There is no denying that social media has become a worldwide phenomenon where most if not everyone uses some form of social media platform in their daily lives in 2026.
Imagine, not more than 10 years ago, only ~25% of the world used some form of social media, whereas now it’s almost 70%!
In addition to that crazy number, we’ve compiled a list of 110+ stats, facts, and interesting data that you might find worthwhile reading from across various sources such as DataPortal, Statista, Pew Research, etc.
Top Picks: Social Media Statistics (2026)
- By 2026, social media users are projected to reach 70.5% of the global population, up from 34.1% in 2017.
- The average daily time spent on social media increased from 90 minutes in 2012 to 143 minutes in 2024, despite a slight decline from the peak during COVID-19.
- Brazil leads in social media usage, with users spending an average of 3 hours and 49 minutes daily, followed by Nigeria and the Philippines.
- China has the highest number of social media users globally, with 1.1 billion users, followed by India and the United States.
- The UAE has the highest social media penetration rate at 115%, followed by Saudi Arabia and South Korea.
- Facebook remains the most popular social media platform with 3.07 billion users, followed by YouTube and Instagram.
- 87% of Americans use social media daily, with the highest daily usage among those aged 30-44.
- Social media ad spending in the U.S. is projected to grow to 82.5 billion in 2026
- TikTok was the most downloaded app in 2024, with 825.48 million downloads, followed by Instagram and Facebook.
- Cristiano Ronaldo is the most followed influencer globally, with a combined total of 836 million followers across Instagram, X (Twitter), and YouTube.
Social Media Users Worldwide
In the past 10 years, social media has been widely adopted by most of the world. In 2017, only 34.1% of the global population was using social media, but by the end of 2026, it is projected to reach 70.5%
| Year | Number of Users (in Billions) | Yearly Growth (%) | Percentage of World Population (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2.73 | — | 34.1% |
| 2018 | 3.10 | 13.6% | 38.8% |
| 2019 | 3.51 | 13.2% | 43.8% |
| 2020 | 3.90 | 11.1% | 48.8% |
| 2021 | 4.26 | 9.2% | 53.3% |
| 2022 | 4.59 | 7.7% | 57.4% |
| 2023* | 4.89 | 6.5% | 61.1% |
| 2024* | 5.17 | 5.7% | 64.6% |
| 2025* | 5.42 | 4.8% | 67.8% |
| 2026* | 5.64 | 4.1% | 70.5% |
| 2027* | 5.85 | 3.7% | 73.1% |
While more and more people are using social media, the aggressive growth of users over the past decade is tapering off and is expected to dip below 4% in the future.
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/
How Much Time People Spend on Social Media
Compared to the last decade, people on average are spending almost an hour more on social media by the end of 2024. Time spent on social media increased by 4.06% on average over the years.
| Year | Minutes per Day | Yearly Growth (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 90 | — |
| 2013 | 95 | 5.6% |
| 2014 | 104 | 9.5% |
| 2015 | 111 | 6.7% |
| 2016 | 128 | 15.3% |
| 2017 | 134 | 4.7% |
| 2018 | 142 | 6.0% |
| 2019 | 145 | 2.1% |
| 2020 | 145 | 0.0% |
| 2021 | 145 | 0.0% |
| 2022 | 147 | 1.4% |
| 2023 | 151 | 2.7% |
| 2024 | 143 | -5.3% |
It is surprising however that most people spent the same amount of time on social media in 2024 compared to COVID days, which means that even though we are no longer on lockdown, social media has become an integral part of our lives and people are roughly spending same amount of time on social media.
