Social Media Statistics: Numbers and Popularity Breakdown

Technology adoption has led to the number of people using these platforms to skyrocket. As a result, the platforms have also evolved and adapted over the last decade.

Six Degrees and Friendster were considered to be the first social platforms online because they allowed the average internet user to sign up online and share messages, photos, and videos with each other.

In 2004, Facebook was founded. Despite being initially limited to college students, it quickly rose in popularity in 2006 when it expanded to everyone above 13 years old.

YouTube was founded in 2005, with its main feature being user-uploaded video content. Google eventually bought YouTube, which now sits at 2.7 billion monthly active users.

Twitter started in 2006, with its unique feature being that users could only post up to 140 characters per tweet. It took off, with more than 335 million monthly active users worldwide today.

Facebook and the other Meta platforms are some of the biggest social networking sites today, but other newer platforms have come out with more specialized features.

For example, Snapchat came out in 2011 with photos or videos called “snaps” and text “chats” that could be sent between users, but would disappear within 24 hours.

Instagram and Facebook eventually adopted this feature to rival Snapchat, with their “Stories” feature being integrated into their mobile apps.

Another popular social media site, Tiktok, came out in 2016 under the name Douyin. This platform allowed social media users worldwide to share photos and short-form videos.

Tiktok’s subsequent updates allowed users to include sounds in their videos which could be reused. “Stitching” or “duet-ing” videos is another feature which allows users to respond to videos with their own.

Social media penetration in the world’s population is currently very high, and is only expected to grow among global users due to the increasing accessibility of mobile devices.

According to the latest statistics, social media platforms have a combined 5.07 billion active users, representing more than half of the global population.

Looking at it from the perspective of active internet users , this comprises a vast majority of the 5.44 billion internet users worldwide.

This means that the social media penetration in terms of active internet users worldwide is upwards of 93%.

Looking past 2024, the projected growth in social media usage statistics is expected to increase from over 5 billion in 2024 to over 8 billion users in 2028.

That is over a 63% increase in social media users worldwide.

With the global social media users projected to increase, businesses will also need to continue focusing on social media marketing strategies.

While the raw numbers that social media statistics show are impressive, looking into who uses each social media site and the differences between them are also important to look at.

The most important demographics to look at include age group, gender, and geographic location. This is for reasons not limited to changes in marketing strategies, type of content, and consumer behavior.

Let’s start with one of the largest social media platforms like Facebook. On this widely-popular social media platform, the average user is in the 25 to 34 age group.

Conversely, users over 65 make up the smallest portion of the userbase as of April 2024.

YouTube’s social media statistics show that their average user is in the same age group as Facebook, between 25 and 34 years old.

In contrast to this, most Tiktok users worldwide are between the ages of 10 and 19.

In between Facebook, YouTube, and Tiktok, Instagram’s average user is between the ages of 18 to 24. Snapchat also has the same age for its average users.

• When it comes to the trends of different genders accessing Facebook, male users are more common, taking up 56.8% of the total population of users, while female users take up 43.2%.
• Tiktok users are also more likely to be male users than female users but with a smaller difference. 54.3% are male users, while 45.7% are female users.
• Interestingly, YouTube statistics show that the difference between male and female users is exactly the same in 2024 as Tiktok’s. 54.3% for males and 45.7% for females.
• Instagram continues the trend of having more male than female users. 50.6% of Instagram users are male, while 49.4% are female.

When it comes to which regions have the highest social media adoption, Northern and Western Europe have the highest social networking statistics at 80.2 and 78.2 percent, respectively.

The lowest social media usage statistics come from Eastern and Middle Africa, with social media users only at 10.5 and 9.9 percent of their populations, respectively.

The global average for social media statistics in terms of adoption is 62.2 percent, which means over half of the world’s total population are active users of social media and are also internet users.

Facebook is under the Meta group, which is the biggest group of social media platforms in terms of user base. This has cemented them as the leader and one of the most influential platforms.

Facebook statistics show that it has at least 2.9 billion monthly active users worldwide, making it the most used social media site.

YouTube’s main strength is its user-generated content, which is backed up by current YouTube statistics and trends.

This shows in the increasing average watch time spent per user over the last 5 years.

In 2019, the average watch time for YouTube social users was 39.7 minutes, which increased to 48.7 minutes in 2024. Year-over-year, watch times have increased both continuously and consistently.
Other statistics like user growth rate are also impressive, with YouTube projected to add 232.5 million new users between 2024 and 2029.

If YouTube’s strength is in user generated content through long-form videos, Instagram’s strength comes in photos and short form videos.

Influencer culture was born on Instagram, and it shows. In 2021, Instagram was the top most-used social media platform for influencer marketing, with nearly 68% of it being done on the platform.

Couple this with the fact that Instagram statistics show it has around 2 billion monthly active users worldwide, and it isn’t hard to see why this platform is the go-to for influencers.

Twitter is known for having quick, snappy, and continuous conversations through its tweets and replies. While it is now called X, it retains the strengths it had from its former ownership.

It’s a platform where real-time updates and news are easy to read because of the character limit and large user base. X Twitter statistics show it currently has around 368 million monthly social media users worldwide.

