Social media users worldwide reached 5.41 billion in 2025, making up 65.7 percent of the global population. The digital world keeps growing faster as 241 million new users joined these platforms in the last year.
Social media has become a core part of our internet experience, with 95.7 percent of internet users participating on social platforms monthly. The average person now actively uses almost 7 different social platforms each month and dedicates 2 hours and 21 minutes daily to these networks.
The numbers become mind-boggling when added together – people worldwide spend about 14½ billion hours consuming social media content daily, which equals roughly 1.7 million years of human existence.
This complete analysis breaks down social media's user base by region and gets into time spent on various platforms. We'll also look at what these 5 billion users do online. The report shows usage patterns by demographics and reveals how many platforms typical users balance in their digital lives.
How many people use social media in 2025?
Latest data shows 5.24 billion people now use social media, which makes up 63.9% of the global population. Different sources suggest slightly different numbers, with some estimates going up to 5.42 billion. These small differences show how challenging it is to count exact users in social platforms of all types worldwide.
Global user count and growth rate
Social media keeps growing, just not as fast as before. The number of users went up by 4.1% in the last 12 months. About 206 million new users joined social platforms during this time. This slower growth makes sense since social media is reaching its peak in many developed countries.
The growth story of the last decade is pretty impressive. Social media had just over 2 billion users globally in 2015. This number jumped to 3.196 billion by 2018, growing 19%. Users increased to 3.96 billion by 2020, reached 4.88 billion in 2023, and now stands at over 5.2 billion in 2025. Social media adoption has more than doubled in just ten years.
Here's how the numbers grew quarter by quarter from 2023 to 2025:
- Q1 2023: 4.76 billion users
- Q3 2023: 4.88 billion users (1.5% increase)
- Q1 2024: 5.04 billion users (1.7% increase)
- Q3 2024: 5.17 billion users (1.9% increase)
- Q1 2025: 5.24 billion users (0.5% increase)
Experts think we'll hit 6 billion users by 2028.
Social media penetration vs internet usage
Social media has become a huge part of our online life. February 2025 data shows 5.56 billion internet users worldwide (67.9% of global population). Social media users make up 94.2% of all internet users globally.
The numbers are even higher for adults online. 97.3% use at least one social network or messaging platform monthly. Many people now see social media and internet as the same thing.
Regional differences in social media use are quite striking:
- WeChat's popularity in China puts Eastern Asia on top with 97% of connected people using social media
- Northern Europe comes in strong at 81.7%
- Middle Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa lag behind with only 30% of internet users on social platforms
- Eastern and Middle Africa rank last globally with just 10.1% and 9.6% usage reach
Top countries by number of users
China leads the pack with 1.1 billion active users. India follows with 462 million users, and the United States takes third place with 239 million. These three countries make up much of the world's social media population.
Here are the top 10 countries by social media users:
|
Country |
Social Media Users (millions) |
|
China |
1,100 |
|
India |
462 |
|
United States |
239 |
|
Brazil |
144 |
|
Indonesia |
139 |
|
Russia |
106 |
|
Japan |
96 |
|
Mexico |
90.2 |
|
Philippines |
86.8 |
|
Vietnam |
72.7 |
Source: Data as of January 2024
Future predictions look interesting. China might reach 1.27 billion users by 2029, but India could take the lead with about 1.3 billion users that same year. The United States will likely grow more slowly, reaching around 335 million users by 2029.
Asia dominates the scene with nearly 60% of global social media users. Europe has about 12% of the global share, and Africa follows close behind at 11.5%. Africa keeps growing fast even though fewer people use social media there overall.
How much time do people spend on social media?
People worldwide spend 2 hours and 21 minutes on social media platforms each day. This takes up 14% of our waking hours and makes up more than one-third of total time spent online.
Average daily and weekly usage
Social media usage has dropped slightly from 143 minutes to 141 minutes daily in 2024. The numbers peaked at 2 hours and 31 minutes in early 2021 and have slowly declined since then. People now spend about 16.5 hours weekly on social platforms of all types.
Gender makes a big difference in how people use social media. Women spend more time than men on these platforms regardless of age. Young women aged 16-24 spend almost 3 hours daily on social platforms – 25 minutes more than men their age. The pattern shifts for older adults though. Women between 55-64 have added 6 minutes to their daily social media time in the last two years.
