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.

Despite a tumultuous 2018, Facebook is still the top social network in the United States, with 169.76 million mobile users accessing the Facebook app in September 2019. The company’s other properties Instagram and Facebook Messenger ranked second and third with 121 and 106 million users respectively. Cambridge Analytica scandal 2018 The biggest social media company in the world had a difficult 2018. The platform has long been accused of enabling the spread of fake news during the 2016 election and beyond. One of the first and biggest negative Facebook stories of 2018 was the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which unfolded from March 2018. The Guardian, The Observer, and The New York Times simultaneously reported on political data firm Cambridge Analytica harvesting data of millions of Facebook users worldwide without their knowledge before the 2016 election, which led to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg having to testify before Congress in April 2018. Facebook usage behavior changes Due to the revelations about Facebook and the company’s treatment of private user data, many U.S. users are planning to use the social network much less and to be much more careful about what they post . During an April 2018 survey, only 20 percent of respondents stated that their Facebook usage has not changed, and they were planning on continuing to use the social platform as much as they always had in the past.

This statistic presents the social network membership reach among the online population in the United States. During the February 2017 survey, 27 percent of U.S. internet users accessed the social image sharing platform Pinterest. Facebook was ranked first with a 78 percent usage rate.

In August 2025, X, formerly known as Twitter, held a market share of around 34.83 percent in Hong Kong's social media scene in terms of pageviews across all devices, followed by Facebook and YouTube. The American social news and discussion website Reddit has gained traction since the anti-government protests in the city in 2020. Facebook is losing ground A few years before 2017, Facebook controlled over 80 percent of the social media arena in Hong Kong. The drastic change started in 2018, when the networking site lost nearly 11 percentage points and another 19 percentage points in the following year. For many Gen Z and Millennials in the financial hub, Instagram became the favorite social media platform and YouTube was used more often than Facebook. Facebook was still the second place to go after Instagram for product research, it has been losing its appeal among young users and advertisers. Platforms claiming the new spots When it came to advertising audience size, X took the lead. YouTube came in second, however, its ad reach in Hong Kong was among the lowest in the Asia-Pacific region. In comparison, the fourth placeholder Instagram has been picking up steam, reaching 4.14 percent of internet users in Hong Kong. However, the biggest industry threat was TikTok, the most downloaded social media app in Hong Kong as of the time of writing. TikTok’s rising popularity among teenage users may probably change the game of video consumption.

This statistic shows the share of respondents using social media in the Netherlands from 2016 to 2018, by social media platform. During the survey, respondents were asked which social media platform they used. As of 2016, roughly 20 percent of Dutch respondents used Snapchat. Snapchat, however, was not included in the 2017-survey. Among the most popular social media platforms in both years are WhatsApp and Facebook, with YouTube being the third most used social platform in the Netherlands. Tumblr was the least used social media platform in 2016, with less than five percent of respondents indicating they use Tumblr. The same amount of respondents said they do not use social media whereas three percent said they use a different social media platform. In general, the popularity of social media in the Netherlands has not yet ceased to grow as the increasing number of daily active users of the leading social media platforms in the Netherlands from 2016 to 2017 show.

This statistic shows the results of a 2017 survey in which consumers in the United States were asked which social media sites they use for researching new food products, recipes, and nutritional information. According to the report, ** percent of respondents indicated that they use Facebook for researching food.

According to a survey conducted among *** teenagers in Australia, YouTube remained the leading social media platform. Although its user penetration has decreased from ** percent in 2017 to ** percent in 2020. Other popular social media platforms among teenagers include Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat.

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.

According to a May 2024 survey, WhatsApp was the most popular social media platform in Mexico. At that time, ** percent of those interviewed said they had an active account on the messaging app. Also owned by Meta Platforms Inc., Facebook and Instagram ranked second and third, being used by ** and ** percent of respondents, respectively.

