70+ Must-Know Social Media Statistics in 2025

We all know that social media has transformed into a global powerhouse, influencing everything from how we shop to how we engage with news.

The latest social media statistics reveal insights into our daily digital habits, from TikTok’s skyrocketing popularity to Instagram’s domination among younger users.

But it’s not all fun and filters—these platforms are reshaping industries and altering behaviors worldwide.

Social media and statistics have never been more intertwined, offering a roadmap for brands, individuals, and creators to navigate this space. This is why we’ve prepared a user-friendly compilation of the latest trends and social media data.

Ready to uncover the trends driving billions of users? Let’s explore the numbers.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

1. Social Media Statistics Highlights
2. Global Social Media Usage Trends
3. The Power of Social Media in Marketing & Advertising
4. Content Trends
5. The Evolution of News Consumption
6. Social Media's Impacts on Mental Health: A Growing Concern
7. The Bottom Line
8. FAQs
9. References

Show Full Guide

Table of Contents

1. Social Media Statistics Highlights
2. Global Social Media Usage Trends
3. The Power of Social Media in Marketing & Advertising
Show Full Guide
4. Content Trends
5. The Evolution of News Consumption
6. Social Media's Impacts on Mental Health: A Growing Concern
7. The Bottom Line
8. FAQs
9. References

Global Social Media Usage Trends

Social media platforms are central to digital interaction, making their growth and usage patterns important to understand.

Insights into social media usage statistics and consumption trends can guide decisions by revealing where people are spending time online and how they interact with content.

Whether it’s analyzing social media by demographic or identifying the percentage of social media users on specific platforms, these trends provide a valuable roadmap.

Social Media Users By Platform

In January 2024, 16.5% of internet users aged 16 to 64 said Instagram is their top choice. This is more than double the 7.4% who picked TikTok.

Facebook is also still strong. It’s the preferred platform for 12.8% of working-age internet users, showing that it is still ahead of TikTok when it comes to user preference.

TikTok, however, is catching up quickly. Its 7.4% preference in 2024 is a big improvement, increasing by 21% (+1.3 percentage points) since last year.

Insights into social media users by platform show that Facebook is still the favorite of Millennials, Gen Xers, and Baby Boomers (GWI, 2024).

The preferences of different age groups highlight key insights into social media by demographic:

The Rise of TikTok

TikTok is at the forefront of social media consumption statistics, with users spending an average of 34 hours per month on the app in Q3 2023 (Data Reportal, 2024).

This is significantly higher than Instagram, where users spend an average of 15 hours and 50 minutes per month—less than half the time spent on TikTok.

In fact, the average TikTok session lasts 5 minutes and 56 seconds (Data Reportal, 2024).

This is more than twice as long as Instagram’s 2 minutes and 44 seconds. However, Instagram users open the app more often, with 347.8 sessions per month compared to TikTok’s 343.7 sessions, dominating social media traffic statistics.

TikTok also remains the most engaging social media platform, even though its engagement rate has dropped significantly compared to last year (RivalIQ, 2024).

According to the latest social media usage report, here’s how platforms compare in engagement rates for 2024:

Statistics on social media users in the world reveal that engagement on TikTok is especially strong in regions like Africa, Western Asia, and Southeast Asia (Data Reportal, 2024).

• Africa: TikTok’s adult audience is 72% larger than Instagram’s.
• Southeast Asia: TikTok users spend significantly more time on the app than Instagram users in this region.

Despite TikTok’s strong engagement rates, it continues to have a relatively low posting frequency compared to other platforms (RivalIQ, 2024).

Here’s a breakdown of the posting frequency across different platforms:

The Power of Social Media in Marketing & Advertising

In today’s digital world, social media is one of the most effective tools for businesses and marketers.

Having access to social media and statistics allows companies to create smarter strategies, while data on social media usage allows them to target their audience more effectively.

By analyzing social media traffic statistics, marketers can refine their campaigns and achieve better results in a competitive market.

Key Benefits of Social Media Use in Marketing

Marketers continue to see significant results from social media platforms (Social Media Examiner, 2024).