Age remains the biggest factor in social media use:
- Gen Z (16-24): About 2 hours 51 minutes daily
- Millennials: Around 2 hours 30 minutes daily
- Baby Boomers: About 1 hour 31 minutes daily
Time spent by country
Social media habits vary greatly around the world. Brazilians top the list by spending a whopping 3 hours and 49 minutes daily on social platforms. The Philippines comes in second with users spending 3 hours and 38 minutes each day.
Japanese users spend just 49 minutes per day on social media – the lowest globally. European countries generally use social media less than the global average. Germans and Brits spend between 1 hour 33 minutes and 1 hour 46 minutes daily.
Regional patterns tell an interesting story:
- South America leads with 3 hours 24 minutes daily
- African users spend 3 hours 10 minutes
- North Americans log 2 hours 6 minutes
- Asia/Oceania users average 2 hours 16 minutes
- Europeans spend the least at 1 hour 15 minutes daily
Americans spend about 2 hours and 9 minutes on social media each day – 12 minutes below the global average.
Most time-consuming platforms
TikTok has become the most addictive social platform. Users spend nearly 31 hours and 47 minutes monthly on the app. YouTube follows with 27 hours and 43 minutes per month.
Americans' daily platform usage breaks down to:
- 46 minutes on YouTube
- 38 minutes on TikTok
- 35 minutes on X (formerly Twitter)
- 31 minutes on Facebook
Facebook has lost its grip on users' attention. People spend 20% less time on the platform compared to five years ago. YouTube now captures 50% more daily attention than Facebook among American users.
Session length shows another way to measure engagement. Users stay on YouTube for about 7 minutes 37 seconds per session – longer than any other social platform. TikTok ranks second with sessions lasting 5 minutes 52 seconds.
The American Psychological Association warns that too much social media can lead to anxiety and depression. Social platforms keep adding features to encourage engagement and maximize time spent. This makes it harder for billions of daily users to find the right balance between staying connected and maintaining their digital wellbeing.
Which platforms are the most used in 2025?
Facebook leads the social media world with 3.07 billion monthly active users. Meta's flagship product dominates the global digital world and stands as the first social network to cross one billion registered accounts.
Top platforms by monthly active users
Seven major platforms now have more than one billion monthly active users in 2025:
- Facebook: 3.07 billion
- WhatsApp: 3 billion
- YouTube: 2.5 billion
- Instagram: 2 billion
- TikTok: 1.5-1.94 billion (varying estimates)
- WeChat: 1.4 billion
- Telegram: 1 billion
Meta Platforms owns four of these social media giants (Facebook, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram), each with over one billion monthly active users. This gives Meta unmatched control over the global social media ecosystem.
Telegram became the newest member of the "billion users club" after founder Paul Du Rove announced "over 1 billion monthly active users" in March 2025. The platform added about 209,000 active users daily since reaching 950 million users in July 2024.
Other major platforms have large audiences too. Snapchat serves 900 million users, Douyin reaches 750 million, and Reddit connects 695 million people.
Platform rankings by ad reach
Monthly active user counts tell only part of the story. YouTube leads social media advertising with ads reaching 2.54 billion users monthly. This number is 7.6% higher than Facebook's 2.36 billion.
TikTok takes third place with 1.94 billion potential ad viewers, while Instagram follows at 1.88 billion. These numbers show how platforms turn their user bases into advertising opportunities differently.
LinkedIn showed strong results in the United States, reaching more users than other social networks in early 2025. YouTube and Facebook came next in American advertising effectiveness.
The social media landscape keeps changing. While Telegram added 50 million users, TikTok's ad reach grew by 237 million, Instagram by 167 million, and Facebook by 106 million. Newer platforms often grow faster because they start from smaller numbers.
App usage vs self-reported usage
People often report their social media use inaccurately. Research shows that self-reported usage numbers don't match actual behavior well.
Real app usage data paints a different picture. Similarweb's data puts YouTube at the top with an index score of 100. WhatsApp (87.6) and Facebook (76.2) follow, suggesting Meta's messaging app has more active users than its social networks.
AI-powered services are making their mark in the digital world. ChatGPT's mobile app averaged more than a quarter of a billion monthly active users from September to November 2024. ChatGPT.com attracted 310-560 million unique monthly visitors who made 3.5-4.75 billion visits.
