTok. Social media usage in Russia In 2024, the daily time spent on social media in Russia was recorded at roughly two hours and 20 minutes per user on average. After Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) were blocked in Russia at the end of February and the beginning of March 2022, a significant increase in activity was recorded on VK and Telegram. For example, the daily audience on VK increased by almost nine percent, while the number of friends requests and feed views grew by 250 percent and 25 percent, respectively. YouTube From the global perspective, YouTube ranked second after Facebook, which remained the leading social media platform with about three billion active users. The U.S.-based channel MrBeast had the highest number of subscribers on YouTube with around 343 million as of January 2025. India-based T-Series followed with 284 million subscribers as of that month.

In September 2022, BeReal was the leading mobile social media apps in the Google Play Store in the Netherlands, with over *** thousand downloads. TikTok ranked second with roughly *** thousand downloads, while Instagram followed with ** thousand downloads.

TikTok is quickly gaining popularity in the Netherlands Over *** year, the number of users reporting using TikTok doubled from 2020 to 2021. The user age group that grew the most during this time were 15 to 19 years olds. Overall, the number of TikTok users in the Netherlands is still project to grow, albeit at a more consistent pace then the initial explosion in popularity. According to industry data, TikTok will have around ***** million users in the Netherlands in 2025.

Mobile usage influences mobile social media access TikTok’s high user figures are largely thanks to the significant use of mobile internet in the Netherlands. In 2021, mobile social networking rate among the Dutch population amounted to ** percent, reaching almost all of the population. Overall, social networks were the second most popular type of mobile apps in the Netherlands, ranking only behind chats and messaging applications.

WhatsApp was the leading actively used messenger service in Germany in 2021. Almost 84 percent of users confirmed this. While WhatsApp is foremost a messaging service, certain features indicate similarities with social media networks, as sharing and posting between users still occurs, just not necessarily on a publicly accessible website. Delivering the message For most of the population, modern life is unimaginable without messenger apps. Texting has become much more varied as a form of communication thanks to extended file and content sharing options within messages. There is no doubt that WhatsApp is a popular messaging app in Germany. In 2023, almost 85 percent of people were messaging on WhatsApp every day. By 2025, it is estimated that over 53 million people will be using WhatsApp in Germany, suggesting it's popularity as a messaging app will not diminish with time. Personal data While Facebook is extremely popular in many different countries, long-term questions and concerns from users continue to arise, with personal data security being one of the leading topics of discussion. In general, the there have been many breaches of personal data online. At the same time, social media continues to enjoy rising popularity and use among the German population, both in a private and professional context.

As of the third quarter of 2024, WhatsApp was the most active social network among internet users in the United Kingdom (UK), with 79.9 percent of internet users reporting use of the service. Facebook was very close behind, with a rate of 72.3 percent, followed by Facebook Messenger with 56.6 percent. YouTube’s broad audience in the United Kingdom YouTube reaches a broad audience in the UK, making it an attractive partner for advertisers of almost any product. More than 75 percent of individuals of every income bracket watch YouTube, with the likelihood of watching increasing with the pay-grade. Whether advertising basic items or luxury products, marketers should be able to connect with UK audiences through YouTube. There are almost no people in the UK to not use YouTube at least monthly. According to a survey conducted in the third quarter of 2020, 46 percent of respondents went on YouTube on a daily basis. Facebook in the United Kingdom  Facebook enjoys a healthy market position in the UK, holding an estimated  55 percent share of the market. The service attracted  50.6 million UK users during May 2021, and Facebook UK Limited  generated 1.1 billion British pounds in revenue  during 2019. The UK division of the company  posted an operating profit of 121.9 million British pounds that year. 

Facebook led in the ranking of leading social media and messaging platforms for news in Norway in 2021, with ** percent of the respondents using it as a news source that year. ** percent of the respondents used YouTube and Facebook Messenger, and least popular with seven percent usage each were Twitter and Instagram.

In 2023, seven out of ten surveyed participants used Facebook in Romania, while Facebook Messenger ranked 4th, being accessed by 44 percent of respondents. The social media platform least used from the listed platforms in Romania in 2021 was Instagram.

Facebook had the largest market share among social media platforms across India, at roughly ** percent as of October 2024. The Meta-owned social network site has consistently led the country's social media market since 2019. Instagram was the second leading social media platform during that period with a market share of over ** percent, reflecting a fluctuating trend that emerged in the previous year. Commercial social media usage in India Apart from creating user-generated content, Indians have leveraged social media to grow their businesses. As consumption via online channels increased, social media began playing an important role in stimulating the Indian economy. Among the most popularly used social media platforms in India, Facebook was increasingly used for digital marketing. On the other hand, Instagram emerged as the country’s leading platform for influencer collaboration. Meta Platforms Since its launch in 2004, Facebook has quickly gone on to become the social media giant it is today. Having acquired leading social media platforms Instagram and WhatsApp, the company rebranded itself as Meta Platforms Inc. in 2021. The following year, Meta generated a revenue of nearly *** billion U.S. dollars. The company has further set its sights on bringing the metaverse to life to enhance the online experience of over ***** billion Facebook users across the world.

