The 7 Most Popular Social Media Platforms: Figures And Statistics

Today the internet is full of an infinite number of possibilities for our entertainment. However, there is no doubt that some of the most popular and most used Social Media Platforms. These have evolved in such a way that they influence not only personal and social connections, but also the way of doing business. Keep reading and don’t miss the most used Social Media Platforms ! 

The social media trend is on the rise and adds users every day. You also spend a good part of your time with them, right? But, if you want to make the most of them in your work, you have to be more objective and specific in order to reach the ideal client. It is important to know your target audience and be creative with the content to offer, in such a way that it is more attractive and relevant to them and thus achieve the goals that are proposed.

What Are Social Media Platforms?

Social Media Platforms are a communication tool that enables the exchange of ideas and information through the web . They are based on the Internet and provide users with the ability to interact and share content such as personal information, documents, videos, and images. Users interact with Social Media Platforms through a PC, tablet or smartphone or through apps or web-based programs.

What Is The Difference Between Social Networks And Social Media?

It is very common that the terms social media and social networks are used to refer to the same thing, however, they are not.

The best way to understand the difference is knowing the concept of network and media . Social Media refers to the information we share such as articles, videos, a GIF, images, or an event update. Social networks have to do with the connection between your profile and your audience. (friends, relatives, clients, strangers).

Both terms are complementary , since the network helps you connect with people to be able to share the content that is interesting to you.

What Are The Most Used Social Media Platforms?

Facebook (87%) and YouTube (68%) lead the ranking of the most used Social Media Platforms, the latter being the one with the most young followers (76% are between 16 and 30 years old). Instagram, in third place, is the one that has gained the most followers (from 49% to 54%). In fourth and fifth place Twitter remains with 50% and Linkedin with 57%.

Below is the ranking of the most used Social Media Platforms:

1. Facebook 

We started with the most famous social network in the world, and for years it was at the top of being the most used. This social network is very attractive, it is also easy to use, interact with other users and allows various types of formats such as video, image or text. Although in recent years, it has been quite affected due to the data protection scandal.

Who uses it? Here we find the most curious fact, it is a network for the whole family, from the youngest to the oldest. This Social Network is one of the few where you can find publications from your classmates or friends and from your aunts or your parents. And it is that Facebook is the favorite social network of Millennials and Generation X.

Facebook continues to maintain its reign with 2,449 million users, although everything indicates that it is in decline. In countries like India, it has lost 10 million users in the last year, and in Spain, Instagram has positioned itself as the first .

2. Youtube

The YouTube video platform is the second most used social network, and it is mainly due to its great capacity for interaction with other networks and the boom of influencers or Youtubers. It is also one of the fastest growing in number of users and is one of the best valued along with Instagram and Spotify.

Younger users are taken to the streets, who are the ones who consume the most audiovisual content. 43% of users between the ages of 16 and 23 follow at least one influencer through YouTube.

It currently has 2,000 million users and a billion hours of video daily.

3. Instagram

Another of the most used Social Media Platforms is Instagram. And it is that this RRSS has been able to break through among the youngest, who consider it the most important social network. In fact, it already has 1 billion users.

Like Youtube, it is popular among the younger generations (between 16 and 23 years old) and for the second time in a row it is one of the networks that attracts the most new users.

The platform has been able to integrate the photography and video options in a simple and attractive way for the user. Even the option of fleeting stories has made users share content from their day to day with all their followers on a daily basis. For those looking to create eye-catching content, utilizing Instagram post templates can greatly enhance the aesthetic and engagement of their posts.

Brands have already captured this trend and use it to sell their products or services integrated into the publications of their acquaintances. According to a Metricool survey, close to 21.1% of respondents have purchased through Instagram Shopping and according to experts it will be a growing trend in the coming years.

4. TikTok

We could say that TikTok is the social network of the moment. It is an application to create and share short videos. What makes it so attractive compared to the rest is that virtually anyone can create content due to its simplicity. TikTok allows users to create and share fun videos while they sing, dance or lip-sync to their favorite songs.

This social network currently has 800 million active users worldwide. It is interesting to know that 150 million TikTok users are located in China, who mainly use the censorship-friendly version of the app, called Douyin.

