On a rainy afternoon in 2010, a humble photo of a dog became the first image ever uploaded to what would soon become a global phenomenon, Instagram. Fast forward to 2025, and what began as a simple photo-sharing app is now a digital ecosystem fueling businesses, trends, and social movements...

In August 2025, Instagram had over ** million users in the United Kingdom (UK). The largest share of Instagram users were individuals aged between 25 and 34 years old, at *****percent. This was followed by the category of users aged 18 to 24 years. Individuals over 65 years old, were less likely to use the social media platform, making up the smallest share of Instagram users during this period. Leading social media in the UK According to figures based on approximately ******* billion hits online per month, Facebook was the leading social media website in the UK as of November 2024, holding over ***** percent of the social media market share. This was followed by Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter). The Pinterest website ranked fourth during that period, with a market share of **** percent. Facebook: Leader in the UK The number of social network users in the UK experienced an increase of roughly *** million users between 2018 and 2023. The share of female Facebook users is slightly higher than the number of male users. At ********* of respondents, individuals aged between 25 and 34 years old made up the largest share of Facebook users in the UK. This was followed by roughly **** percent of users within the 35 to 44 years old category. Facebook usage appeared to be the lowest among those aged 65 and older.

The number of Instagram users in the United Kingdom was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2028 by in total 2.1 million users (+7.02 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the Instagram user base is estimated to reach 32 million users and therefore a new peak in 2028. Notably, the number of Instagram users of was continuously increasing over the past years.User figures, shown here with regards to the platform instagram, 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.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).

Instagram, one of the world’s leading social media platforms, employs tens of thousands of people globally. Its workforce has grown not just in size but in complexity, spanning product engineering, policy, content moderation, marketing, and operations. In industries like tech, advertising, and media, Instagram’s staffing patterns offer insight into where...

This data covers the Instagram strategies of five major media outlets: The New York Times, The Guardian, USA Today, The Independent, and The Washington Post. Objectives include examining post volume, engagement metrics, content types, geographic coverage, individual mentions, and hashtag usage. Analysing 9,467 posts from 2023 using statistical and AI techniques, findings show The Washington Post posts most frequently, while The Independent and The Guardian achieve higher average engagement. Hashtags and mentions generally yield lower engagement. Donald Trump is the most mentioned individual, and the United States is the most covered country.

Computers and gadgets was the most trending Instagram topic in the UK in 2020, with over *** percent growth of followers. Other 2020 trends included shows, family-themed content, and business and careers.

Picture a high school hallway during lunch break. Heads down, thumbs scrolling, earbuds in. This isn’t boredom, it’s engagement. For Generation Z, social media isn’t just a way to stay connected; it’s how they navigate identity, find entertainment, and even make purchasing decisions. Born between 1997 and 2012, Gen Z...

Back in 2010, few could have predicted that a simple photo-sharing app would evolve into one of the world’s most influential platforms. Fast forward to 2025, and Instagram has become a digital cornerstone for creators, businesses, and consumers alike. From driving brand awareness to creating viral trends overnight, followers are...

Instagram’s most popular post

              As of April 2024, the most popular post on Instagram was Lionel Messi and his teammates after winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup with Argentina, posted by the account @leomessi. Messi's post, which racked up over 61 million likes within a day, knocked off the reigning post, which was 'Photo of an Egg'. Originally posted in January 2021, 'Photo of an Egg' surpassed the world’s most popular Instagram post at that time, which was a photo by Kylie Jenner’s daughter totaling 18 million likes.
              After several cryptic posts published by the account, World Record Egg revealed itself to be a part of a mental health campaign aimed at the pressures of social media use.

              Instagram’s most popular accounts

              As of April 2024, the official Instagram account @instagram had the most followers of any account on the platform, with 672 million followers. Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) was the most followed individual with 628 million followers, while Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) was the most followed woman on the platform with 429 million. Additionally, Inter Miami CF striker Lionel Messi (@leomessi) had a total of 502 million. Celebrities such as The Rock, Kylie Jenner, and Ariana Grande all had over 380 million followers each.

              Instagram influencers

              In the United States, the leading content category of Instagram influencers was lifestyle, with 15.25 percent of influencers creating lifestyle content in 2021. Music ranked in second place with 10.96 percent, followed by family with 8.24 percent. Having a large audience can be very lucrative: Instagram influencers in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom with over 90,000 followers made around 1,221 US dollars per post.

              Instagram around the globe

              Instagram’s worldwide popularity continues to grow, and India is the leading country in terms of number of users, with over 362.9 million users as of January 2024. The United States had 169.65 million Instagram users and Brazil had 134.6 million users. The social media platform was also very popular in Indonesia and Turkey, with 100.9 and 57.1, respectively. As of January 2024, Instagram was the fourth most popular social network in the world, behind Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp.

As of July 2025, almost 33.3 percent of global Instagram audiences were aged between 25 and 34 years, and 29.7 percent of users were aged between 18 and 24 years. Overall, 17.4 percent of users belonged to the 35 to 44-year-old age group. Instagram users With roughly one billion monthly active users, Instagram belongs to the most popular social networks worldwide. The social photo-sharing app is especially popular in India and in the United States, which have about 480 million and 181 million Instagram users each. Instagram features One of the most popular features of Instagram is Stories. Users can post photos and videos to their Stories stream, and the content is live for others to view for 24 hours before it disappears. In January 2019, the company reported that there were 500 million daily active Instagram Stories users. Instagram Stories directly competes with Snapchat, another photo-sharing app that initially became famous due to its “vanishing photos” feature. As of the third quarter of 2025, Snapchat had 477 million daily active users.

