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Analysis from Kepios shows that there are 4.74 billion social media users around the world in October 2022, equating to 59.3 percent of the total global population.
Social media user numbers have continued to grow over the past 12 months too, with 190 million new users joining social media since this time last year.
That equates to annualised growth of 4.2 percent, at an average rate of 6 new users every single second.
The latest figures indicate that well over 9 in 10 internet users now use social media each month (learn more about people’s broader internet behaviours on our Global Digital Overview page).
However, note that figures for social media users may not represent unique individuals, and due to issues like duplicate accounts, social media user figures may exceed the figures that we publish for internet users – or even for total population.
On the other hand, it’s also worth noting that comparing social media users with figures for total population may under-represent the full extent of social media use, because most social media companies restrict use of their platforms to people aged 13 and above.
For context, the latest data suggest that the number of social media users around the world now equates to more than 75 percent of the eligible global population.
Data from GWI reveals that the typical social media user actively uses or visits an average of 7.2 different social platforms each month, and spends an average of close to 2½ hours per day using social media.
Assuming that people sleep for between 7 and 8 hours per day, these latest figures suggest that people spend roughly 15 percent of their waking lives using social media.
Added together, the world spends more than 10 billion hours using social platforms each day, which is the equivalent of nearly 1.2 million years of human existence.
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The world’s biggest social media platforms
Facebook remains the world’s most widely used social media platform, but there are now six social media platforms that each claim one billion or more monthly active users.
Four of these seven platforms are owned by Meta.
Furthermore, 17 social media platforms have at least 300 million active users in October 2022:
- Facebook has 2.934 billion monthly active users (see more Facebook stats here)
- YouTube’s potential advertising reach is 2.515 billion(a)
- WhatsApp has at least 2 billion monthly active users
- Instagram’s potential advertising reach is 1.386 billion(a) (see more Instagram stats here)
- WeChat (inc. Weixin 微信) has 1.299 billion monthly active users
- TikTok has 1 billion monthly active users (see more TikTok stats here)
- Facebook Messenger’s potential advertising reach is 976 million(a) (see more Facebook Messenger stats here)
- Telegram has 700 million monthly active users
- Douyin (抖音) has 613 million(c) daily active users (note: monthly active users may be higher)
- Kuaishou (快手) has 587 million monthly active users
- Sina Weibo (新浪微博) has 582 million monthly active users
- Snapchat’s potential advertising reach is 576 million(a) (see more Snapchat stats here)
- QQ (腾讯QQ) has 569 million monthly active users.
- Twitter’s potential advertising reach is roughly 544 million(a) (see more Twitter stats here)
- Pinterest has 433 million monthly active users (see more Pinterest stats here)
- Reddit has around 430 million monthly active users(b)
- Quora has around 300 million monthly active users(b)
LinkedIn doesn’t publish monthly active user data, so we can’t include it in this list. However, you can find in-depth data for LinkedIn use around the world here.
Note that you’ll find the sources for these numbers at the bottom of this page.
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Social media audience overlaps
These individual platform user numbers tell a compelling story about the rise of social media around the world, but – on their own –they don’t tell the whole story.
Critically, the world’s connected population makes use of a variety of different social platforms each month, which means that there will be considerable overlaps between the user bases and advertising audiences of each of these platforms.
The chart below shows the extent of these overlaps, with fresh data from GWI providing valuable insights for anyone looking to build a social media ‘mix’ or digital marketing plan.
The key takeaway from this great data is that marketers don’t need to be on all platforms at the same time in order to reach the majority of their audiences.
Indeed, if reach is your primary objective, you can focus on just one or two of the larger platforms, safe in the knowledge that you’ll already have the potential to reach the majority of social media users.
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Reasons for using social media
Reach isn’t the only thing you should consider when building a marketing plan of course, but this data also allows us to think differently about how we construct a social media platform mix.
For example, different people will use different platforms for different needs, and it’s well worth marketers exploring these needs to identify which platforms are best suited to individual campaign and activity objectives.
The chart below offers some great insight into the reasons why people use social media today, but remember that these motivations will differ by country, by age group, and by platform, so be sure to dig into our local market data too.
Favourite social media platforms
It’s also worth noting that high user numbers don’t necessarily translate into preference.
Once again, data from GWI can help us make sense of which platforms people have the greatest affinity for, with the chart below showing overall social media platform preferences at a global level.