Here’s a breakdown of the main benefits noted in 2024:

1. Improved brand visibility: A notable 83% of marketers said social media helped them gain more exposure for their brands.
2. Increased website traffic: Around 73% of marketers reported higher website traffic through their social media efforts. Facebook and LinkedIn were key platforms for driving this result.
3. Generating leads: Social media remains a valuable tool for finding potential customers. Over half of marketers (65%) were successful in this area, with LinkedIn and Facebook being the top platforms for lead generation, supported by data on social media usage.
4. Building loyal fans: Social media is also useful for creating strong fan communities, with 62% of marketers saying that they 62% successfully engaged loyal audiences on Instagram and Facebook.
5. Better sales results: Slightly over half of marketers (52%) said that social media marketing has helped them improve sales. Facebook and Instagram played a big role in turning brand visibility into revenue.

Evolving Advertising Landscape: Exploring Spending

In Q3 2024, social media statistics worldwide show that ad costs started to stabilize while impressions and clicks continued to grow (Skai.io, 2024).

• Impressions increased by 8% YoY, driven by more use of display-based ad formats.
• Clicks grew by 4% YoY, showing better audience interaction with ads.
• Ad spending rose by 5% YoY, though at a slower pace than in past years.

The cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) and click-through rate (CTR) actually decreased in Q3 2024 compared to Q3 2023 (Skai.io, 2024).

CPM went down by 3%, while CTR went down by 4%.

However, although Facebook’s CPM went down, Instagram’s rose considerably (Skai.io, 2024).

Facebook saw an 11% drop YoY, while Instagram’s CPM rose by 15%, reflecting Instagram’s higher-value audience.

Influence of Social Media on Consumer Purchasing Behavior

In fact, social media users worldwide find the platforms highly useful for discovery and reviews: 67% use them to discover new brands, and 70% rely on them for reviews to confirm a company’s credibility before making a purchase.

In fact, 32% of consumers reported being influenced by Instagram to make a purchase (Martech, 2024).

TikTok and Facebook both influenced 26% of consumers.

In 2024, TikTok influenced 50% of 18-24-year-olds, making it a top choice for younger shoppers (Martech, 2024).

Its influence drops significantly with age, falling to just 7% among those aged 55+.

Furthermore, 41% of 18-24-year-olds said Instagram impacts their purchases (Martech, 2024).

This figure drops to 10% for those aged 55 and older.

Facebook was most influential among older age groups, impacting 31% of 45-54-year-olds and 23% of those aged 55+ (Martech, 2024).

Only 11% of 18-24-year-olds considered Facebook influential.

Older generations are less influenced by social media to make purchase decisions (Martech, 2024).

43% of people aged 55+ said no social media platform impacts their purchases, compared to just 16% of 18-24-year-olds.

• Women were more influenced by Instagram (39% of women vs. 25% of men) and TikTok (34% of women vs. 18% of men).
• Meanwhile, men were more influenced by Reddit, with 37% of men compared to 21% of women citing it as a factor.

Ultimately, by studying social media and statistics on social media usage, businesses can better understand these trends, fine-tune their strategies, and effectively target their ideal audience.

Content Trends

Social media is constantly changing, and keeping up with the latest trends has become essential for both businesses and individuals. Platforms are evolving to cater to different types of audiences, with video content standing out as the most popular format.

Analyzing social media facts and studying Gen Z social media usage statistics can provide useful insights into how audiences interact with various forms of content. For example, social media graphs clearly show that videos are now a major driver of engagement on social platforms.

Video Content: The Star of Social Media Engagement

For example, TikTok is the third-most influential platform for creating cultural trends, despite ranking 8th in global reach.

Furthermore, Instagram Reels usage has increased by 50% in the past three years, showing the growing importance of this format.

In fact, short-form videos are key for industries like music and sports (GWI, 2024).

In the US, sports highlights are the fastest-growing type of content, with a 33% increase in viewers from Q1 2022 to Q1 2024.

However, long-form content remains valuable for people looking for detailed information (GWI, 2024).

It is especially popular for fitness classes, sports analysis, and gaming videos. For example, 38% of people believe the quality of long-form videos is higher than short-form ones.