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/433871/daily-social-media-usage-worldwide/
Countries With The Most Social Media Usage
Brazil is the leading consumer of social media with the average person spending almost 3 and a half hours per day (3.49 hours) on social media, followed closely by Nigeria at 3.44 hours and the Philippines at 3.38 hours respectively.
| Rank | Country | Daily Time Spent (Hours & Minutes) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil | 3.49 |
| 2 | Nigeria | 3.44 |
| 3 | Philippines | 3.38 |
| 4 | South Africa | 3.34 |
| 5 | Chile | 3.34 |
| 6 | Kenya | 3.32 |
| 7 | Colombia | 3.28 |
| 8 | Ghana | 3.20 |
| 9 | Indonesia | 3.14 |
| 10 | Mexico | 3.10 |
| 11 | Argentina | 3.08 |
| 12 | Turkey | 2.56 |
| 13 | Malaysia | 2.52 |
| 14 | Saudi Arabia | 2.50 |
| 15 | UAE | 2.44 |
| 16 | Egypt | 2.40 |
| 17 | Bulgaria | 2.38 |
| 18 | Thailand | 2.35 |
| 19 | India | 2.29 |
| 20 | Portugal | 2.28 |
Surprisingly, users from the U.S. are not as active on social media as we may have thought. It doesn’t even rank in the top 20.
There seems to be a trend that more developed countries spend less time on social media compared to developing countries.
Time Spent on Social Media by Region
- Latin America dominates global social media usage, with users spending an average of 3 hours and 28 minutes daily on platforms, highlighting a strong connection to digital engagement in this region.
- In Africa, the daily time spent on social media is slightly lower, averaging 3 hours and 12 minutes, but still showing substantial user activity.
- The Asia-Pacific region exhibits more moderate usage, with individuals spending an average of 2 hours and 29 minutes daily on social media, indicating lower engagement compared to other regions.
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/270229/usage-duration-of-social-networks-by-country/
Countries With The Most Social Media Users
It’s not a surprise that China leads the way in social media users due to its large population and ever-increasing advancement and digitalization in technology, with over 1.1 billion active social media users as of 2024, but they use their own internal social media apps such as WeChat rather than Facebook or WhatsApp. India and the U.S. rank 2nd and 3rd with 462 million and 239 million social media users respectively.
| Rank | Country | Users (M) | Penetration Rate (%) | Active Users (M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 1,100.0 | 74.68% | 1,000.0 |
| 2 | India | 462.0 | 31.84% | 467.0 |
| 3 | United States | 239.0 | 69.19% | 246.0 |
| 4 | Brazil | 144.0 | 67.92% | 152.4 |
| 5 | Indonesia | 139.0 | 49.03% | 167.0 |
| 6 | Russia | 106.0 | 73.19% | 106.0 |
| 7 | Japan | 96.0 | 77.57% | 92.0 |
| 8 | Mexico | 90.2 | 68.93% | 94.0 |
| 9 | Philippines | 86.8 | 74.89% | 84.5 |
| 10 | Vietnam | 72.7 | 71.99% | 70.0 |
| 11 | Pakistan | 71.7 | 28.54% | 71.7 |
| 12 | Germany | 67.8 | 80.19% | 70.9 |
| 13 | Turkey | 57.5 | 65.73% | 62.5 |
| 14 | United Kingdom | 56.2 | 81.29% | 57.1 |
| 15 | Bangladesh | 52.9 | 30.48% | 44.7 |
| 16 | France | 50.7 | 76.19% | 52.1 |
| 17 | Thailand | 49.1 | 68.51% | 52.3 |
| 18 | South Korea | 48.3 | 93.47% | 47.6 |
| 19 | Iran | 48.0 | 52.42% | 48.0 |
| 20 | Egypt | 45.4 | 38.96% | 46.3 |
While India ranks as the 2nd largest country with the most amount of social media users in the world, when considering its population size, India’s social media penetration rate is very low at only 31.84%. It has plenty of room for future growth and growing market share.