In September 2022, mobile-first video platform TikTok was the most popular social media app on the Google Play Store among Android users in Great Britain, racking up roughly *** thousand downloads. Instagram ranked second, with almost *** thousand downloads, while photo app BeReal ranked third with almost *** thousand downloads from the Google Play Store in the examined period.

Doing it for the gram: the reach of influencers on Instagram Enlisting influencers – personalities with significant followings on Instagram – has become an integral part of modern marketing campaigns. Influencers have dedicated followers that have actively chosen to follow a given account, providing a cost-efficient way to reach a targeted audience. Among UK influencers, none have a following greater than David Beckham (@itsmarziapie). In 2020, the professional footballer and celebrity enjoyed a following of **** million people. By comparison, British social media personality Holly H. ranked first among TikTok influencers in the UK, with **** million followers on the short-video platform.

TikTok in the United Kingdom In the last years, TikTok seems to have taken the global social media scene by storm, and the United Kingdom makes no exception. In January 2022, the popular social video app counted almost **** million active users (MAU) in the UK, up by ** percent compared to the corresponding month in 2020. In 2021, the most popular TikTok video in the United Kingdom, titled "proving that cats rule," was posted by the user @mmeowmmia and generated nearly *** million views.

In 2021, global social media advertising spending stood at around *** billion U.S. dollars. The source projected that this figure would more than double and exceed an all-time high of *** billion by 2028. Where to advertise in a sea of social media platforms? While there are many regional differences when it comes to social media usage and accessibility, some platforms reign supreme among users and advertisers alike. As of 2022, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram were the most popular social networks worldwide. Thanks to their massive audiences, these Meta-owned properties also ranked among the leading social media platforms for marketers. What makes advertising via these channels so appealing is not only the prospect of boosting brand awareness and generating leads but also the possibility to strengthen brands’ relationships with consumers via direct communication. Spotlight on influencer marketing In addition to posting photos and videos on their social media accounts and interacting with followers, companies can also enlist the help of content creators to drive visibility and potentially unlock new audiences. Over the past few years, the global influencer marketing market value has expanded rapidly and is now sized at an estimated **** billion U.S. dollars. Instagram remains the primary playground for this creator-driven form of online marketing, though apps like TikTok are also becoming more appealing to brands from around the world.

Facebook was the leading social media service in Poland in December 2021 - it had over ** million users. Two Polish social networking sites were among the leading ten - wykop.pl and siepomaga.pl.

In March 2025 in Norway, Facebook was the most visited social media platform, accounting for ***** percent of the market share. Pinterest ranked second, making up more than ***** percent of social network visits. Meta's Instagram followed, with *** percent of social media visits in Norway.  Social media users over the years  Overall, the share of individuals who participated in social networks increased significantly over the years. Starting at under ** percent of individuals in 2011, the share of social media users peaked in 2023, when ***** percent of the interviewed Norwegians reported to be using social networks. In 2022, the percentage was ***** percent.  Compared to the other Nordic countries, Norway ranked third by number of social media users in 2024, with **** million users that year. Sweden was the Nordic country with most social media users – **** million. Denmark was second and Finland was fourth in the ranking.

Market leader ******** accounted for ** percent of all social media site visits in Canada in March 2025. Overall, ********* ranked second with ***** percent of all Canadian social media site visits across desktop and mobile devices. X (formerly Twitter) ranked third, accounting for **** percent.

How many people use Instagram?

Instagram is a social media app which focuses on photo and video sharing. It is owned by Facebook, which recently rebranded as Meta, in a move towards the metaverse. As of December 2021, Instagram reached a new milestone of 2 billion active users worldwide. The platform previously reached 1 billion users in June 2018.

Users aged 25 to 34 years made up the biggest Instagram user group by age worldwide, followed by 18 to 24 year olds. Overall, men accounted for 51.6 percent of global Instagram users.

Most popular Instagram accounts and content

Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo was the most followed person on Instagram as of 2021, with approximately 315 million followers. Ranked in second and third position were the Rock and Ariana Grande, both having over 250 million followers each.

It’s not only athletes and actors who drive the views on Instagram though. Instagram has long since become a medium for people and communities to spread their messages, and in the past two years, social activists and educators have used Instagram for their movements. Political and educational accounts generate high engagement rates with their content. Posts from political accounts receive an average engagement rate of 2.74 percent and educational posts receive an average of 2.56 percent.

Social media usage worldwide

There are 3.4 billion social media users worldwide and this is expected to increase to 4.41 billion by 2025. Instagram is most popular in India with a total of 201.1 million users, followed by the U.S. with 157.1 million and Brazil with 114.9 million active users. Instagram is the fourth most popular social media site in the world, after Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp, respectively.

As of October 2021, Brunei was the country with the highest Instagram audience reach with 92 percent of the population using the platform. This was followed by Guam with 79.2 percent and the Cayman Islands with 78.8 percent audience reach.

As of October 2021, Facebook had almost 3 billion users worldwide. The penetration rate for Facebook in the United States in 2021 was 70.59 percent and it is expected to reach 76.87 percent by 2026.

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.