We cannot imagine the world without : a statement that is truer than ever because the Covid-19 lockdown has further boosted the use of these digital platforms. In this context of growth of , Facebook has managed to remain in the leadership of the social networks with the most users in the world, according to the latest report made by We Are Social and Hootsuite.
Facebook touches the 3,000 million users worldwide
One more year, the social network with the most users in the world is Facebook. If in 2021 the report indicated that Facebook had 2,740 million users in January 2021, 11.8% more than in 2020, for this 2022 report Mark’s social network now accumulates 2,910 million (+6.2%). Youtube and WhatsApp They accompany her for another year on the podium.
Among the first places in the table are networks with a strong presence in specific geographical areas such as Douyin, QQ, and Kuaishou (a Chinese video social network, similar to Youtube) , highly prevalent in Asia.
TikTok, undisputed leader in growth
Despite the , Zuckerberg still brings together most of the social networks with the most users in the world: WhatsApp (2,000 million users), Messenger (988 million users) and Instagram (1,478 million users), all of them in the top 7 of this ranking. In the case of Instagram, the rise is remarkable: 250 million more users (+21%).
In general, the top positions in the ranking remain stable year after year, with as the great protagonist at the level of growth: the social app of Chinese origin already has 1,000 million users, 45% more than in 2021.
For its part, and after years of stagnation, this time Twitter registers a great growth (+23%), which leads him to reach 436 million users.
Favorite social networks of users
As for the public’s favorite social networks, WhatsApp is preferred by 15.7% worldwide, followed by Instagram (14.8%) and Facebook (14.5%) among the first three places. , the «WhatsApp of China» appears in fourth place with 11.4%, while douyin, the version of TikTok exclusively for the Chinese marketexceeds the TikTok global in preference with 5.1% of the Chinese version compared to 4.3% worldwide. Discord It appears for the first time in the first places of this type of rankings worldwide.
Social media users by age
If we go to the classification by age, we can appreciate that Instagram is the favorite app of women between the ages of 16 and 24 (25.6%), as well as in those between 25 and 34 years old (17.8%). For their part, women between 35 and 44 (15.7%) and those between 45 and 54 years old (18%) prefer Facebook more, while those between 55 and 64 years old (20.4%) like WhatsApp more.
In the case of men, those between 16 and 24 years old (22.8%) prefer Instagram; For its part, Facebook is the favorite of the male population between 25 and 34 years old (15.9%), as well as those between 35 and 44 years old (17.3%). For the oldest (men between 45-54 years old, 19.3%, and those between 55-64 years old, equivalent to 19.6%), WhatsApp is their main priority in terms of social networks.
Average social media usage time
During 2021, daily social media usage time rose 1.4% globally, reaching 2 hours and 27 minutes, exceeding the average of 2 hours and 25 minutes that has been maintained in the last two years (2019 and 2020).
Regarding the average usage time, the youngest users are the ones who make the most intensive use of them: eBetween 16 and 24 years connect to social networks 3 hours, 13 minutes (for women) and 2 hours 43 minutes (for men). For their part, women between the ages of 25 and 34 spend an average of 2 hours and 50 minutes on the networks, while men of the same age range connect for 2 hours and 34 minutes. Those who spend the least amount of time on the networks are adults aged 55 to 64: women of these ages are on the networks for 1 hour and 33 minutes on average, while men only spend 1 hour and 18 minutes.
Countries with the most social media users
The United Arab Emirates is the country with the most use of social networks in 2021 in relation to its population, registering 106.1% use of these platforms in the last year, followed by Malaysia (91.7%), South Korea (91.2%), Sweden (90.8%) and the Netherlands (90.7%). Spain scale positions from 30th place the previous year and it is already the eleventh country with the most users on social networks in 2021, with 87.1% of its population: 7 points more than in 2021.
Why do we use social media?
Keep in touch with family and friends (47.6%) was the main reason many turned to social media in 2021, with second place being spend free time (36.3%), read the news (35.1) in third place, search content (31.6%) in fourth place and see the most commented (29.5%) in position number 5.
Most Followed Account Types
Regarding the types of accounts that are most followed on social networks, 45.5% of global users follow family, friends, or people they know. For their part, 29.9% follow accounts of actors, comedians, etc., while 28.9% gave “follow” in 2021 to entertainment accounts, parodies and memes. Likewise, 28.4% opted to follow musicians, singers, bands, etc.; 27.7% are aware of the news from the accounts of TV programs or channels and 25.1% follow restaurants, chefs and professionals related to the world of gastronomy.
Bonus track: what happened in the previous years
This is not the first year that we have shared the data from this study with you. What is clear is that Facebook reigns in the social networks of the world, but even when? Is there any social platform capable of posing an immediate threat to Facebook?
Let’s see the results of 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021
2021
In the 2021 report, Facebook got 2.74 billion users in January 2021, 11.8% more than in 2020. For its part, YouTube was in second place with 2,291 million users, 14.5% more than the previous year. The pandemic boosted the use of Instagram that It went from sixth place in 2020 (1,000 million users), to fourth place in 2021 with a total of 1,220 million users (+22%). However, this is also because WeChat, China’s most popular instant messaging platform which was ranked fifth, showed only slight growth, going from 1,151 million users in 2020 to 1,213 in 2021.
The The United Arab Emirates continued with its leadership in percentage of social network users with respect to its total population, with 99%, followed closely by South Korea which rose one position this year with 89.3% of its population connected to social networks. Taiwan fell to third place with 88.1%. The Netherlands (88%) and Malaysia (86%) closed the top 5. As for Spain, quickly rose from 30th place in 2020 to 14th with 80% of its users connected at least one social network that 2021.
2020
In the 2020 edition, Facebook reached 2,449 million users, 7.8% more than the previous year. As you can see, in second place is Youtube, that had 2 billion users.
In 2020, the United Arab Emirates maintained its leadership in the percentage of social network users with respect to the total population, with 99%, followed by Taiwan, with 88%, South Korea (87%), Malaysia (81%) and Singapore (79%).
In the case of Spain fell to 30th place:62% of the population used social networks, an increase of two points compared to the figure for the previous year. Among the countries with the lowest social media penetration rate are North Korea, Eritrea (0.6%) and Sudan (0.7%).
2019
2018
You can consult all the data on the very complete Hootsuite and WeAreSocial 2018 report in this Slideshare presentation:
And in 2017?
According to the report Digital In 2017 Facebook, with 1,871 million, was already the social network with the highest number of monthly active users in the world. More than a half, 55% used the social network daily. To this we must add that the second and third most used social platforms worldwide were Messenger (Facebook’s messaging app) and WhatsAppalso owned by the social network created by Mark Zuckerberg. Instagramalso part of Facebook since 2012, was in eighth place, with 600 million users.
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