Source: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/social-media-users-by-country
Countries With Highest Social Media Use Per Capita
On the flip side, UAE leads with the most amount of social media users per capita. Due to a lot of wealthy foreigners and multiple social media accounts per person, it may give a skewed 115% penetration rate, but there is no denying that almost everyone in UAE has a social media account.
| Rank | Country | Social Media Penetration (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UAE | 115.0% |
| 2 | Saudi Arabia | 96.2% |
| 3 | South Korea | 93.4% |
| 4 | Singapore | 84.9% |
| 5 | Malaysia | 84.3% |
| 6 | Hong Kong | 83.9% |
| 7 | Spain | 82.3% |
| 8 | Netherlands | 82.1% |
| 9 | UK | 82.0% |
| 10 | Canada | 80.7% |
| 11 | Austria | 79.9% |
| 12 | Taiwan | 78.9% |
| 13 | Germany | 78.9% |
| 14 | Japan | 78.2% |
| 15 | Sweden | 78.2% |
| 16 | Ireland | 78.1% |
| 17 | New Zealand | 77.6% |
| 18 | France | 77.4% |
| 19 | Chile | 77.3% |
| 20 | Australia | 77.3% |
If we look at the trend, it’s quite visible that mostly developed countries have higher social media penetration rates, so you could argue that the more developed a country is, the more social media users it has.
Most Popular Social Media Platforms
According to the latest available comparison data, Facebook has the most amount of active users with 3.07 billion, followed by YouTube and Instagram at around 2.5 and 2 billion respectively.
| Social Media Platform | Number of Users (Billion) |
|---|---|
| 3.07 | |
| YouTube | 2.50 |
| 2.00 | |
| 2.00 | |
| TikTok | 1.60 |
| 1.36 | |
| Facebook Messenger | 0.977 |
| Telegram | 0.900 |
| Snapchat | 0.800 |
| Douyin | 0.755 |
| Kuaishou | 0.697 |
| 0.588 | |
| Twitter (X) | 0.586 |
| 0.553 | |
| 0.518 |
However, by the end of 2025, TikTok is estimated to reach almost 2.3 billion users which will allow it to overtake Instagram and WhatsApp, but that still remains to be seen as there has been a lot of pushback in Western countries to limit or restrict TikTok due to “privacy” and “data” concerns.
Source: https://datareportal.com/social-media-users
Favorite Social Media Platforms
Though Instagram doesn’t have the highest number of users, it’s considered by many people across various age groups as one of their favorite social media platforms.
Facebook and WeChat seem to be more popular among older cohorts of people, whereas TikTok is generally more preferred by millennials and Gen Z.
| Platform | Gender | 16-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 24.8% | 20.8% | 16.0% | 13.9% | 10.2% | |
| Male | 26.6% | 18.4% | 11.7% | 9.4% | 6.1% | |
| Female | 12.7% | 14.3% | 15.4% | 17.3% | 21.1% | |
| Male | 14.1% | 14.7% | 17.3% | 19.5% | 21.9% | |
| Female | 5.9% | 10.6% | 13.2% | 14.9% | 17.1% | |
| Male | 7.8% | 13.5% | 14.7% | 16.4% | 17.5% | |
| Female | 8.2% | 11.7% | 15.5% | 13.6% | 12.0% | |
| Male | 8.2% | 11.8% | 16.0% | 14.4% | 14.4% | |
| TikTok | Female | 15.5% | 11.3% | 7.8% | 6.9% | 5.0% |
| Male | 9.6% | 7.1% | 5.7% | 5.3% | 4.3% | |
| Douyin | Female | 6.6% | 8.1% | 9.8% | 6.4% | 5.4% |
| Male | 6.5% | 8.5% | 8.2% | 6.8% | 6.6% | |
| X | Female | 3.1% | 2.1% | 1.8% | 1.6% | 1.7% |
| Male | 4.2% | 4.6% | 4.0% | 3.8% | 3.3% | |
| Telegram | Female | 2.6% | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2.1% | 2.2% |
| Male | 4.0% | 3.2% | 3.2% | 2.6% | 2.5% | |
| Messenger | Female | 1.7% | 2.5% | 2.5% | 2.7% | 3.0% |
| Male | 1.8% | 2.4% | 2.2% | 2.4% | 2.3% | |
| LINE | Female | 0.5% | 0.8% | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3.5% |
| Male | 0.7% | 1.0% | 1.2% | 2.4% | 2.9% |
It is however surprising that WhatsApp ranks fairly high among different age groups, despite being an app that is not as versatile as Instagram, TikTok or Facebook.