The gap between what people say and what they do makes it crucial to look at multiple data sources when studying social media trends. One study found that "behavioral scales showed mostly negligible and non-significant associations with objective data". This proves we need objective measurements to understand how people really use these platforms.
What do users actually do on social media?
The behavior of 5 billion social media users shows interesting patterns that light up what people actually do when they log in. Social experiences online keep changing as platforms evolve.
Top reasons for using social media
Entertainment rules social media activities. More than 60% of social content aims to entertain, educate, or inform users. Many organizations dedicate 80-100% of their social content to entertainment. Young users' priorities have shaped this entertainment-focused approach.
People now use social media heavily for news – a big change from its early days. TikTok has seen a 58% increase in news-seeking users. Users looking for news on Snapchat grew by 30%.
Making connections stays at the heart of social media, though methods have changed.
Message exchanges have grown a lot. TikTok users message friends and family 58% more, while Snapchat and Instagram both saw 23% jumps. This shows users want real connections – just like social media was meant for.
Shopping and brand discovery matter more now. TikTok users following brands and products increased by 71%. Yes, it is true that social platforms help people throughout their shopping experience.
Content consumption vs content creation
Young people watch more than they create, contrary to what many think. Gen Z likes to consume content over creating it on most platforms.
Each platform shows different patterns:
- Snapchat: 73% of Gen Z consume content while 58% create content
- Instagram: 70% consume versus 39% create
- Facebook: 34% consume compared to only 13% who create
Millennials show similar trends but prefer different platforms. 58% of millennials consume content on Instagram while 31% create. Facebook numbers show 48% consume versus 20% create.
Platform-specific behaviors
Users act differently on each social platform. 67% of Gen Z prefer comedy and memes on TikTok and YouTube. Entertainment-focused strategies bring better business results.
Facebook and Snapchat create unique engagement patterns. Brands find that comments between 10-99 characters work best on Facebook. Young users create content most actively on Snapchat, with 58% of Gen Z making posts.
Young users have changed how they search for information. 40% of Gen Z would rather search on TikTok or Instagram than Google. Brands must think over how to be found across platforms.
Social media professionals now focus on listening more than broadcasting. 62% of social marketers use social listening tools. Listening ranks as the second-highest priority for organizations, just behind direct audience engagement.
How social media usage varies by age and gender
Social media usage patterns in 2025 vary significantly by age and gender. Each demographic group shows unique behaviors and habits on different platforms. The data reveals fascinating trends about how different generations use social media.
Demographic breakdown of users
Millennials lead the pack as the most active social media users. Statistics show 69.2% will use social platforms in 2025. Young Gen Z women spend the most time online with 2 hours and 59 minutes daily. Millennial women come in second at 2 hours and 50 minutes per day.
Social media remains popular with users of all ages. Two-thirds of Gen Z, Millennials, and Baby Boomers check their accounts daily. The next wave of users, Gen Alpha (born after 2010), will grow from 15.9% in 2025 to 40.3% by 2029 as they start using smartphones.
Platform priorities by age group
Different generations have clear platform favorites:
- Gen Z (18-29): YouTube (93%), Instagram (76%), Facebook (68%), Snapchat (65%)
- Millennials (30-49): YouTube (94%), Facebook (78%), Instagram (66%), Pinterest (43%)
- Gen X (50-64): YouTube (86%), Facebook (70%), Instagram (36%), LinkedIn (30%)
- Baby Boomers (65+): YouTube (65%), Facebook (59%), Pinterest (22%), Instagram (19%)
Content appeals vary by age too. Young users love entertainment and trends. Older users value family and friend connections. To name just one example, 58.1% of users over 65 use social media to stay connected with loved ones. This number drops to 48.3% for users aged 16-24.
Gender-based usage trends
Men make up the majority of users on most major platforms in 2025. X/Twitter shows the biggest gender gap with 63.7% male users. Facebook (56.7%), LinkedIn (56.9%), and TikTok (55.7%) attract more men, while Instagram (52.7%) and Snapchat (50.7%) have a more balanced mix.
Women spend more time on social platforms than men at every age. Young women aged 16-24 spend 25 minutes more daily on social media than men their age.
Men and women show different content interests. Men are twice as likely to follow sports content (30.1% of male users vs 16.7% of female users). Young women lead in following influencers – 30.8% of women aged 16-24 follow these accounts compared to just 4% of men aged 65+.