Social media penetration and demographics Close to ** percent of the Mexican population was expected to be on Facebook by the end of 2023 (slightly below the estimated ***** percent for the United States during the same period). Its popularity in the North American country relies heavily on young internet users: when it comes to the distribution of Mexican Facebook users by age group, more than ** percent were between 18 and 34 years old. All news just a click away According to a February 2022 survey, half of internet users in Mexico used Facebook for news consumption, while YouTube is used by ** percent of the country's online audiences for the same function. This preference was also observed across all age groups: more than a third of the country's news consumers across all demographics turned to the Meta-owned social network to find, read, watch, share, or comment on the news.

In June 2024, Telegram was the most-downloaded social networking and communication app for iPhone in the Apple App Store worldwide, with the chat and social messaging app reporting over 5.7 million downloads from iPhone users worldwide. Facebook was the second most downloaded iPhone app, with the social app generating approximately five million downloads from iPhone users. Chinese social media giant WeChat was the third most popular app for iOS users, with roughly three million downloads in the examined month.

As of November 27, 2025, OpenAI's ChatGPT has overtaken TikTok as the most downloaded free app on both iOS and Android. The AI app has roughly *** million downloads as of this period. Google Gemini also made it to the list, taking the number seven spot. Rise of AI-powered applications With ChatGPT securing the top spot among mobile app downloads worldwide, the popularity of generative AI continues to transform mobile app usage. The sophisticated AI assistant also outranked Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and DeepSeek according to downloads in the first 10 days of release. The continued dominance of TikTok Despite the fast-growing popularity of genAI apps, TikTok remains a crucial social platform globally. Launched in 2017, the short-video sharing app has over *** million users in Indonesia, making it its largest market, followed by the United States. The app has also introduced a shopping feature, allowing easier interaction between shoppers and brands.

The share of social media users in German was ******* among the 14-39 years age groups, though 40-49-year-olds were not far behind. While user rates are traditionally expected to be high among younger demographics, especially those born after social media emerged on the world stage, older age groups are also becoming increasingly familiar with it. Socially acceptable The leading social media platforms in Germany, including those primarily known for being a messaging service, are YouTube, WhatsApp and Facebook. Among social media apps downloaded in the Google Play Store, to name one example, the most popular one was Instagram, owned by Facebook. In fact, Facebook usage numbers were generally high in Europe, though this was not the case for Instagram, when comparing to other countries in the world. Rising user numbers Social network user numbers in Germany are predicted to continue rising in the 2020s, moving towards ** million users. The same can be said for the user penetration rate regarding social media.

This survey shows the top social media sites in the Nordic countries in 2016, by share of users. Facebook was the most popular social media platform with ** percent of individuals using it. The majority of Nordic Facebook users have used the platform on a daily basis. In Sweden, for example, 74 percent of Facebook users visited the platform every day in the beginning of 2017. Youtube* ranked second with ** percent of users. Instagram which is constantly gaining more users in the Nordic countries was third with ** percent of people using it. When looking into gender distribution among Instagram users, women prove to use Instagram more than men. In 2016, 47 percent of females used Instagram in the Nordic countries compared to ** percent of men. LinkedIn and Whatsapp had a similar share of users - ** percent - and were the fourth most popular social media used in the Nordics.

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.

This statistic represents the results of a survey regarding the leading three mobile wallet platforms used by merchants on social media in Indonesia in 2017. During the survey period, about ** percent of the respondents stated that PayPal is their most preferred mode of payment.

