Social media platforms are transforming in no time. New platforms, features and trends, change how billions of people everywhere around the world connect and communicate every year.
Going into 2025, social media is now an integrated part of the day-to-day lives of most individuals.
Let's take a closer look at some of the most important social media statistics, data points, and facts about social media usage across the world in this blog post.
You'll find out how things stand today and where they are going next.
In 2024, there are a shocking 5.22 billion social media users on the planet. This means that 63.8% of the global population now uses social media in some capacity.
For a bit of context, there were 'only' 4.55 billion worldwide social media users in 2021. It has grown quickly and without mercy.
Over the last 12 months, there were 256 million new users who joined social media networks around the globe. That's a compound annual growth rate of 5.2% -- robust but stable.
Now you, like billions of others rely on social media. Maybe you can't envision life without it!
Social Media Won't Capture People Much Longer
The more people use social media, the less time they spend on it.
Average social media users in 2024 will spend 143 minutes per day using these platforms. That equates to over 2 hours.
This is surprisingly down from the high of 2 hours and 31 minutes daily in Q3 2022.
Social networks are being opened throughout the day, but most of the time for a very short period. It feels like the novelty has worn off.
Nevertheless, social media still consumes a sizeable chunk of the average person's waking life. Think about how you use it daily. Those minutes add up!
YouTube Reigns Supreme
YouTube is the ruler of social in 2024 by the sheer number of active users. No other site comes close.
In the second position battle WhatsApp with Facebook, but behind YouTube. But YouTube wins out among the two.
To put it into perspective, if YouTube was a country, its population would be greater than all of China and India!
A Lot of Users on TikTok and WeChat Lately
Besides the traditional top players like YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp; on the other, we mention some of the newer platforms that also achieved enormous global user base numbers in 2024.
TikTok is a prime example. That relative newcomer now boasts an ad reach of 1.69 billion 18+ adult users. It also has over 1.6 billion active mobile app users, so it is not too far behind the top dogs!
Another platform that moves the needle is WeChat. As of 2024, it has over 1.37 billion MAUs! Yet, most of WeChat's users are inside China.
Still, within the context of its home country, WeChat has tremendous ubiquity. It's woven into everyday Chinese life.
Men Are Slightly More Active Genders
Breaking it down by gender, social media use slightly favors men globally over women.
Male users account for 53.4% of the total social media users, while women stand at 46.6%, in 2024. Men still account for the majority of participants overall but that gap is closing over time.
Naturally, patterned usage varies by sex and platform. For example, Pinterest has five women for every man. Overall, wherever there is social activity, men are more active.
Millennials and Gen Z Lead the Pack
Since 2019, millennials have outstripped the boomers to become the largest demographic cohort.
Millennials (born 1981 to 1996) are the largest demographic cohort. By 2025, an expected 68.8 million millennials will use social media worldwide.
Gen Z (born 1997 to 2012) follows close behind at 56.4 million expected users. Having grown up with smartphones and social media, Gen Z lives life online.
Baby Boomers (born between 1946 to 1964), on the other hand, have the lowest social media usage levels among these generations. Only 36.9 million Boomers actively use social platforms.
Still, adoption numbers among older generations are increasing annually. These aren't just the perks beloved by teenagers and young adults; social media is an unparalleled source of communication for everyone.
Social Media Ad Spend Will Top $255 Billion by 2028
With the rise of social media, social media advertising keeps growing across the world. This is where the larger dollar amounts start to come in.
There is a forecast that global ad expenditure on social media will hit an astonishing $255.8 billion in 2028! Growth will be driven by - you guessed it - mobile.
In particular, mobile social ad spend will lead as an increasing share of ad dollars goes to mobile and desktop usage continues plummeting. Yup, mobile-first all the way in the future.
This demand for digital advertising means scale and big dollars for social media companies, and influencers. This means more sponsored content in user feeds, however.
Ad Reach of YouTube and TikTok Dominates
Advertisers can access 2.53 billion monthly users on YouTube. It is more than any other platform in the world. All of this makes it a jackpot for video advertisement.
Then, enter the new superstar of a short video - TikTok. At present, 1.69 billion adults see advertisements from it on a monthly basis. Nearly all TikTok ads are viewed on mobile devices.
There are other platforms with global reach for advertising too, such as:
· Instagram: 1.688 billion
· Facebook: 1.82 billion
· Snapchat: 632 million
Ad dollars follow eyeballs in an attention economy. Which leaves YouTube and TikTok at the front of the pack,
Final Thoughts
The next big trend to watch is the transition to mobile and the rapid growth of advertising. Today, social media is driving more than $250 billion of advertising revenue per year. Increased spending simply follows the growing global user counts.
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What trends and statistics for the year 2024 do you notice? Is the speed of change shocking you? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