Source: https://datareportal.com/social-media-users
Social Media Usage by Gender
Most social media users are male except for Snapchat and TikTok.
| Platform | Male Users (%) | Female Users (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 57% | 43% | |
| 51% | 49% | |
| Snapchat | 45% | 54% |
| Twitter / X | 56% | 44% |
| TikTok | 43% | 57% |
| YouTube | 54% | 46% |
| 57% | 43% |
Facebook and X are heavily male-dominated, whereas TikTok is heavily female-dominated.
Main Reasons People Use Social Media
Across the board, almost all age groups cited Friends & Family as being the most important reason for why they use social media. Otherwise, most people use social media to kill time, procrastinate, or just get some entertainment. Using social media as a source of news and products are on the lower end of motivations for use.
| Reason for Use | 16-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friends & Family | 48.3% | 48.1% | 50.8% | 53.1% | 56.2% | 58.1% |
| Fill Up Spare Time | 44.3% | 39.5% | 37.9% | 37.0% | 35.8% | 25.8% |
| Find Content (e.g. videos) | 33.9% | 31.7% | 30.8% | 29.4% | 26.1% | 14.0% |
| Read News Stories | 29.1% | 33.2% | 36.4% | 38.2% | 40.6% | 27.1% |
| See Trending Topics | 32.2% | 30.9% | 30.3% | 27.2% | 24.3% | 14.0% |
| Ideas, Things to Do & Buy | 28.6% | 28.2% | 28.2% | 26.8% | 24.4% | 12.9% |
| Find Products to Buy | 26.1% | 27.7% | 29.4% | 28.7% | 26.7% | 12.9% |
| Watch or Follow Sports | 24.9% | 25.2% | 24.7% | 22.7% | 20.1% | – |
| Watch Live Streams | – | 25.3% | 25.6% | 22.5% | 19.8% | – |
| Activities for Work | – | – | 25.6% | 22.9% | – | – |
| Avoid Missing Out | 24.7% | – | – | – | – | – |
| Influencers & Celebrities | 24.3% | – | – | – | – | – |
| See Content from Brands | – | 24.2% | – | – | – | – |
| Share & Discuss Opinions | – | – | – | – | 21.9% | 12.1% |
| Find Like-minded People | – | – | – | – | – | 13.5% |
| Post About Your Life | – | – | – | – | – | 10.6% |
However, over the years in-app purchases through social media have been increasing, so it’s predicted that we’ll be using such platforms to do more of our online shopping rather than websites and e-commerce stores.
Source: https://datareportal.com/social-media-users
What People Do on Social Media
Each social media platform has its own unique advantages, and as shown in the data below, most people use Facebook for messaging, whereas Instagram is used for photo sharing and X for news updates.
| Platform | Entertainment Content | Brand Research | News Updates | Messaging | Photo/Video Sharing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55.3% | 52.5% | 57.3% | 72.1% | 62.6% | |
| 66.7% | 62.3% | 54.7% | 60.4% | 70.2% | |
| TikTok | 79.6% | 51.1% | 43.7% | 21.7% | 42.3% |
| 11.6% | 24.9% | 28.7% | 13.0% | 15.9% | |
| Snapchat | 36.7% | 25.8% | 24.3% | 40.9% | 44.4% |
| X | 35.8% | 37.8% | 60.5% | 18.1% | 28.2% |
| 29.7% | 30.9% | 30.7% | 7.7% | 12.4% | |
| 20.8% | 36.4% | 14.1% | 6.9% | 15.3% |
Source: https://datareportal.com/social-media-users
Worldwide Ad Spend on Social Media
During COVID lockdowns, social media was booming in advertisement spending with 2020 and 2021 experiencing 36.2% and 36.3% yearly growth respectively.
| Year | Social Media Ad Spending (in billion U.S. dollars) | Yearly Growth (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 97.5 | – |
| 2020 | 132.77 | 36.2% |
| 2021 | 180.92 | 36.3% |
| 2022 | 189.5 | 4.7% |
| 2023 | 211.82 | 11.8% |
| 2024 | 234.14 | 10.6% |
| 2025 | 256.46 | 9.5% |
| 2026 | 278.78 | 8.7% |
| 2027 | 301.09 | 8.0% |
| 2028 | 323.41 | 7.4% |
| 2029 | 345.73 | 6.9% |
Companies are not spending as much on ads on social media as they used to, but there is consistent and healthy growth. Brands still find the value in advertising on social media.