Platforms like TikTok are even testing longer uploads of up to 30 minutes, blending social media with TV-like content.

Videos play a big role in helping people discover new products (GWI, 2024).

In fact, an increasing percentage of social media users say they purchased from a brand they discovered on TikTok Shop (50% in 2024).

Live Streaming Phenomenon

Emerging social media usage trends show a rise in live streaming, with major live streaming platforms generating 19.76 billion hours watched in Q3 of 2024 (Streamscharts, 2024).

In Q3 2024, here’s the breakdown of the top platforms in live streaming:

• Among the most interesting facts about social media is that YouTube Live made up 66.7% of all live streaming watch time in Q3 2024, staying the largest platform. However, its viewership dropped by 13.6% compared to Q2. Political content became the most-watched category, overtaking entertainment.
• Twitch accounted for 25% of total watch time, keeping its position as a leading platform. Categories like “Just Chatting” and games like Grand Theft Auto V were the most popular. Unlike YouTube Gaming, Twitch maintained stable viewership without significant losses.
• Kick grew by 15.6% in Q3 and passed 200 million hours watched in two consecutive months. The platform gained popularity in regions like MENA and Latin America.
• AfreecaTV increased its watch time by 50%, dominating social media usage by country in South Korea. It had a record-breaking 141.5 million hours watched in September, driven by esports and entertainment content.
• CHZZK, a new platform from Naver, reached 174 million hours watched in Q3. While growth has slowed, it remains a strong competitor in South Korea.
• Rumble grew thanks to political content, boosted by coverage of the US presidential election. Its most popular channels are focused on news and commentary.
• Trovo and BIGO Live saw drops in viewership this quarter. Trovo lost many users to Kick, while BIGO Live faced challenges in Latin America.
• SOOP, launched by AfreecaTV for South Korean users, gained unexpected popularity in Thailand. Less than 1% of its viewers are from South Korea.

Gen Z & Millennials: The Emerging Content Creators

In 2024, more than half (64%) of social media users would accept payment from brands to promote their products on their social media channels (Izea, 2024).

Those spending over five hours a day on social media are 4.4 times more likely to earn money from brands compared to others.

In fact, for Gen Z and Millennials, content creation is becoming a serious career option (Izea, 2024).

Furthermore, around 26% of social media users who are Gen Z or Millennials now identify as influencers (Izea, 2024).

Over 44% of those who consider themselves influencers have more than 10,000 followers.

These shifts highlight how social media graphs and Gen Z social media usage statistics reflect the growing influence of young creators in shaping trends across platforms.

The Evolution of News Consumption

News consumption has changed dramatically over the years, with social media platforms playing a crucial role in this transformation.

According to social media consumption statistics, more people are now discovering news through their social feeds rather than traditional websites or apps.

These insights, supported by detailed social media statistics, show how user habits are evolving and influenced by key media numbers.

Social Media as a News Hub

According to social media statistics worldwide, around 40% of people now watch or listen to political content on social media, matching the number who read it (GWI, 2024).

In the US, 50% of Gen Z and Millennials used social media to consume political content in the month prior to the survey.

With declining trust in traditional media, users are looking for more personal, authentic voices, often delivered through engaging video formats.

As a result, many users now follow news influencers more than fashion influencers, a trend reflected in social media consumption statistics. This signals a shift toward social media as a trusted news source.

In fact, in 2024, 66% of users accessed short news videos weekly, with longer formats attracting 51% (Reuters, 2024).

33% would engage more if claims were verified by third parties, showing how important it is for platforms to provide reliable news.

Decline in Traditional Social Media Platforms for News & Rise of Alternatives

Facebook’s role as a news source has continued to decline in 2024 (Reuters, 2024).

There was a 4% drop in news consumption across all countries in the last year.

Users are increasingly turning to private messaging apps and video platforms for news (Reuters, 2024).

One of the most interesting facts about social media is that since 2020, TikTok has seen an 89% rise in users logging on to stay updated with world events (GWI, 2024).

Social media growth statistics reveal that Instagram and Snapchat have also gained traction, with 15% and 13% increases, respectively, reflecting shifts in media numbers tied to younger audiences.

