10 Most Popular Social Media Platforms in 2024 [Apr 2024 Update]

Before launching your social media marketing strategy for your ecommerce business, you need to first get an overview of the distribution of social media usage. Given the growing penetration and usage of social media these days, you should start your marketing efforts by focusing on the platforms where you can find most of your target audience. To do that, you need to find out which social media platform has the largest user base.

Social media rankings: key takeaways

• As of April 2024, Facebook tops the list of the most popular social media platforms by user count, with close to 3.1 billion users worldwide.
• Four of the 10 most popular social media platforms are owned by Meta. These are Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger.

Most popular social media platforms: ranked by number of active users

Which social media platform has the largest user base in 2024?

The latest statistics show that Facebook continues to reign strong as the king of social media, with 3.07 billion active users in 2024. That means that nearly three out of every five of the estimated 5.17 billion social media users across the world are active users of Facebook. 

Facebook’s statistics and its social media ranking say it all. Not only is it the social media platform with the most active users, but it also ranks among apps that consumers spend the most amount of time on. Global Android users spend 19 hours and 27 minutes per month on the Facebook app.

Second on the list of the most popular social media platforms in 2024 is YouTube, with just over 2.5 billion active users—81.7% of the number of Facebook users. 

Given that 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute worldwide, it may seem like an uphill task to get your video noticed. But also consider these YouTube statistics: one billion hours of video on YouTube are watched daily and one-quarter of people say they discover new products through YouTube ads. 

The third- and fourth-most popular social media platforms are WhatsApp and Instagram, with two billion active users each. Incidentally, both are owned by the same parent company as Facebook: Meta (previously Facebook).

Further down the list are TikTok and WeChat, China’s version of WhatsApp, with 1.58 billion and 1.34 billion global users, respectively. These six social networks are the only ones boasting over a billion active users worldwide.

WeChat is followed by Facebook Messenger, another Meta-owned entity, with 1.01 billion users worldwide. This social media ranking paints a clear picture of Meta’s dominance. Of the seven most popular social media platforms, more than half are its entities—namely Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger.

Telegram, one of the most popular messaging apps worldwide, ranks next, with 900 million users worldwide. Snapchat and Douyin, the version of TikTok available in China, round out the rankings of the most popular social media platforms, with 800 million and 755 million active users, respectively.

Want to Learn More?

Popular Social Media Platforms FAQ

What are the social media trends for 2024?

• Augmented Reality: Augmented reality (AR) will continue to be a major trend in 2024, with more businesses and organizations utilizing AR to engage with their customers on social media.
• Video Content: Video content will remain a key trend in 2024, with more businesses creating interactive and engaging videos for their social media accounts.
• Chatbots: Chatbots will become more popular, with more businesses and organizations using chatbots to answer customer questions and provide support.
• Social Shopping: Social shopping will also become increasingly popular, as businesses use social media to showcase their products and services and allow customers to purchase directly from their social media accounts.
• Influencer Marketing: Influencer marketing will continue to be a powerful tool for businesses in 2024, as they leverage the reach and authority of influencers to promote their products and services.
• Social Advertising: Social media advertising will continue to be an important part of any social media strategy in 2024, as businesses target specific audiences with ads tailored to their interests.

Which social media platform is best for marketing 2024?

That depends on the type of marketing you are looking to do and who your target audience is. Generally, the most popular social media platforms for marketing in 2024 are expected to be Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and YouTube.

What is the next big social media site?

It is hard to predict what the next big social media site will be, as the popularity of different sites can change quickly and unexpectedly. However, there are a few potential contenders that are gaining traction, including TikTok, Vero, and MeWe.

What is the most active social media platform 2024?

It is impossible to predict which social media platform will be the most active in 2024. However, some of the most popular social media platforms in 2023 were Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok, and it is likely that these platforms will remain popular in 2024.