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Social media networks have been with us since the mid-90s. Back then, dial-up internet users logged into platforms like Six Degrees, which supported emails, instant messaging, voice chat, and voicemail.
That was then. Now, in 2024, we have more social media platforms available on our pocket-sized smartphones than you can shake a selfie stick at. The power players of today are Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, but there are also plenty of others that are enjoyed daily by millions – and in some cases, billions – of users.
All this adds up to a global impact which can only be understood in one way: statistics. Get ready to have your mind blown with the latest social media statistics across these exciting categories: users & usage, demographics, revenue, advertisements,
and marketing!
Next, let’s examine Social Media Statistics and usage statistics, to see how many people are using the app and how often.
But first, get a taste of what’s to come with these key social media statistics.
As of 2024, there are 5.04 billion people in the world who use social media – over half the global population.
Ad spending in the United States is expected to reach $72.33 billion USD by the end of 2024.
In 2022, China had the highest number of social media users in the world.
In a survey, 89% of marketers said they preferred using Facebook for content promotion.
As of the year 2022, LIVE and Discord were the highest grossing social networking apps for iOS and Android devices, respectively.
Nowhere is the enormous and penetrating impact of social media best seen than through the lens of users and usage statistics. These are the data points that show how many people around the world are using social media platforms, how much it takes up their day, and more. Let’s get to it!
As of January 2024, there are 5.35 billion internet users worldwide – or 64.6% of the global population – were found to be internet users. Of that group, 5.04 billion people are users of social media. That number is equal to 62.3% of the global population, up approximately 3.9% since 2021!
Of all the social media apps, it appears that the world prefers Instagram the most. In 2022, the Meta-owned photo and video sharing app had accumulated roughly 547 million downloads, making it the most downloaded social media app in the world. Following in second place was WhatsApp, which had 424 million downloads by that same year. Meanwhile, Telegram ranked above Facebook and Messenger, which are also owned by the media giant Meta.
But that’s just the beginning. By 2026, experts are estimating that social media usage will have exploded to include a whopping 74% of people in the world.
iOS users are blazing their own trails in terms of which social media apps they prefer. WhatsApp, not Instagram, was the most downloaded social media app in the iOS App Store in June 2023, with a grand total of 4.6 million downloads from global iPhone users. Telegram came in second with 3 million downloads, and Facebook third with 2.3 million downloads.
Why are so many people using social media? One survey from Q3 2022 showed that 47% of respondents cited keeping in touch with friends and family as the top reason. Meanwhile, roughly 36% of respondents said that they used social media to fill up their spare time or read the news. And finally, around 20% get on social media apps to create posts about their lives.
It’s quite common for people to shop or keep up with their favorite brands through their Facebook account. Around 54.9% of users on Facebook will use the platform to follow or look up brands they like or items they’re thinking about buying.
Whatever the reason, people who use social media are dedicating a large portion of their daily lives to it. In 2022, it was found that internet users around the world get on social media for an average of 151 minutes per day. That’s over two and a half hours! In 2021, the average was 147 minutes.
The picture looks a little different for Android users. In September 2022, WhatsApp took first place as the most downloaded communication app in the Google Play Store with 20.7 million downloads worldwide. But Snapchat, not Telegram, ranked second with 15.3 million downloads.
For some reason, people who live in the Philippines are recorded as using social media the most. The daily average time spent on social media in that country is 3 hours and 53 minutes. Whereas in the United States, users only dedicate about 2 hours and 3 minutes to social media per day.
Now it’s time to move on to who’s using social media – and some of the stats here may surprise you!
Of all the countries in the world, China has the highest number of social media users as of 2022, with 1.02 billion users. In second place comes India with 755 million users, and in third is the United States with 327.2 million.
The people who use social media are spread out far and wide across the world. For example, in 2022, Statista found that 26% of all social media users are concentrated in Eastern Asia; 18.44% in Southern Asia, 9.5% in North America, and 0.46% in Central Africa.
