• Productivity • Well-being •3 min read
How many people use social media? What is the most active age group on social media? And what platforms are used the most in 2024? Let’s have a look at the latest research done globally and in the USA.
Highlights of Social Media Use
Globally
There are 5.07 billion social media users worldwide (as of April 2024). For comparison – there are 8.1 billion people in the world. That means nearly 63% of the global population uses social media [1].
Globally, people spend an average of 2 hours 24 minutes per day using social media [1].
Each user is active on 6.7 different platforms each month [1].
That corresponds to annual social media growth of 5.4 % [1].
In The United States
There are 239 million social media users in the USA as of January 2024. That is 70.1 % of the total population [2].
On average, Americans spend 2 hours and 14 minutes per day using social media, or 10 minutes less than the global average user [3].
The average American checks their mobile phone 159 times a day [3].
46% of Americans say they watch more user-generated content on social media than they watch movies and television on streaming services [3].
Social Platforms People Use The Most
Facebook is the leading social platform with over 3 million monthly active users worldwide.
Second most popular social platform is YouTube with 2.5 million monthly active users.
Instagram and WhatsApp rank third with 2 million monthly users followed by TikTok with 1.58 million monthly active users [4].
Social Media Use By Age Groups
Young people spend more time on social media. Daily time spent on social media for 16 – 24-year-old females reaches 3 hours and 4 minutes per day. The number is slightly lower for males of the same age group being 2 hours and 37 minutes.
Time spent on social media decreases with age, landing at 1 hour and 43 minutes for females between the ages of 55 – 64. For males in the same age group, the time goes down to 1 hour 32 minutes [3].
Platforms used the most by youngsters between 18 – 29 years of age are Snapchat – 40% of respondents report using it – followed by BeReal and TikTok used by 35% of people in this age group [5].
Reasons for Using Social Media
The three most common reasons for using social media:
Nearly 50% of social media users go to social media to keep in touch with friends and family, 38% of users use social media to fill their spare time, and 30% to read news stories.
Another two top reasons are finding content (e.g. articles and videos) and seeing what’s being talked about with nearly 30% of people seeking social media for this purpose.
Surprisingly, the least common motivator for users is posting about their own lives [1].
Sources:
[1] DATAREPORTAL: Global Social Media Statistics
[2] DATAREPORTAL: Digital 2024 – USA
[3] Exploding Topics: Social Media Usage
[4] Statista: Global Social Networks Ranked By Number of Users
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