Top 10 Social Media Apps
In a few years, there has been a lot of activity on the most prominent social networking platforms. TikTok has experienced the most substantial growth among the other social media applications. Since its launch five years ago, the video-based platform has ascended to the fifth position in terms of monthly active users. Meanwhile, Instagram has grown swiftly and is currently the fourth most popular social media platform in terms of monthly active users.
Facebook used to be the go-to place for all advertising, but now it is outdated for many users. Instagram has drawn Generation Z and Millenials, while TikTok is on the rise. Keeping this in mind, how do you pick where to focus your efforts?
Assessing which media is suitable for your target market is the best line of action. Test your presence on the appropriate social media platforms and pick which ones to concentrate on, depending on the findings.
This social media tour will take you through the most popular social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Pinterest, Reddit, YouTube, and WhatsApp.
1. Facebook
Facebook took ten months to achieve a million users and eight years to reach a billion. As of January 2022, Facebook had 2.74 billion active users and was adding 500,000 new users each day or six new users per second. Despite its vast fandom, Facebook is not the world's most visited website.
For instance, Facebook is the most popular among users aged 12 to 34, despite the fact that the percentage of this group is continuously dropping in the United States.
According to the Infinite Dial, the 58 percent of this age group's poll respondents who chose Facebook as their preferred social network in 2015 dropped to 32 percent in 2020. Instagram is the main offender. During the same period, the picture and video-sharing social network increased its share of this cohort from 15% to 27%.
Here are some more fascinating Facebook statistics:
- The country with the most active Facebook users (290 million) in India, followed by the United States (190 million) and Indonesia third (140 million).
- In the United States, 73% of Facebook users log in on a daily basis. Ninety-three percent use Facebook every week, and 98 percent visit at least once a month.
- Despite ongoing criticism of Facebook's involvement in disseminating misinformation, 36% of US individuals claim they use the network as a source of news daily.
- In the United States, the average Facebook user spends up to 38 minutes each day on the site.
2. Youtube
On its route to become not just the world's top video-sharing network but also the target of a $1.65 billion purchase by Google, the firm surmounted several technological and legal challenges. All of this happened in November 2006, barely 16 months after the company's formal start.
YouTube is also one of a select handful of social media platforms that cater to very young demographics. The following are the viewing habits of US children under the age of 11, according to a 2020 Pew Research study.
- Eighty percent of parents report that their children watch YouTube videos.
- Only 19% of parents claim their children do not watch YouTube videos.
- Moreover, half of the parents said their children viewed YouTube at least once each day.
Despite its popularity among a younger population, YouTube has some impressive statistics for reaching the older market. YouTube is used by almost three-quarters (74%) of all adults in the United States. Facebook is ranked second with 68 percent, while Instagram is ranked third with 40 percent.
Just three nations account for more than 30 percent of total YouTube traffic in national statistics. The United States with most users, at 16.4 percent. India is ranked second with 9.2 percent, while Japan is ranked third with 4.8 percent.
3. Whatsapp
WhatsApp is the only three social networking services with over 2 billion members; a milestone reached in 2020.
This unintentional growth resulted in the app dominating the free IM market and making the creators very rich - the latter due to Facebook's $16 billion purchase in 2014. Because WhatsApp has declined to include traditional advertising in its revenue strategy, the app lacks the variety of marketing options that many other social networks have. This does not, however, lessen the app's immense marketing potential for firms that utilize it as a communication tool.
Despite a recent public relations disaster caused by an ill-advised change in its privacy policy, WhatsApp continues to be the world's most popular mobile messaging service, outpacing Facebook Messenger, WeChat, QQ, Telegram, and Snapchat.
4. Instagram
Instagram's introduction of "influencers" was one of its most significant contributions to the world of digital marketing. Some users' popularity gives their profiles an "aspirational" tilt, which quickly resulted in a whole new marketing channel. Instagram's demographic caters primarily to users under 35, accounting for 71% of the app's user population.
It's also a prevalent platform for B2C marketing, with over 70% of US firms actively utilizing it as a marketing channel. Compared to its main competition, Facebook, Instagram has far higher engagement rates. Despite having similar functionality and interaction mechanisms, Instagram posts have a 23 percent greater engagement rate than photographs uploaded on Facebook.
With 140 million users apiece, the United States and India are the platform's two largest national demographics. Brazil (99 million) is placed second, Indonesia (88 million) is third, and Russia (56 million) is not on the podium.
5. Tik Tok
Launched in 2016, Culver City, California, is the headquarters. TikTok advertises itself as "the top destination for short-form mobile video," stimulating creativity and offering users pleasure.
TikTok has struck a chord, despite being the market's youngest app and has already witnessed remarkable growth. After just one year, the app became the world's fastest-growing app in 2017. Despite attempts to ban TikTok in the United States and prohibitions in India, the app has been downloaded 2 billion times globally as of 2020.
