Social media and user-generated content define interactive technologies designed to create and share information, ideas, and interests among virtual communities. Social media varies by text posts, images, videos, comments, and network platforms. Social media global penetration reached 62 percent in 2024. Northern and Western Europe had the largest penetration rate, followed by Eastern Asia and Southern Europe.
Social media consistently expands, advances and grows around the world. The total number of social media users is expected to hit over 6.05 billion individuals by 2028, which would be over half of the world population.
Number of social network users worldwide as of January 2023, by region (in millions)
Further details: Visit original statistic Number of social network users worldwide as of January 2023, by region (in millions)
Asia boasts almost three billion social media users users, making it the continent with largest audience. In fact, in 2023, over 1.2 billion users were in Eastern Asia alone. China was home to over one billion social media users in 2023, and it is expected that by 2029, the number of users in the country will be close to 1.3 billion. However, India is expected to become the largest social media audience within the next few years.
Social media worldwideNumber of social media users worldwide from 2017 to 2028 (in billions)
Further details: Visit original statistic Number of social media users worldwide from 2017 to 2028 (in billions)
There is a wide range of social media, but the leading type is social networking. Whether one needs to connect with friends, to follow the news, or to expand one’s business network, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn keep attracting users. Additionally, social video platforms like YouTube and short-form sensation TikTok have been carving out their space among mainstream social networking platforms. In 2023, TikTok was estimated to count over 1.9 billion users worldwide.
Number of global TikTok usersMost popular social networks worldwide as of April 2024, ranked by number of monthly active users (in millions)
Further details: Visit original statistic Most popular social networks worldwide as of April 2024, ranked by number of monthly active users (in millions)
Facebook is the biggest existing social network with over three billion monthly active users recorded in early 2024. In 2023, Facebook's parent company Meta reported annual revenues of 133 billion U.S. dollars, more than doubling its revenues in 2018. Despite losing ground to its social video competitors, especially with young audiences, the number of Meta's Family of Apps users -Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus - has experienced a positive growth trend since 2018.
FacebookDistribution of TikTok influencers worldwide in 2022, by number of followers
Further details: Visit original statistic Distribution of TikTok influencers worldwide in 2022, by number of followers
Digital content creators and influencers are very visible on social media. Short-form videos like Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts have seen influencers generate billions of views. As of 2022, over 66 percent of content creators on TikTok had between 1,000 and 10,000 followers, while less than one percent reported having over one million followers.
Social media marketing
Statista offers a broad range of statistics, facts, and market data on social media and user-generated content. In this section, customers will find up-to-date information on the number of social media users, mobile user shares, and data surrounding online user demographics and behavior.
The platform provides industry data for the world’s most popular social media platforms and apps. It covers key social media metrics, ranging from reach and penetration rates of leading social networks to revenue figures and engagement rates. Breakdowns of the most-followed accounts and channels are also available to provide further insights into the latest social media trends and technologies.
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