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As you might expect though, these preferences vary considerably by age and by gender.
As you can see in the chart below, GWI’s research finds that younger people are more likely to say that Instagram is their “favourite” social media platform (at least in most Western markets), whereas older generations tend to prefer Facebook and WhatsApp.
However, there are important differences in these preferences at a country level, and those local nuances are particularly important for marketers who are hoping to reach the right audience in the right place at just the right time.
Activities by social media platform
Research also reveals that people visit different social media platforms to achieve different things.
GWI’s survey reveals that messaging friends and family is a particularly popular topic on Facebook, but that TikTok users aren’t really all that interested in this functionality.
Instead, TikTok users primarily visit the platform to look for funny and entertaining videos.
Meanwhile, users on Instagram and Snapchat are particularly interested in publishing their own content, but this activity is significantly less popular on TikTok, Reddit, and LinkedIn.
And marketers may like to know that Pinterest users are particularly interested in following or researching brand-related content on the world’s most popular online pinboard.
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Social media behaviours by country
Social media preferences and behaviours also vary meaningfully from one country to another, so it’s important to dig deeper into the data to understand what’s happening at a local level.
If you’d like to know more about social media use in individual countries, including local social media platform rankings and audience profiles by age and gender, take a look at our complete collection of local reports.
We also have dedicated pages exploring the latest statistics for a number of the world’s top social platforms, which you can explore via the links below:
Facebook statistics and trends: click here
Instagram statistics and trends: click here
TikTok statistics and trends: click here
Facebook Messenger statistics and trends: click here
LinkedIn statistics and trends: click here
Snapchat statistics and trends: click here
Twitter statistics and trends: click here
Pinterest statistics and trends: click here
And if you’d like to stay up to date with all the latest developments in social media use around the world, sign up for our newsletter using the form below to receive notifications whenever we publish new reports.
Notes:
(a) Where platforms only publish daily active user figures, or where platforms have not published recent updates to monthly active users, we've used the latest advertising reach figures published in each platform’s respective self-service advertising tools, in order to provide a more equal basis for comparison.
(b) These platforms have not published updated user figures in the past 12 months, so the user figures published here may not be as reliable as the user figures we’ve included for other platforms in this list.
(c) Based on data published by iiMedia Polaris.
LinkedIn no longer publishes monthly active user figures, and its monthly advertising audience reach figures are based on total registered members, not monthly active users (MAUs). As a result, it’s difficult to identify how many active users LinkedIn has each month. However, our calculations indicate that the platform likely has an insufficient number of MAUs to qualify for the ranking above.
* Note that we report both monthly active user figures and potential advertising reach figures for various social media platforms in our reports. Please read each slide carefully to understand which metrics we’ve used for each platform.
FAQs
What are the statistics for social media? ›
- Over 4.74 billion people across the world use social media.
- In 2022, the number of social media users increased by 4.2%
- Over 75% of the world's population aged 13+ uses social media.
- Over 93% of internet users are social media users.
- 76% of North Americans use social media.
With over 4 billion people on social media in 2022, it's more important than ever to understand the reach and impact of every social network as the number continues to rise every year. We have got you covered with 100+ social media statistics to guide your online marketing efforts in 2023.
What is the largest social media platform? ›Meta Platforms owns four of the biggest social media platforms, all with over one billion monthly active users each: Facebook (core platform), WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram. In the final quarter of 2022, Facebook reported over 3.7 billion monthly core Family product users.
Who is DataReportal? ›About us. DataReportal is an online reference library offering hundreds of free reports packed with data, insights, and trends to help you make more informed decisions.
What are the 7 C's of social media? ›These facets form the base for the world of social media and can be referred to as the 7 Cs of social media. These seven Cs are - content, community, conversation, capital (social), culture, collaboration, and conversion respectively.
What is the global usage of social media? ›Detailed analysis by the team at Kepios shows that there are 4.76 billion social media users around the world in January 2023, equating to 59.4 percent of the total global population.
What is the fastest growing social media platform? ›This begs the question: What are the fastest-growing social media platforms? The latest data shows that the fastest-growing social network is TikTok.
What is the most active social media platform 2022? ›Facebook is the largest social media site, with more than two billion people using it every month. This means that roughly 36.9% of the world's population are Facebook users.