These demographic patterns shape how platforms adapt their strategies to reach users in a variety of segments.
How many platforms do people use and how often?
Social media users today spread their time between 6.83 different platforms each month. This behavior shows how people no longer stay loyal to just one app. The way users and marketers need to direct their efforts has become more complex because of these multi-platform patterns.
Average number of platforms per user
People now use almost 7 platforms every month, which has steadily grown over the last several years. Regional differences tell an interesting story. The United Arab Emirates leads the world as users there access 8.62 platforms monthly. Users from the Philippines and Malaysia come next with 8.36 and 8.12 platforms respectively.
Japanese users keep their social media habits simple with 3.5 platforms monthly. South Korea has high social media adoption rates but ranks among the lowest when it comes to platform variety.
Cross-platform usage patterns
Age and gender shape how people use multiple platforms. Young women aged 16-24 lead the pack with 7.76 platforms monthly. Young men follow right behind with 7.71 platforms. The numbers drop significantly for older users. Women over 65 use 3.64 platforms while men in this age group access only 3.28.
Users split their attention between different apps instead of sticking to one platform. They typically interact with 6.5% of all social media platforms available in their country.
User overlap and platform loyalty
Platform loyalty keeps dropping as people turn to specialized networks for different needs. Users now have 7.2 accounts on different platforms, up from 6.8 in 2024. Gen Z switches platforms based on their mood and treats social apps like tools they can swap out depending on what they want to do.
Millennials show even less attachment to social platforms and quickly switch to better options when they appear. This multi-platform behavior creates challenges for marketers. However, research shows that smart spending on a few major platforms can reach just as many people as trying to be everywhere at once.
Conclusion
Social media has become woven into our lives, with 5.2 billion users spending 14.5 billion hours every day on different platforms. These numbers show that almost two-thirds of people worldwide use social networks as part of their daily routine.
The rise of social media keeps showing interesting patterns. Facebook leads with over 3 billion users, while platforms like TikTok and Telegram are gaining ground faster than ever. People now use about 7 different platforms each month. They spread their time across multiple networks instead of sticking to just one.
Screen time looks different depending on who you are and where you live. Women spend more time on social media than men, especially younger women. The differences between countries tell an interesting story too. Brazilian users spend four times more time on these platforms than Japanese users. Our cultural background substantially shapes how we behave in the digital world.
Entertainment drives how people use social media today. Users look for fun, learning, and information, which makes up 60% of all content. These platforms started as ways to connect with friends but now serve as news outlets, shopping centers, and search tools. Young people often choose TikTok and Instagram over Google.
The gap between watching and creating content tells another story. Young users don't create as much content as we might think. Take Snapchat – even though Gen Z creates more content there than anywhere else, only 58% make posts while 73% just browse.
This detailed study shows how age and gender affect platform choices. YouTube appeals to everyone, but Snapchat and TikTok attract younger users. Gender plays a role too – most big platforms will have more male users by 2025.
Social media has grown beyond its original purpose of connecting people. While staying in touch matters, especially to older users, these platforms now do so much more. The lines between entertainment, news, shopping, and socializing keep getting blurrier as networks add more features.
Looking forward, these usage patterns help both users and marketers navigate the digital world better. The numbers make it clear – social media has changed how billions of people talk, learn, and spend time online.
FAQs
Q1. What percentage of the global population uses social media in 2025?
As of 2025, approximately 63.9% of the world's population, or 5.24 billion people, are active social media users. This represents a significant portion of the 5.56 billion global internet users.
Q2. Which social media platform has the most users in 2025?
Facebook remains the most popular social media platform in 2025, with over 3 billion monthly active users. It continues to be the first and only social network to surpass one billion registered accounts.
Q3. How much time do people spend on social media daily?
On average, people spend 2 hours and 21 minutes per day on social media platforms. This accounts for about 14% of waking hours and more than one-third of total online time.
Q4. How many social media platforms does the average person use?
The typical social media user engages with approximately 6.83 different platforms each month. This number varies by region, with users in the United Arab Emirates using the most platforms (8.62) and Japanese users the least (3.5).
Q5. What is the primary reason people use social media in 2025?
Entertainment has become the dominant reason for social media use, with over 60% of social content aimed at entertaining, educating, or informing users. This is followed by news consumption, connecting with others, and shopping or brand discovery.