Concerns Over AI in Social Media News

Many audiences are skeptical about the accuracy and intent behind AI-generated news (Reuters, 2024).

Only 19% of respondents across 28 markets feel comfortable with news produced mainly by AI with minimal human oversight.

Comfort increases to 36% when AI assists human journalists rather than taking the lead.

Differences in social media usage by country also affect comfort with AI-generated news (Reuters, 2024).

In the US, 23% are comfortable with AI-generated news, compared to 10% in the UK. In Mexico, comfort with AI-generated news rises to 26%.

Furthermore, younger and more educated audiences tend to show greater comfort levels.

However, there are news topics that amplify consumers’ concerns and others where comfort levels are higher (Reuters, 2024).

The Authenticity Challenge: Real vs. Fake News

More than half (59%) of people worldwide are worried about fake news online, a 3% increase from last year (Reuters, 2024).

Countries that had 2024 elections, like South Africa (81%) and the United States (72%), showed the highest levels of concern.

Other affected topics include COVID-19 (30%), cost of living (28%), and climate change (23%).

People find it hardest to tell trustworthy content from fake content on TikTok and X compared to other social media platforms (Reuters, 2024).

27% of TikTok users and 24% of X users say it’s difficult to trust the news they see.

These platforms have faced issues with misinformation on major events, such as the Gaza conflict and COVID-19 vaccines.

Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp also face challenges, with 17-21% of users struggling to identify trustworthy news.

Social Media’s Impacts on Mental Health: A Growing Concern

The link between social media and mental health has become a significant issue.

Factors such as cyberbullying and excessive usage highlight that while social platforms connect people, they also present risks, particularly for vulnerable users—particularly younger ones.

Public Opinion on Social Media & Mental Health

Findings from a social media usage report highlight that 31% of US adults attribute negative mental health impacts to social platforms (YouGov, 2023a).

This was revealed in a survey conducted by YouGov in 2023. A smaller fraction of participants, 24% to be precise, reported a positive effect.

36% of US adults confessed to taking an extended hiatus from social media (YouGov, 2023b).

This was revealed in another survey conducted by YouGov in 2023. The hiatus was prompted by social media’s adverse effect on US adults’ mental health.

The proportion of those stating that they never felt the need for such a break remained just over half, at 55%, showing different coping strategies across social media by demographic.

Delving Deeper into Social Media Statistics: Teenage Depression

A significant portion of US adults, 35%, theorize that social media bears some responsibility for the observed rise in depression among American teenagers, particularly teenage girls (YouGov, 2023c).

A YouGov report revealed that one-third of adults (33%) believed that social media was predominantly responsible for this phenomenon, while 18% placed full responsibility on these platforms.

Statistics linking social media usage by age show that teenagers are particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts of online platforms, with growing concerns about their mental health.

Cyberbullying & Online Harassment: The Dark Side of Social Media

A report by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) uncovered that a concerning 18% of these adults experienced severe forms of harassment that entailed:

In 2023, Facebook retained its unfortunate title as the platform where harassment was most commonly reported (ADL, 2023).

According to the same ADL report, 54% of American respondents reported experiencing some form of online harassment on Facebook in the previous 12 months.

However, an encouraging trend has been noted, with harassment on this platform declining since 2021 (66% in 2021 and 57% in 2022).

Meanwhile, harassment has been increasing notably on Twitter, Reddit, TikTok, and WhatsApp since 2021 (ADL, 2023).

These social media facts underline the growing challenges users face on platforms, with younger demographics more frequently exposed to risks.

Trends in social media usage by age and the differences among platforms demonstrate how harassment disproportionately affects certain groups.

The Bottom Line

Social media isn’t just a tool; it’s a game-changer—and the numbers prove it.

Whether it’s the rise of TikTok, the enduring power of Facebook, or the shifting demographics across platforms, the latest social media statistics tell a story of constant evolution.

From boosting brand visibility to redefining mental health conversations, these platforms are shaping our lives in unexpected ways. So, as social media continues to evolve, one question remains: are you ready to leverage these trends and make your mark?

FAQs