Social Media Data Insights & Resources for Social Media
In the ever-evolving social media landscape, each platform fosters unique communities and interactions for us. From the visual-centric nature of Instagram, to rapid-fire exchanges on X and professional networking on LinkedIn, every channel attracts diverse demographic profiles. Understanding these audience distinctions is essential for marketers, businesses, and individuals seeking to navigate the terrain of online engagement and tailor their strategies to connect with target social media audiences. This blog post explores the differences that shape the user base of major social platforms, shedding light on the varied age groups, interests, and cultural factors that contribute to the dynamic social media ecosystem.
As of 2023, there are about 3 billion users active on Facebook each month. Putting this into perspective, that’s nearly one-third of the world’s population. Facebook users are loyal, too, with over 2 billion people opening the app daily. Looking deeper at Facebook’s audience, there is a slightly higher ratio of male users, with 56% men and 44% female. Additionally, the largest age group on the platform is adults between ages 25 and 34, confirming that this audience age leans slightly older and is less popular among teens. The top-followed Facebook accounts list is dominated by celebrities in the entertainment industry, famous athletes, and sports/entertainment media profiles, which highlights the most powerful types of content among the Facebook audience.
Instagram is not far behind Facebook’s user count, with 2.35 billion monthly active users, but only around 500 million users get on Instagram daily, demonstrating lower audience engagement on the platform than its Meta counterpart. Diving into the characteristics of Instagram’s audience, the largest age group is those between 18 and 24 years old, highlighting its popularity among Gen Z. The gender distribution of Instagram users is almost evenly split, which maximizes the potential for advertisers to reach a diverse audience. The most influential accounts among Instagram’s audience are those of celebrities and influencers from a wide range of niches. The most popular niches include lifestyle, fashion, food, and travel.
X
X, previously known as Twitter, has seen a nearly 12% decline in daily users since Elon Musk took over, but remains significant with 245 million daily active users. The platform’s audience consists of 42% of users between ages 18 and 29. This leading age group is slightly older than that of Instagram but younger than Facebook, falling between the two. However, the gender ratio of X users is more skewed than most platforms, with an audience breakdown of 61.29% male and 34.1% female, so there is a greater chance for X messaging to reach more men than women. The platform’s level of audience engagement is high due to X’s real-time, dynamic nature that allows its audience to participate in trending conversations and engage with the online community.
The social media app for your inspiration needs, Pinterest, has approximately 465 million monthly active users. In contrast to other leading social media channels, a whopping 80% of Pinterest users live outside of the US. But, no matter where you are, this platform should not be overlooked, as the amount of Pinterest users has increased this most recent quarter, demonstrating a promising future. Something interesting to note about Pinterest’s audience is that it is largely female and only 17.2% male, so content published on this platform primarily reaches a female audience. Further, the largest age group of Pinterest users is between 50 and 65, signifying the platform’s established and loyal relationship with older generations.
LinkedIn has 310 million monthly active users and 141 million daily users in 2023, demonstrating significant growth. However, with 930 million LinkedIn members existing, the level that this audience is actively engaged with the platform is relatively low compared to channels such as Facebook. Aligning with LinkedIn’s focus on career and industry-related content, the largest age group of its user base is individuals between 30 and 39 years old. Slightly male dominant, 57% of LinkedIn users identify as male and 43% female. Notably, the duration of daily engagement on LinkedIn is about 7 minutes 31 seconds, significantly lower than that of Facebook, Instagram, and X, where users average about 30 minutes on the platform daily.
YouTube
YouTube remains a leading social channel, with 2.7 billion monthly and 122 million daily users. There is a large gap in these totals, meaning that the majority of YouTube’s audience does not use the app daily. However, the platform’s reach is still extensive as the largest age group are individuals between 15 and 35, encompassing Gen Z and millennials. YouTube’s audience has a nearly equal male-to-female gender ratio, which presents the opportunity for advertisers to reach wider social media audiences with their messaging on this platform. Additionally, the duration of daily YouTube engagement is 45.6 minutes, which is an optimal length of time for marketers to reach users while their attention is captured.
Snapchat
Did you know that nearly 2 million snapchats are sent every minute? That’s due to the platform’s highly active user base, where the monthly and daily active users are each 750 million. Snapchat is most popular among the Gen Z population, with 39% of users aged 18-24. The platform’s audience engages the most with content from celebrities and influencers, where Snapchat’s casual nature gives users a more exclusive look into the lives of creators.
TikTok
In 2022, TikTok surpassed Snapchat as teenagers’ favorite social media app. The platform has over 1 billion monthly active users, but the number of individuals who use TikTok daily is only around 5% of this total. Despite this discrepancy, audience engagement on TikTok is still high as the average time that active users spend on the app each day is around 45.8 minutes, which is longer than that of YouTube. The largest age group on TikTok is 18-24-year-olds, with an audience gender ratio of 54% female and 46% male. Notably, TikTok’s engaged and loyal user base has allowed many creators to quickly grow their following and gain influencer opportunities, with the most influential content being in the entertainment category.
Understanding each platform’s social media audience and reach capability is essential to navigate the online space effectively. Be sure to tailor your content to match demographics and engagement styles, staying updated on trends for a strong online presence. It’s not just about being on social media; it’s about speaking each platform’s language to connect effectively with your audience.