In 2008, the average human attention span was 12 seconds. Fast forward to 2025, and many studies suggest it's now hovering around 8 seconds, shorter than that of a goldfish. It’s no coincidence that during this same period, social media platforms surged to dominate how we consume content. Whether you're...

Social media's influence in the United Kingdom continues to grow, with **** million active users as of February 2025, representing ** percent of the population. This penetration rate surpasses the global average of **** percent, positioning the UK as a leader in social media adoption. The country's high usage reflects a broader trend of increasing social media engagement worldwide, particularly in Northern and Western Europe. Global social media landscape The social media landscape is rapidly evolving, with China currently hosting over one billion users and India projected to become the largest social media audience by 2029. Notably, Nigeria is expected to see a staggering *** percent increase in its online networking audience between 2023 and 2029. In 2024, global social media users spent an average of *** minutes per day on social networks. Facebook is still the market leader Facebook is the most widely utilized social media platform globally, and India boasts *** million Facebook users, making it the leading country in terms of Facebook audience size. As of April 2024, it was found that men between the ages of ** and ** were the largest audience for Facebook, accounting for **** percent of global users. Furthermore, Facebooks second-largest audience base could be found with men aged 18 to 24 years.

It started with a lip-sync. Then came the dances, the pranks, the tutorials, and before anyone realized, TikTok was no longer just an app; it was the cultural engine of a generation. In 2025, TikTok’s presence is not only embedded in Gen Z's daily routines but also shaking up marketing...

As of October 2025, India had the largest Instagram audience worldwide, with 480.55 million users. The United States ranked second with 181.75 million users, followed by Brazil with 147 million. However, Turkey recorded the highest audience reach, with 92.1 percent of its population using the platform. It took Instagram 11.2 years to reach the milestone of 2 billion monthly active users worldwide. Instagram’s demographics in the United States As of March 2025, Instagram was the fourth most visited social media service in the United States, after Facebook, Pinterest and X. Out of TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, TikTok was the most used of all three platforms by Generation Z. Overall, 57 percent of Gen Z social media users used Instagram in 2021, down from 61 percent in 2020 and 64 percent in 2019. Instagram finds most popularity with those in the 25 to 34 year age group, and as of January 2025, roughly 28.3 of all users in the United States belonged to this age group. The social media app was also more likely to be used by women. Most followed accounts on Instagram Instagram’s official account had the most followers as of April 2024 with over 672 million followers. Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) had over 628 million followers on the platform, while the Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi (@leomessi) had over 502 million followers. The Instagram accounts of the American singer and actress Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) and the media personality and makeup mogul Kylie Jenner (@kyliejenner) had over 400 million followers each.

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.

TikTok ranked as the leading social media platform driving beauty shoppers to retailer sites in the United Kingdom in 2024. Based on purchase intent clicks, TikTok accounted for a share of **** percent, outranking Instagram, which had a share of *** percent.

In 2023, around ** percent of Gen Z consumers in the United States and the United Kingdom stated that TikTok was their main social media platform for beauty product and trend dicovery. Instagram ranked second.

According to a survey of users in aged between 15 and 24 conducted in the United Kingdom in August 2023, respondents spent approximately *** minutes daily engaging with TikTok. The most popular social media platforms was Instagram, with a reach of approximately ** percent across the examined demographic, despite users engaging with the platform for less than ** minutes per day on average.

The global influencer marketing market size has more than tripled since 2020. In 2025, the market was estimated to reach a record of approximately 33 billion U.S. dollars. What is influencer marketing? Influencer marketing is a form of social media marketing that involves product placements and endorsements from online creators. In today’s competitive marketing landscape, brands are collaborating with influencers more firmly than ever, as partnerships with well-known creators can open the door to large potential audiences. In 2024, influencer marketing spending in the United States was forecast to reach an all-time high of 7.1 billion U.S. dollars. Seeing that internet stars can boost brand visibility, drive engagement, and impact purchasing decisions for millions of users, it comes as no surprise that spending on influencer cooperation is expected to pick up even more speed in the future. Top influencer marketing platforms Marketers can choose from an ever-expanding list of social media platforms to bridge the gap between brands and consumers. According to a recent survey, Instagram remains the most popular platform for influencer marketing in the United States, and in 2025, the global Instagram influencer market size was estimated to surpass 22 billion dollars for the first time. Apart from the photo-sharing app, video-based platforms such as TikTok have become popular among brands and marketers. In the first half of 2024, the most successful brands earned over half a billion U.S. dollars in earned media value (EMV) with their TikTok influencer marketing campaigns.

According to a summer 2024 survey, sponsored posts were the primary format for cooperation with influencers, as stated by responding decision makers in Europe. Affiliate marketing was the second preferred format for cooperation. France was the one exception, with 40 percent of respondents primarily preferring user-generated content (UGC) and paid advertising.