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, Whatsapp was the most popular social media platform in Saudi Arabia, at around 30.67 million users. The total number of social media users in the country for that year was about 29.5 million.

In March 2025, ******** accounted for ** percent of all social media site visits in the United States, confirming its position as the leading social media website by far. Other social media platforms, despite their popularity, had to make do with smaller shares of visits across desktop, mobile, and tablet devices combined. ********* ranked second with ***** percent of all U.S. social media site visits, while X (previously Twitter) accounted for ***** percent of the total visits in the country. Additionally, the U.S. is home to the third largest social media audience worldwide. Facebook: mobile vs desktop usage At the beginning of 2022, around ** percent of Facebook users across the globe were using the platform’s social networking services exclusively via mobile phone, while only *** percent reported using their desktop or laptop devices. In September 2022, three Facebook Inc. products occupied some of the leading positions as most downloaded social networking apps on the Apple App Store in the United States. WhatsApp’s messaging platform ranked second with more than *** million downloads, while Facebook and the instant-messaging service Messenger followed ranking third and fifth with *** million and **** million downloads respectively. Social media evolution Between 2012 and 2024, the daily time spent on social networks worldwide experienced an almost constant increase, with users reaching an average of *** minutes per day in 2023, with a decrease to *** daily minutes of engagement in 2024. However, users’ favorite platforms have changed since 2019, and the power balance appears to be shifting further from Facebook’s market dominance. Not only Facebook’s user growth rate is estimated to slow down in the next years, but users belonging to Generation Z appear to prefer video-first social platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube.

In 2022, Instagram was the most popular social media platform among Asian influencers, with more than ** percent of influencers in the region using the platform. YouTube ranked second, after having been the most popular platform among influencers in Asia in 2020 and 2021.

According to a survey in Singapore as of July 2022, around ** percent of respondents stated that they used Instagram the most among other social media platforms. It was followed by Facebook, TikTok, and Telegram, respectively.

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.

A survey conducted in August 2022 among gamers in the United States found that approximately 56 percent of respondents aged between 16 and 29 years used YouTube to consume content related to gaming or engage in video gaming activities. Discord was the second most popular social media platform among users in this demographic, followed by the social video platform TikTok. In comparison, Facebook was the most popular social media platform in relation to gaming among users aged between 30 and 49 years, with 65 percent of respondents reporting using the platform for gaming-related activities and content consumption.

During a 2022 survey carried out in the United Kingdom, Instagram and Facebook emerged neck-to-neck as the most popular social media platforms that the responding B2C marketers use for marketing with a share of mentions of ***** percent and ***** percent, respectively. At a share of **** percent, YouTube came in third position among the respondents.

In 2024, Facebook held the largest market share among other social media platforms for mobile devices in Indonesia, with a market share of about ** percent. This was followed by YouTube, which accounted for approximately ** percent of the market share in the same period.   Facebook’s dominance in Indonesia  Facebook maintains the largest market share across all social media platforms in Indonesia, except for on desktop devices. The highest market share on desktop devices in Indonesia was held by YouTube, followed by Pinterest. Despite maintaining its position as the market leader among all social media platforms, the number of Facebook users in Indonesia is estimated to decline and reach around 161 million users by 2028. Currently, Facebook is quite popular among those aged between 25 and 34 years. What are the current social media trends in Indonesia? One of the current social media trends in Indonesia is marked by a surge in short-form video content, with TikTok leading the way. The popularity of these videos is driving high engagement, especially among younger demographics, who favor dynamic and visually engaging content. Instagram Reels and YouTube shorts also contribute to this trend, offering a place for creative expression and brand interaction. Brands in Indonesia are also increasingly leveraging short-form videos for marketing, recognizing their impact in reaching a broad audience quickly and effectively. This shift underscores the importance of video content in Indonesia’s digital landscape.

With an **** percent user share in 2022, Whatsapp was the most popular social media platform in Saudi Arabia. For that year, the total number of social media users in the country was approximately **** million.  Social media usage in Saudi Arabia In Saudi Arabia, WhatsApp was the most popular social media platform, followed by Instagram and Twitter. The number of WhatsApp users in Saudi Arabia is expected to grow steadily between 2023 and 2028. After the fifth consecutive year of growth, the WhatsApp user base is expected to reach ***** million users, a new high in 2028. Notably, the number of WhatsApp users has been steadily increasing in recent years. In 2022, the primary reason for using social media in Saudi Arabia was to stay in touch with friends and family, followed by filling spare time.   Social media usage during Ramadan       In 2022, Muslim respondents in Saudi Arabia indicated they used social media to learn about new things they were interested in and to send greetings during Ramadan. During Ramadan, a lower percentage fewer respondents used social media to watch live videos by celebrities and publishers. Furthermore, during the same year, Muslim respondents in Saudi Arabia reported using social media to find shopping deals and promotions during Ramadan. In comparison, a lower proportion of respondents used social media to seek shopping advice from others during Ramadan.

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.