On the other hand, TikTok encompasses a very young audience. 41% of users are between 16 and 24 years old and in Spain the age ranges between 16 and 25 years.

5. LinkedIn

Unlike the latest networks, LinkedIn is not as popular among the youngest, but it is not one of their priorities either. The social network LinkedIn seeks a more professional profile . Currently, it has 11 million users in Spain and most live in large cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Valencia or Seville.  

Worldwide LinkedIn has more than 610 million users, although only 303 million are active users . More than 70% of the users are from outside the United States, although this is the country with the most users in the professional network, with 150 million.

Regarding the user profile, the age range in which most of these are found is from 35 to 54 years. It is followed closely by the range of those between 25 and 34 years of age. More than 46 million registered LinkedIn users are students and recent graduates.

6. Twitter

This year, Twitter opens with worse data than last year, being the Network with the highest abandonment rate. Although it remains one of the networks with the most mentions, its awareness rate has fallen compared to the last two years. In the last four months alone, it has lost 3.1% of its community, remaining at  339.6 million Twitter users. With these figures, surprising data such as Germany, where there has been an increase of 4.4%.

Although the platform has tried to reinvent itself in the last year by increasing the character limit to 280 and adding the possibility of publishing stories like those of Instagram, among other novelties, it has not managed to stop the decline. Even so , it continues to be a notable stage for interaction and exchange of opinions on current issues and trends.

Currently, the gender of the demographic profile of the users of this platform is higher in men than in women. The vast majority of men who use this Social Network are between the ages of 25 and 49.  

7. Pinterest

Although Pinterest is one of the most unknown Social Media Platforms and one that attracts the least attention in the West, it has 322 million monthly active  users  worldwide, a figure close to the 339 million of Twitter. It increased by 29% compared to 2019.

Pinterest  is a place to share photos, infographics, videos, and anything else that interests you on the Internet. Many people use it as a catalog of ideas because of its highly personalized format that helps to organize, archive, and share your pins by theme, hobbies, etc.

How Many Users Do Social Media Platforms Have?

According to The Global State of Digital, prepared by Hootsuite and We Are Social, it is estimated that 3.484 billion people use Social Media Platforms, this represents 45 percent of the world’s population.

As for Spain, 29 million Spaniards already actively use Social Media Platforms and spend almost 2 hours a day connected to them, as reported by Hootsuite.

Our way of consuming social media has also changed. The mobile wins by a landslide when it comes to asking by what means they connect to their social profiles, 95%, compared to 91% reached by the computer and 48% of the tablets. WhatsApp, Instagram and Twitter are the most consumed through smartphones, while Facebook and YouTube win the battle on the monitor screen.

Daily Averaging Time

The average time spent by Spaniards on the RRSS per day is 58 min per day, with the youngest being the ones who upload the average, reaching one hour and 10 min. As for the most used social network , it continues to be Facebook. In addition, it is also the one that presents the most interaction, but you better not get lost because Instagram has been going strong, being the social network that has grown the most, especially among those under 23 years of age.

These data reveal, once again, how essential these platforms have become, not only for communication between people, but also for brand positioning: the study reveals that 81% of users follow them on some Social Media Platforms and for 27% it generates trust that a brand has a profile on Social Media Platforms. If we ask professionals, most of them use social media to sell more and get branding. Facebook and Instagram are the most used Social Media Platforms that present the highest advertising investment data.

Who Does Not Use Social Media Platforms?

If we look at the users who do not want to see Social Media Platforms or in painting or who say they do not plan to register in any, we will see over the next year that this trend will change. More than half of the users in the age range between 45 and 65 do not use Social Media Platforms, raising the average age to 44.6 years. There are more men (60%) than women (40%) who do not use the networks.

Types Of Social Media Platforms

Within the great web of the most used Social Media Platforms that exist, we can classify them into two depending on their point of view and objective:

Horizontal or general Social Media Platforms: they are the common ones and have users of all kinds, with diverse interests and who deal with general topics without any particular purpose, such as: Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus.

Vertical Social Media Platforms: on the other hand, this type of network has a specific and common objective for all users, it is the example of LinkedIn that has a professional nature.

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