This platform is generally known to be the younger generation’s go-to compared to other platforms. Most TikTok users are on the younger end, with the majority being teenagers to young adults.

TikTok statistics show that it has been growing rapidly over the past few years. In terms of social media users, it has grown from 465.7 million in 2020 to 900.8 million in 2024.

Between 2012 and 2024, social media use increased from 90 minutes to 143 minutes.

This represents a nearly 60% increase in average daily time spent on social media use.

The combined average time spent on social media gets more interesting depending on the social media platform in question.

For example, the average use time on Facebook per day was 33 minutes in 2022. Next up was TikTok and Twitter with 31 minutes of use time each, and then Instagram and Snapchat at 29 and 28 minutes, respectively.

Another crucial factor that determines social media use is a user’s device. Some platforms started on desktop, while others are primarily accessed through a mobile device.

Currently, the latest social media statistics show that desktop and mobile device use is balanced. 49.78% of social media access is from mobile devices, while 50.22% comes from desktop users.

Click-Through Rates (CTR) refer to how many people click on an ad compared to how many people see it. In the last quarter of 2023, this rate was 0.98%, compared to 0.92% from the previous quarter.

Conversion Rate is the number of people that have completed a certain conversion action compared to total audience. It’s similar to CTR but allows for more flexibility for things like signing up for a webinar.

It differs for each social media platform, but a good benchmark for Conversion Rate is between 2-5%.

In general, targeted ads usually produce a better ROI for marketers worldwide because of their higher effectivity.

Social media statistics show that targeted ads are twice as effective as non-targeted ads. This includes CTR rates, Conversion Metrics, and the actual purchase of the item or service.

One interesting success story of leveraging social media and ads comes from Starbucks.

Starbucks engaged with their audience by encouraging them to use hashtags when posting their favorite drinks, offering products to keep up with trends, and responding quickly to customer concerns.

The Seattle-based coffee company also has social responsibility initiatives and seasonal campaigns to appeal to a wider audience and further increase its reach.

Micro and Nano influencers have a much smaller audience than typical celebrity endorsers. However, while they have fewer followers, they have a couple of other strengths.

Many micro and nano influencers have more niche and loyal followings. They also appear more genuine and organic, which can result in higher CTR and Conversion Rates.

Micro and nano influencers are also a lot cheaper to hire than celebrity endorsers. This drives down the marketing cost and is helpful for smaller businesses with a limited marketing budget.

One requirement that both the United States FTC and the European Union have for sponsored content is to disclose it, whether verbally or through text in video, photo, or through captions.

This is to prevent any false advertising and protect consumer rights. Any influencers and marketers should be aware of this requirement and make sure they comply with it.

Depending on the platform, their follower count, and through negotiation, influencers will have different rates. Here are the market value rates per social media platform.

• Facebook: $500 (Nano) to $40,000+ (Celebrity)
• Instagram: $500 (Nano) to $45,000+ (Celebrity)
• TikTok: $500 (Nano) to $45,000+ (Celebrity)
• YouTube: $1,000 (Nano) to $49,000+ (Celebrity)
• Snapchat: $200 (Nano) to $35,000+ (Celebrity)
• X (Twitter): $500 (Nano) to $30,000+ (Celebrity)

Social media was first created to serve as a communication tool. Fast forward to today and many social media platforms have replaced the traditional telephone and other old communication methods.

The best part of social media as a communication tool is that it is very feature-rich, with many of these tools coming cheap or free.

Helping people connect to each other more easily is a good thing.

Social media websites and platforms have long been used to share important information and teach other users about a wide variety of topics. In addition, this is mostly through user generated content, which is free.

A great example of this is the library of many self-help and tutorial videos on YouTube for different things, from tying a tie to building your own front porch.

One of the inherent benefits of social media being user-focused is that minorities and previously underrepresented communities now have a platform to speak up and be heard.

The average person can post any type of content that can be viewed by everyone. Important news can be distributed from areas and communities that legacy media may not have previously covered.

41% of Generation X US adults (born between 1965 and 1981) say that social media has had a very or somewhat negative impact on their mental health.

Even 23 to 36% of other age group categories have reported a negative impact on their mental health from social media.

Cyberbullying is another clear and present issue that affects the mental health of users worldwide.

It’s a result of malicious users taking advantage of the freedom of communication that social media offers.

The same issues that plague real-world interactions can also occur on social media.

Toxicity, bullying, and harassment are not uncommon, although steps are being taken by each platform to lessen or prevent incidents from happening.

Another disadvantage that user-created content brings is fake news, misinformation, and misleading propaganda. Not all social media users have good intentions when they decide to post.

Fake news stories spread up to 10 times faster than real news simply because they resonate more and produce either more outrage or intrigue than the real thing.

Limiting your daily social media usage can go a long way toward protecting your mental health.

Setting screen time notifications on your phone is one way to manage this.

More specifically, you can not bring your primary social media device to bed. It can improve sleep quality, sleep quantity, and prevent overuse of social media.

The best and most simple way you can improve your interactions online is by being an active poster and user. People who only passively use social media generally feel worse than active users.

Before immediately reacting to or sharing a viral post, check to see if it’s based on or comes from a reliable or credible source.

Do your own research and see if what you’re reading is true before believing it.