These Social Media Usage Stats Might Surprise You

Social media seems to have taken over the world, but we’re not complaining! From Instagram to Twitch to TikTok, there is certainly no shortage of content for us to consume and in these coronavirus times, we need it now more than ever. Whether you use social media as an escape from daily life, a way to keep in touch, or as your go-to marketing platform, we bet you didn’t know these social media usage stats. 

Instagram

1. Instagram has over 1 billion active monthly users.  With over 500 million of those accounts active daily, it’s no surprise that Instagram is one of the most popular platforms with insightful social media usage stats. With audiences for every market, Instagram is one of the best places to advertise to a wide variety of people.
2. Instagram users spend on average 53 minutes per day on the platform.  I don’t know about you but I definitely spend WAY more than 53 minutes a day on Instagram…
3. 80% of users say that Instagram helps them decide whether to buy a product or service.  Instagram can help people decide this in 3 ways. Either the user follows the brand itself, sees advertisements for the brand on their news feed, or follows someone that either promotes the brand or just talks about their experience with the product or service.
4. Instagram still holds the record for most followers.  Instagram’s own account has 338 million followers, making it the most followed account on its own platform. The other most followed accounts include:

1. 1. Cristiano Ronaldo – 208M
   2. Ariana Grande – 177M
   3. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – 175M
   4. Selena Gomez – 171M
   5. Kylie Jenner – 166M

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Aakash Nihalani’s (@aakashnihalani) art exists at the intersection of sculpture, painting and street art. “Everything is analog and physically exists in real space, but the work creates a dialogue between the virtual and the real, a doorway between art and life,” says the artist, who uses a variety of mediums, from masking tape to metal. “As a kid, I was drawn to magic tricks, in awe of how they exploit the malleability of our senses and conventional perception to trick our brains into seeing something surprising or even impossible. I strive to create that element of magic in my own work."⁣ ⁣ Photo by @aakashnihalani

A post shared by Instagram (@instagram) on Mar 18, 2020 at 9:14am PDT

TikTok

1. TikTok is currently available to download in 154 countries.  According to Apptrace, it’s Top 25 in 135 of those countries. It’s no wonder TikTok has taken over! This social media usage stat foreshadows much more relevant data to come from TikTok’s global user base.
2. It is estimated that Bytedance paid between $800M and $1B to buy Music.ly (now TikTok).  Although it sounds like a lot of money, TikTok (formerly Music.ly) is sure to be worth more than that these days.
3. TikTok’s most popular user has 40.9 million followers.  American singer and social media influencer, Loren Gray, currently holds the record for most followers on TikTok. Trailing closely behind her with 38 million followers is Charli D’amelio, a 16-year-old dancer from Connecticut.
4. TikTok has had 3 different names over the past 5 years.  TikTok has had quite the journey. Here’s a timeline to help sort it out.

• • 2015 – Released as Musical.ly
  • 2016 – Bytedance bought Musical.ly, renamed it Douyin, launched in China
  • 2017 –  Launched Douyin internationally, but named it TikTok abroad

YouTube

1. People upload 500 hours of video content to YouTube every minute.   From vlogs, to Get Ready With Me’s, to tutorials, YouTube has it all… and then some.
2. Over 70% of YouTube views are on mobile.  As technology has developed, so have our preferred streaming methods. Videos used to be consumed entirely on desktops, but since the invention of smartphones, consumers have resorted to watching content on the go. As with many of these social media usage stats, mobile dominates.
3. This year, YouTube will most likely make $5.5 billion in ad revenue in just the U.S.   Due to an overall increase in online content consumption, YouTube is set to make almost double what it did in 2016 for ad revenue.
4. 70% of what people watch on YouTube is determined by its recommendation algorithm.  What you watch on YouTube matters. Although we don’t know the specific algorithm YouTube uses, we know it recommends videos based on what you have watched in the past. So the next time you go down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theory videos, don’t be surprised when ten more pop up in your recommended feed.

Facebook

1. Five new profiles are created every second.  Facebook has been the OG social media platform (sorry MySpace, you were ahead of your time) and it has no plans of stopping any time soon. With 5 new profiles being created every second, Facebook plans on remaining at the top of the pack for a very long time.
2. Facebook engagement is 18% higher on Thursdays and Fridays.   As folks look toward the weekend it’s no surprise that engagement shoots up on the latter half of the week. We know you’re sharing pics from happy hour and looking at everyone else’s the next day while you’re waiting for the clock to strike 5, no shame!
3. Every 60 seconds on Facebook: 510,000 comments are posted, 293,000 statuses are updated, and 136,000 photos are uploaded.  Clearly Facebook has the most activity out of any social media platform, but that also means a lot of content is competing for attention. When it comes to posting on Facebook, strategy and timing are increasingly important factors to consider. Factoring temporal social media usage stats into your strategy can increase platform success.

Twitter

1. 63% of Twitter users are between 35-65 years old.   Despite being home to memes and self-deprecating humor, Twitter also houses quite a considerable amount of professionals and members of academia. In fact, most people get their news from Twitter as more and more political officials create accounts.
2. 67% of all B2B businesses use Twitter as a marketing platform.  That’s right! Don’t discount Twitter when it comes to online advertising. Twitter gives marketers the chance to reach niche audiences of a certain age that may not be reached on Instagram or Facebook. And with Twitter’s “promoted” tweet feature, it’s easy to have your ad integrated into thousands of existing feeds.

Zeke the chameleon says wash your hands! 🦎💧🧼 👏🏼#CoronavirusLockdown #COVID19 #vegan #TuesdayThoughts pic.twitter.com/ArGgNBP5AS

— Veganella 🥦 (@Veganella_) March 24, 2020

Twitch

1. There has been a total of 5,917,667 hours streamed on Twitch.  Twitch is the premier streaming site with over 5 million hours of streamed content so far. If you’re into gaming, you need to get on Twitch!
2. Twitch’s top streamers have over 1.8 million combined viewers.  Twitch’s top streamers are:
   1. TheGrefG
   2. CSGOMC_RU
   3. ELRAENN
   4. ESL_CSGO
   5. GamesDoneQuick
3. 60% of Twitch streams are in English.  Other languages spoken on Twitch, in order of most spoken to least, include:

1. 1. Russian
   2. German
   3. Spanish
   4. Korean
   5. Portuguese
   6. French
   7. Chinese
   8. Japanese
   9. Turkish