The reasons that people use social media can vary by country. In 2023, a survey of social media users in various parts of the world found that 78% of the Nigerian respondents view social media as a news source. But only 23% of respondents from Japan felt similarly.
When we’re looking at demographics and how popular social media is in different geographic locations, it’s important to check the penetration rate. That’s the rate that shows what percentage of a region’s population uses social media. In January 2023, the region with the highest rate of social network penetration was Northern Europe with 83.6%. Next came Western Europe with 83.3% and Southern Europe with 76.7%. Meanwhile, down at the bottom of the global ranking, Eastern Africa has a penetration rate of 8.4%, and Middle Africa has one of 7.4%.
Did you know that social media is a hugely profitable industry for the companies who develop and distribute them? These revenue statistics will show you how much money is to be made, as well as how much everyday people are willing to invest in their social media.
Communication is important, but it’s especially important when it comes to social media revenue. For example, September 2022 saw the app LINE become the highest grossing social networking app in the world for iPhones in the iOS App Store. The revenue generated added up to nearly $5 million USD. BIGO Live came in second place with $4.5 million USD, and QQ was third with over $4 million USD.
Once again, though, we see a difference between iOS and Android users. In June 2022, in the Google Play Store, it was Discord that was the highest grossing communication app in the world. It generated $1.7 million USD in revenue, with Azar following closely at $1.5 million USD.
As with every new emerging media over the decades – radio, tv, and now the internet – social media has become a hub for advertising.
Check out these statistics about the investments that companies are making into social media as an advertising channel, as well as how it’s overtaking other parts of the internet in terms of revenue output.
Social media is now more popular as an advertising channel than paid search. In 2021, it grew at a rate of 25% since the previous year and had a market value of $137 million compared to paid search’s $135 billion.
By the end of 2023, ad spending for social media advertising in the United States is expected to climb to $72.33 billion. In China, that number is expected to be $71.38 billion, and in the United Kingdom, $9.7 billion.
By 2027, experts project, $85.31 billion of all ad spending in social media marketing in the US will come from mobile devices.
And in the same year, the number of users reached by social media advertising in the US is expected to have reached 327.2 million.
Facebook holds the highest share of the social media advertising market in the United States at 23%.
Not all social media platforms are created equal when it comes to benefiting from paid content promotion. A 2022 survey revealed that 49% of the B2B marketer respondents felt that LinkedIn drove the best advertising results over a 12-month period. It was followed by YouTube and Twitter, which both got a 43% vote.
Social media is now more popular as an advertising channel than paid search. In 2021, it grew at a rate of 25% since the previous year and had a market value of $137 million compared to paid search’s $135 billion.
Lastly, here are the most helpful stats about social media for those of our readers who live and breathe marketing.
Facebook may not be as trendy these days, but in January 2023, it was found to be the most commonly used social media platform by 89% of marketers on a global scale. Meanwhile, 80% prefer using Instagram to advertise and grow their business.
Instagram is clearly viewed as a powerful tool in marketing. In a 2023 survey of marketers around the world, 66% of respondents said they would up their Instagram usage in the near future. Meanwhile, 43% said they would ramp up their usage of TikTok, but more marketers – 45% of respondents – said they wouldn’t – at least, not to advertise.
In November 2022, one survey of B2B marketers in North America discovered that 22% of the respondents preferred LinkedIn to distribute content. 21% preferred Facebook.
Marketers are on the right track with Facebook. A global survey of B2B and B2C marketers in October 2023 showed that 22% of respondents cited Facebook as delivering the highest return on investment (ROI) of all the social media platforms. 16% said YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, and 7% said LinkedIn.
Social media platforms have changed the way that we live, work, shop, and promote our businesses. The mind-blowing stats represented in this article show just how much our personal and professional lives now revolve on the networking apps on our phones. And it looks like it’s going to stay that way!
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