As of February 2025, nearly ** percent of the internet users in Morocco used WhatsApp each month. Facebook and Facebook Messenger ranked as the second and third most popular social media platforms in the country, with a share of **** percent and **** percent, respectively. Social media users keep increasing With the rising internet penetration rate and mobile internet adoption, the use of social media has increased in Morocco in recent years. In 2025, social media users in the country amounted to around **** million. This marked a steady growth over the previous years, rising from around ** million in 2017 to ** million in 2022, before experiencing a decline. As the most popular social media platform, Facebook accounted for about 25.89 million users in 2025, with the number being forecast to increase to more than ** million by 2028. In comparison, approximately *** million people actively used Instagram in 2025, and it is projected to reach **** million in 2026. Sending messages is the primary online activity Among the different types of social media, Moroccans regularly used instant messenger platforms, such as WhatsApp, and social networks like Facebook as of 2023. In contrast, consumer review networks and discussion forums were the least used platforms. In the same year, the most popular activities among Moroccan social media users were sending private messages, commenting on posts, liking other users’ posts, and following people. As of 2023, users in Morocco spent an average of * hours and * hours and ** minutes per day on social media. The average time was lower than in other African countries such as Nigeria (* hours and ** minutes) and South Africa (* hours and ** minutes).

In the third quarter of 2024, WhatsApp was the most popular social media platform in Nigeria. It was mentioned by over 95 percent of internet users in the country 16 years and older. In absolute terms, the number of people using WhatsApp was projected at nearly 15 million in 2026. Social media platforms with most users The count of Facebook users in Nigeria significantly exceeded that of WhatsApp in 2022. In that year, Facebook users were expected to add up to slightly over 36 million, representing a user penetration rate of around 16.7 percent. Moreover, considering the count of users, around 26 million people were potentially reachable by online advertisers on Facebook. YouTube was another popular social network used by residents in Nigeria. Individuals who used the platform were forecast at nearly 6.7 million in 2022. Increasing overall social media usage In recent years, the number of social media users in Nigeria has been on the rise. As of 2022, social media users in the country reached roughly 34 million in total, expanding from the 18 million individuals registered in 2017. On the basis that this increasing trend keeps stable, it is expected that, by 2025, over 90 million people will use at least one social media platform in Nigeria. Overall, the most followed network accounts are those of friends, family, and people known by the social media user

In a fall 2023 survey, it was found that TikTok was the most important social network for 38 percent of U.S. teens. Snapchat ranked second, with 28 percent of teenagers in the United States stating it to be their favorite, ahead of Instagram. Teens and the internet in the United States It is no secret that the young really know what’s what when it comes to new technologies these days. Especially those born in the internet era and who only know of analog telephones and cameras from stories of their elders seem to be constantly online and always following the latest tech trends. In fact, a recent survey shows that some 92 percent of American teens accessed the internet on a daily basis, where 56 claim to connect several times a day, and 24 percent are connected almost constantly to the internet. Furthermore, the move from desktop computers to mobile devices insured that teenagers would be some of the most fervent users of mobile internet, anytime, anywhere.

The number of social network users in Thailand was around 52.63 million in 2020. This figure is forecast to reach almost 60 million users by 2026. The figures indicated that the number of social network users has been gradually increasing over the years and would continue to rise in the following years. Social media in Thailand As of January 2021, China had the highest number of monthly active social media users worldwide, followed by India and Indonesia, with Thailand ranking seventh at 55 million users. By 2023, the penetration rate of social network users in Thailand is forecast to reach approximately 53 percent, making it the majority of the Thai population. Social media user profile in Thailand For social media, Facebook and Youtube were the leading platforms in Thailand in the third quarter of 2020, with around 94 percent as a share of users for both platforms among others such as Line, Instagram, and Twitter. In that same time period, internet users in Thailand spent around 8.44 hours per day on average using the internet, and two and a half hours to use their social media.

This statistic gives information on the most popular social media sites used by teenage and young adult internet users in the United States as of the third quarter of 2020. During the survey period, it was found that ** percent of responding internet users aged 15 to 25 years used social photo sharing app Instagram.

Despite Snapchat's dominance, Facebook continues to be the more widely used social networking site used by teenagers and young adults7. A total of ** percent of respondents currently use Facebook, compared to ** percent of respondents who stated that they used Snapchat. Yet when teens, whose average age was **, rated their most important social network, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter where given more important ratings than Facebook. These social networks are being increasingly visited via mobile devices.