TikTok is the platform to use if you want to communicate with Generation Z. In the United States, one-quarter of the audience is a teen or younger. Those users are also very engaged; as of January 2021, TikTok spent more time per user than Facebook.
6. LinkedIn
Sunnyvale, California, is the headquarters. It was launched in 2003 with 310 million monthly active users (estimated 2019).
LinkedIn has 61 million+ members in prominent positions within its vast professional network. LinkedIn is the place to go if you want to find decision-makers who have the authority to employ your firm, stock your product, or collaborate with you.
Did you know that 44% of LinkedIn users earn more than the national average? Or that more than half of all Americans with a college degree use LinkedIn? LinkedIn is a niche social networking platform. As a result, it offers limitless possibilities for interacting with an exclusive set of people that can make a difference for your company.
7. Twitter
Twitter has its headquarters in San Francisco, California. It was launched in 2006 and has 353+ million monthly active users. If your company is in the entertainment, sports, politics, technology, or marketing industries, you're going to receive a lot of attention on Twitter.
On Twitter, companies can develop and polish their voice - there's potential to be intelligent, charming, informed, and valuable. Jump into discussions, provide value, share your own and others' material, and join the never-ending dialogue.
Twitter is another network that has garnered a lot of unwanted attention. The 280-character restriction (formerly 140 characters) does not encourage rational discourse, and the existence of millions of fake bots only helps to degrade the experience further.
On the other hand, Twitter is an unequaled resource for breaking news, fast replies, and access to your favorite sports players, celebrities, and journalists. You can even save videos from Twitter (assuming you discover any worth saving!).
8. Snapchat
The picture and video-sharing network became well-known for only showing users' submissions for a short period before deleting them. They gave each Snapchat contact a sense of immediacy that appealed to a younger generation of mobile internet users.
The app broke the norm for augmented reality filters and lenses, which imbued Snapchat conversations with a creative irreverence not seen on other social networks. Snapchat's daily active users have increased dramatically outside of the United States and Europe.
During the four years between Q4 2017, and Q4 2020, the app's usage in these two places has steadily increased. DAUs rest of the globe, on the other hand, has surged over this period, increasing from 47 million to a whopping 99 million.
Statistics that stand out in terms of demographics:
- Snapchat is used by 59% of all internet users between the age of 13 to 24.
- Snapchat has been a popular social network among teenagers and young adults since 2016.
9. Reddit
Reddit is a refuge for niche-obsessed people. Where your passions lay, you're almost sure to discover a like-minded group willing to love, teach, and mock you.
Reddit, which was invented in 2005, is one of the oldest social networks on our list, as indicated by the eerie resemblance to old-school discussion forums. They haven't harmed the platform's capacity to recruit new users, as Reddit has regularly maintained a year-on-year MAU growth rate of 30%.
Reddit flourishes in the United States, where 25% of people regularly use the network to read and exchange content. With an average visit length of 20.06 minutes - comfortably longer than Amazon, Wikipedia, Yahoo, Twitter, and eBay - Reddit.com is now the tenth most popular website in the United States.
The United States accounts for 50.8 percent of Reddit's desktop traffic, with the United Kingdom (7.85 percent) and Canada (7.76 percent) coming in second and third, respectively. Australia (4.34 percent) fails to make the podium. Reddit has over 2.2 million subreddits. This autonomy has been critical to Reddit's success. Users may build vibrant communities around some esoteric issues, which generates a passionate commitment to a site.
10. Pinterest
Even a year ago, Pinterest would not have cracked our list of the 15 most popular social networking sites and services. The image-sharing site saw a record year of growth in 2020, gaining more than 100 million monthly active users between January and December.
Important information for firms trying to advertise themselves on Pinterest is that the social media network is just now beginning to build a name for itself outside of the United States.
As of January 2021, the vast majority (about 23 percent) of the social networking platform's users live in the United States. Germany is the following closest territory, accounting for just 3.9 percent. It's worth noting that Pinterest's astonishing rise in 2020 was primarily attributable to more significant foreign usage.
In its Q4 financial report to shareholders, the business revealed a staggering 46 percent rise in foreign monthly active users (MAU). The network had a more modest domestic surge of 11% in the new MAU during the same period. Female users have historically dominated Pinterest. Currently, the gender split is roughly 60/40 percent. This disparity is closing, with the platform projecting a 50% rise in male users by 2020.
Conclusion
Learning as much as you can about a platform before advertising your company on it is vital to social media marketing success. Specific platforms are ideal for one brand due to differences in functions and features. At the same time, many legacies and civilizations draw a diverse variety of listeners. Develop a deep grasp of all of these factors, and your next social media campaign will be far more likely to provide the results your firm deserves.