Everyone is obsessed with social media! Take a look at these social media usage statistics they will blow your mind.
Part of a successful digital advertising plan is your social media presence.
If you need numbers to prove the value of social media marketing, you’ve come to the right place. There are now 4.55 billion active social media operators worldwide, up 9.9% yearly.
That means 400 million new people signed up for at least one social media account last year.
The most important social networks worldwide are Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp and Instagram.
Read on to discover more reasons why your business needs social media marketing.
Table of Contents
How many people use social networks every month?
As of 2021, 84% of the US populace uses at least one social network.
Globally, the active number of users of social networks is 57.6% of the total population. This means that more than half of the world regularly uses at least one social network monthly.
The seven largest social networks have over a billion monthly active users.
Facebook tops the list of the greatest used social networks, followed by YouTube and the rest of the metaverse: WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger.
The average number of monthly users in 2021
The following are the monthly user statistics for the world’s top 15 social media apps in 2021:
- Facebook – 2.89 billion
- YouTube: 2.29 billion
- WhatsApp – 2.00 billion
- Instagram: 1.39 billion
- Facebook Messenger: 1.3 billion
- WeChat (Weixin) – 1.25 billion
- TikTok (Doujin) – 1 billion
- LinkedIn – 800 million*
- QQ – 591 million
- Sina Weibo – 566 million
- Telegram – 550 million
- Snapchat – 538 million
- Kuaishou – 506 million
- Twitter – 463 million
- Pinterest – 454 million
* Total Members – number of vigorous monthly users listed.
In the US, top social media platforms used by a percentage of adults include the following:
- Youtube – 81%
- facebook-69%
- Instagram – 40%
- Pinterest – 31%
- LinkedIn – 28%
- Snapchat – 25%
- Twitter – 23%
- WhatsApp – 23%
- Tiktok – 21%
- Reddit – 18%
- Next door – 13%
Platform-specific statistics
Check out this 2021 social media industry leaders list and some of their top performance stats.
1. Facebook
Facebook is at the top of this tilt, aimed at a good reason. With over 2.89 billion monthly users, not only have they knocked out the competition, but 69% of US adults have used Facebook at least once in the past year.
Facebook stats for 2021 tell a story with many chapters focused on younger generations.
More than 53% of Facebook users worldwide are in the 18-34 age group, with 25-34-year-olds leading the way at 31.5% and 18-24-year-olds at 22.7%.
Companies also benefit greatly from Facebook. More than 200 million productions use Facebook to reach their customers.
No wonder, considering the average Facebook user clicks around 12 ads a month.
If you’re looking for more engagement with your brand, definitely give Facebook a try.
2. Youtube
Google may be the leading search engine. Nevertheless, YouTube is the world’s second most popular search engine and website.
People can’t stop watching YouTube. More than 2 billion registered users monthly watch a staggering 1 billion hours of video daily. In the United States, 62% of YouTube operators visit YouTube daily.
YouTubers upload more than 500 hours of content every minute. That’s not just a lot of content but also many commercials and promotions.
What will make advertisers happy is that YouTube advertising works, reaching 2.29 billion YouTube users.
3. Instagram
Instagram now connects over a billion users looking to share and create.
People also love interacting with businesses on Instagram. More than 200 million businesses receive visits from Instagram users every day. You can see why many businesses are now turning to Instagram to promote their brand.
According to Instagram, 90% of users follow a brand and 87% act when they see a product.
Also interesting are the Instagram data on how the public behaves when shopping. For example, 70% of shoppers turn to Instagram for their next purchase, and more than 130 million Instagram users tap shopping posts monthly.
Additionally, 86% of Instagram users are likely to rate a product because it’s worth sharing, and 50% of shoppers have visited a website after seeing a product on Instagram Stories.
4. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is global. Known for being a great way to present yourself professionally and build business relationships, the site has a wide reach. The professional network has more than 800 million users from more than 200 countries.
In a digital trust survey, US consumers ranked LinkedIn as the platform most protective of their confidentiality and data.
According to Statista, 59.2% of LinkedIn employers are in the 25-34 age group, and 56.6% are male.
LinkedIn is also good for B2B companies. According to a survey by LinkedIn, they were the #1 chief generation platform.
5. Pinterest
Pinterest isn’t just for preparing your wedding or storing 10 million recipes you’ll never cook. It’s for almost everything you can think of, which is one of the reasons people use the site.
More than 459 million people turn to Pinterest for inspiration, and 80% of weekly Pinterest users have discovered a new brand or product while browsing the network feed.
And Pinterest has done quite well. Incredibly, the company’s revenue rose 43% in the third quarter of 2021.
However, Pinterest users generally have a purpose. Compared to everyone else, Pinterest outperforms the competition regarding intent. That’s because 55% of users visit the app to search for products.
6. Tiktok
With 1 billion monthly active users, 60% of whom are between the ages of 18 and 34, there’s no denying that TikTok has a place in the marketing mix for many businesses.
Top categories based on hashtag views include entertainment, dance, fitness/sports, home renovation/DIY, beauty, and fashion. Makes that can create content that fits into one of these categories will likely increase their visibility with the TikTok audience.
How important is TikTok for e-commerce? According to an Adweek & A.m. Consult survey, 15% of adults and 36% of Gen Z TikTok users have made a purchase based on content viewed on TikTok.
Get started with TikTok content with tips based on data from your platform.
7 . Snapchat
Snapchat’s potential advertising audience and user base of 538 million makes it a great platform for brands, especially brands that market to 13-24-year-olds, who make up over 58% of Snapchat’s user base.
According to Snapchat, 306 million people routine the platform daily and spend an average of 30 minutes online. Since 2019, more than 210 million snapshots have been taken every day.
Snapchat advertising is growing. In the third quarter of 2021, Snapchat’s revenue surpassed $1 billion.
Conclusion
At the beginning of 2022, we will see new trends, features and much more on social networks.
Defined by the ability to move with the times, connect and engage, these social media titans will likely continue to drive the market.