What is the hottest social media platform right now? ›The most popular social media platforms worldwide in 2022
WhatsApp. Instagram. Facebook Messenger. TikTok.
DataReportal is an online reference library offering hundreds of free reports packed with data, insights, and trends to help you make more informed decisions.
Who funded our world in data? ›
Our World in Data is produced as a collaborative effort between researchers at the University of Oxford, who are the scientific contributors of the website content; and the non-profit organization Global Change Data Lab, who owns, publishes and maintains the website and the data tools.
Who is Simon Kemp? ›Simon is the founder and CEO of Kepios, an advisory firm that helps organisations all over the world make sense of what people are really doing online. He's also the chief analyst at DataReportal, an online collection of thousands of resources that explore evolving digital behaviours.
What are the 6 type of social media? ›What Are the 6 Types of Social Media? The six types of social media, though this can be broken down in many ways, include social networking, bookmarking, social news, media sharing, microblogging, and online forum sites.
What are the 4 types of marketing strategies? ›What are the 4Ps of marketing? (Marketing mix explained) The four Ps are product, price, place, and promotion. They are an example of a “marketing mix,” or the combined tools and methodologies used by marketers to achieve their marketing objectives.
What are the key elements of social media strategy? ›The first, foundational components of a social media strategy are: a Social Media Audit, Social Media Goals and Objectives, and the Budget, Tactics, and Tools required to achieve them.
How many people use social media globally? ›Social media usage is one of the most popular online activities. In 2021, over 4.26 billion people were using social media worldwide, a number projected to increase to almost six billion in 2027.
Who is the world's leader in social media usage? ›The latest statistics show that Facebook continues to reign strong as the king of social media, with 2.93 billion active users in 2022. That means that nearly two out of every three of the 4.59 billion social media users across the world are active users of Facebook.
What is replacing Instagram? ›- Twitter.
- BeReal.
- Flickr.
- Tumblr.
- Grainery.
- Glass.
- VSCO.
- 500px.
The biggest social media trends to watch in 2023 are: UGC and micro-influencer marketing. Short-form video content and TikTok. Livestream shopping and social commerce.
What is USA most popular social media? ›The latest data shows that Facebook currently leads the pack.
What is USA most popular social media site? ›
U.S. market share of leading social media websites 2022
In December 2022, Facebook accounted for around 49.93 percent of all social media site visits in the United States, confirming its position as the leading social media website by far.
- TikTok. 5-Year Search Growth: 9,200% ...
- Quest. 5-Year Search Growth: 866% ...
- Twitter Spaces. 5-Year Search Growth: 583% ...
- PearPop. 5-Year Search Growth: 650% ...
- Yubo. ...
- Supernova. ...
- Tagged. ...
- HalloApp.
What's the first thing that pops into your head when you think “social media?” Chances are, it's one of the big four social media networking sites: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok. (Or, since social media moves so fast, there might be a new kid on the block before we even publish this post.)
Who are the big 3 in social media? ›In our new blog series, Social Media 101, we're going to take you through the basics of what each type of social media is, what features it has, and what it is best used for. Today we're covering what we like to call “The Big Three” – Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
What has replaced Facebook? ›- WT. Social. ...
- MeWe. MeWe markets itself as the “next-gen social network” — an app built with the latest social-sharing technology — with privacy built into the design. ...
- Mastodon. ...
- Diaspora. ...
- Minds. ...
- LinkedIn. ...
- Telegram. ...
- Reddit.
TikTok Is the New King of Social Media.
How do you reference DataReportal? ›you include clear attribution to DataReportal and the report partner(s) detailed on page 2 of the relevant source report(s); and. you include a clear URL or hyperlink to the relevant report page on DataReportal.com.
What data is collected from you by the website? ›- IP addresses to determine a user's location.
- Information about how the user interacts with websites. ...
- Information about browsers and the device the user access the site with.
- Browsing activity across different sites.
...
Smartphones, tablets and personal computers
- how many times you visit the site and which pages you visit.
- your preferences, such as preferred language, font size and accessibility services.
- your user name and password.
- items in your shopping cart.
- your location.
Our World in Data has been cited in academic scientific journals, medicine and global health journals, and social science journals. The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Economist have used Our World in Data as a source.
Who owns the data from a federal grant? ›
Under grants, researchers must carry out the research as planned and submit reports, but control of the data remains with the institution that received the funds (see below).