Facebook is the dominant social media platform in Ukraine as of March 2024, capturing **** percent of all social media visits in March 2024. YouTube followed with ***** percent. Changing social media landscape in Ukraine and Russia While YouTube gains prominence in Ukraine, the social media landscape in neighboring Russia has undergone dramatic changes. Telegram has become the most popular platform among Russian internet users, with over ************** of the online population using the messenger app. This shift can be attributed to the banning of Western platforms like Facebook and Instagram in Russia in March 2022, following the country's invasion of Ukraine. Impact on global social media giants The evolving social media preferences in Ukraine and Russia have had notable impacts on global platforms. Facebook, which remains the world's leading social network with about three billion active users, has seen its user base in Russia decline from **** million in January 2022 to below 71 million by January 2025. Similarly, Instagram experienced a drop in Russian users.

In 2022, 95 percent of millennials or Generation Ys in Thailand used Facebook the most compared to other social media platforms. Facebook has been one of the leading platforms for social commerce in Thailand.

As of January 2025, ** percent of social media users in the United States aged 40 to 49 years were users of Facebook, as were ** percent of ** to ** year olds in the country. Overall, ** percent of those aged 18 to 29 years were using Instagram in the U.S. The social media market in the United States The number of social media users in the United States has shown continuous growth in the past years, and it is forecast to continue increasing to reach *** million users in 2029. As of 2023, the social network user penetration in the United States amounted to an impressive ***** percent, meaning that more than nine in ten people in the country engaged with online platforms. Furthermore, Facebook was by far the most popular social media platform in the United States, accounting for ** percent of all social media visits in 2023, followed by Pinterest with **** percent of visits. The global social media landscape As of April 2024, **** billion people were social media users, accounting for **** percent of the world’s population. Northern Europe was the region with the highest social media penetration rate with a reach of **** percent, followed by Western Europe with **** percent and Eastern Asia **** percent. In contrast, less than one in ten people in Middle Africa used social networks. Facebook’s popularity is not limited to the United States: this network leads the market on a global scale, and it accumulated more than three billion monthly active users (MAU) as of 2024, which is far more any other social media platform. YouTube, Instagram, and WhatsApp followed, all with *** billion or more MAU.

In 2022, Facebook was the most used social media platform among Generation Zs in Thailand, used by ** percent of respondents. Other popular social media platforms which were used among this age group were Line and YouTube.

A survey conducted in August 2022 among gamers in the United States found that approximately six in 10 respondents used YouTube in relation to gaming or gaming content. Facebook was the second most popular social media platform to use in regard to gaming content or activities. VoIP and communication channel Discord was reportedly used by around 40 percent of respondents, while Reddit was used by 23 percent of respondents.

According to a survey on influencer marketing conducted in Indonesia, Instagram was the leading social media platform for influencer marketing campaigns with a share of almost ** percent as of October 2022. Meanwhile, Facebook accounted for the least share with around *** percent.

As of October 2022, TikTok was estimated to have *** billion monthly active users (MAU) worldwide. The popular short-video social platform was projected to reach *** billion MAU by the end of 2026. In comparison, social and photo platform Instagram was projected to reach *** billion MAU by the end of 2026.

Social media platforms are integral to people's lives, offering ways to communicate, create and view content and share information. According to Ofcom, approximately 89% of UK internet users in 2023 used social media apps or sites. Teenagers and young adults are the biggest users, although there is rapid uptake among older age groups. Advertising is the primary revenue source for social media platforms, although subscription-based services are gaining momentum as platforms seek to diversify their incomes. TikTok is the success story of the last few years, becoming the most downloaded app between 2020 and 2022, according to Apptopia. The short-form video platform reported that it averaged revenue growth of over 450% between 2019 and 2022. After Musk's takeover, X, formerly known as Twitter, adjusted its content moderation and allowed previously banned accounts to return. As a result, over 600 advertisers have pulled their ads from the site because of fears their brand may be associated with malcontent. In response to falling ad revenue, X has introduced a subscription-based service which enables users to verify themselves and boosts the number of people who view their tweets. Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram have responded by introducing a similar service. Revenue is expected to grow by 14.3% in 2024-25, constrained by a slowdown in user growth for most major social media platforms. Over the five years through 2024-25, revenue is forecast to expand at a compound annual rate of 32.8% to reach £9.8 billion. Looking forward, regulations relating to how data is collected, stored, and shared will force advertisers and platforms to rethink how they can target their desired demographics. The rising prominence of AI will require the introduction of adequate regulations. The Online Safety Bill sets out new guidelines for social media platforms to abide by, with hefty fines in store for those who do not. Operating costs will swell as platforms look to meet consumers’ expectations, weighing on profit. Over the five years through 2029-30, social media platforms' revenue is projected to climb at an estimated 9.4% to reach £15.4 billion.

As of September 2023, YouTube as the most popular social media platform for global users, with 97 percent of respondents reporting to use the popular video platform. YouTube was also the most popular social media among Gen Z users, with 96 percent of respondents in this age group reporting to have used the video platform as of the examined period. Facebook's usage kept steady among among the general digital population, with around eight in 10 reporting to have used the platform. In comparison, the social media's popularity was in free fall among gen Z users with only four in 10 among those surveyed reporting to engage with the Meta-powered platform.