Who owns data from federally funded research? ›Typically, institutions are the owners of research data. In this role, they are ultimately responsible for ensuring that reserach is conducted ethically and that it is retained as required. Principal Investigators conduct research and are granted stewardship over their research data by the Institution.
What disease does Roman Kemp have? ›Roman, 29, previously revealed he suffers from a "debilitating" sleep disorder which led him to initially believe he was suffering from narcolepsy (a condition that causes a person to involuntarily fall asleep). He told the Daily Mail: "I recently got diagnosed with sleep apnoea, which has been rubbish.
Is Roman Kemp rich? ›According to Celebrity Net Worth, Roman Kemp has an estimated net worth of $1.5 million (£1.2 million). Alongside the breakfast show, Roman featured on the legendary British reality survival show I'm A Celebrity, hosted by the nationally treasured duo Ant and Dec.
What is Kepios analysis? ›Kepios is a strategy consultancy that helps organisations all over the world to make sense of people's evolving digital behaviours, and understand what these changes mean for ongoing success. Website https://kepios.com.
What are some statistics about the impact of social media? ›Spending more than 3 hours on social media per day puts adolescents at a higher risk for mental health problems. 13% of kids ages 12-17 report depression and 32% report anxiety. 25% of 18 to 25-year-olds report mental illness. These age groups report high usage of social media.
What are positive statistics about social media? ›In total, 80% said social media gives them some level of connection to what is going on in their friends' lives, 71% said it's a place where they can show their creativity, 67% said social media reassures them that they have people to support them through tough times, and 58% said it makes them feel more accepted, ...
What are some examples of social statistics? ›- birth rate.
- marriage records.
- mortality rate.
- suicide: Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) studied social statistics for Suicide (1897).
Social media usage statistics
As of January 2022, there are 3.96 billion total social media users across all platforms. The average person bounces between seven different social networks per month. The amount of time adults use social media across all platforms is now higher than ever — 95 minutes per day.
- Online vs Reality. Social media itself is not the problem. ...
- Increased usage. The more time spent on social media can lead to cyberbullying, social anxiety, depression, and exposure to content that is not age appropriate.
- Social Media is addicting. ...
- Fear of Missing Out. ...
- Self-image issues.
What are the 4 KPIs for social media? ›
That being said, there are four main areas your social media KPIs should be focusing on: engagement, reach, leads, and customers.
What are the most important social media metrics to track? ›- Reach.
- Impressions.
- Audience growth rate.
- Engagement Rate.
- Amplification rate.
- Virality rate.
- Video views.
- Video completion rate.
- Build relationships. Social media is used for more than just brand-customer interaction. ...
- Share your expertise. You have the chance to talk about what you know and what you want to be recognized for on social media. ...
- Increase your visibility. ...
- Educate yourself. ...
- Connect anytime.
Social media harms
However, social media use can also negatively affect teens, distracting them, disrupting their sleep, and exposing them to bullying, rumor spreading, unrealistic views of other people's lives and peer pressure.
- Building Relationships and Staying Connected. ...
- Finding Your Voice. ...
- Showing Empathy and Kindness. ...
- Offering Support. ...
- Better Communication. ...
- Spreading News. ...
- Building a Business. ...
- Establishing Authority.
A summary consists of five values: the most extreme values in the data set (the maximum and minimum values), the lower and upper quartiles, and the median. These values are presented together and ordered from lowest to highest: minimum value, lower quartile (Q1), median value (Q2), upper quartile (Q3), maximum value.
What are the 3 types of statistics? ›They are: (i) Mean, (ii) Median, and (iii) Mode. Statistics is the study of Data Collection, Analysis, Interpretation, Presentation, and organizing in a specific way.
What are the 5 common statistical tools? ›- Mean. The first method that's used to perform the statistical analysis is mean, which is more commonly referred to as the average. ...
- Standard deviation. ...
- Regression. ...
- Hypothesis testing. ...
- Sample size determination.
Social media KPIs are the metrics used to determine if a business's social media marketing strategy is effective. Basically, they're tracked data related to a company's presence on individual platforms like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, or across all social platforms collectively.
What is the most common use of social media analytics? ›Social media analytics helps companies address these experiences and use them to: Spot trends related to offerings and brands. Understand conversations — what is being said and how it is being received. Derive customer sentiment towards products and services.