Source: https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1418549/social-media-ad-spend-worldwide
Net Worth of Social Media Platform Founders
The richest social media platform founders are listed down below for 2025.
| Rank | Name | Net Worth (USD) | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Zuckerberg | $254.1 billion | Facebook (Meta) |
| 2 | Larry Page | $175 billion | Google (YouTube) |
| 3 | Sergey Brin | $164 billion | Google (YouTube) |
| 4 | Zhang Yiming | $65.5 billion | TikTok (ByteDance) |
| 5 | Ma Huateng | $43.5 billion | Tencent (WeChat, QQ) |
| 6 | Jan Koum | $15.2 billion | |
| 7 | Jack Dorsey | $5.6 billion | Twitter (X) |
| 8 | Evan Spiegel | $2.6 billion | Snapchat |
| 9 | Reid Hoffman | $2.6 billion | |
| 10 | Hae Jin Lee | $1.3 billion | LINE |
Source: Wikipedia
Social Media Stats in The U.S
Now that we’ve covered global/worldwide usage of social media platforms, let’s focus on North America, specifically the U.S.
| Year | Number of Social Media Users (in millions) | Yearly Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 271.33 | – |
| 2021 | 281.41 | +3.72% |
| 2022 | 289.46 | +2.86% |
| 2023 | 297.11 | +2.65% |
| 2024* | 304.04 | +2.33% |
| 2025* | 310.34 | +2.07% |
| 2026* | 316.07 | +1.85% |
| 2027* | 321.31 | +1.66% |
| 2028* | 326.17 | +1.51% |
| 2029* | 330.07 | +1.20% |
Social media users in the U.S. have been on a steady increase with a yearly average of 2.88% increase from 2020 until 2026. However, according to estimates, the growth will steadily decline and plateau. Some researchers even predict in 10-20 years, there will be a counter-culture movement where people won’t use social media as much.
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/278409/number-of-social-network-users-in-the-united-states/
Social Media Use by Platforms
Though Facebook used to have the most amount of users in the U.S. during the 2010s, YouTube has far surpassed Facebook and now ranks #1 as the most-used social media platform in the region, with an impressive 277.22 million users in 2024.
| Social Media Platform | Users (in Millions) | Share of Americans Using It |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | 277.22 | 83% |
| 227.12 | 68% | |
| 156.98 | 47% | |
| 116.90 | 35% | |
| TikTok | 110.22 | 33% |
| 100.20 | 30% | |
| 96.86 | 29% | |
| Snapchat | 90.18 | 27% |
| Twitter (X) | 73.48 | 22% |
| 73.48 | 22% | |
| BeReal | 10.02 | 3% |
However, TikTok has been on the rise and is extremely popular with millennials and Gen Z, so it is a possibility that TikTok could surpass Pinterest and Instagram in the next few years as long as there aren’t any restrictions on the app by the U.S. government.
Source: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2024/01/31/americans-social-media-use/
U.S Social Media Use by Ethnicity
- Hispanic/Latino: Hispanic/Latino users have the highest social media usage rates overall. They are heavy users of Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
- Black (Non-Hispanic): Black users are overrepresented on Twitter (X) and TikTok. They show high engagement with visual platforms like Instagram and YouTube.
- White (Non-Hispanic): White users have slightly below-average usage on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. They are more likely to use Facebook and LinkedIn.
- Asian (Non-Hispanic): Asian users have high usage rates on visual platforms like Instagram and YouTube. They also show strong engagement with tech-savvy platforms like LinkedIn.
U.S Social Media User Demographics
Percentage of people who say they use the following platforms.
YouTube seems to be very popular platform across all age groups in the U.S
| Platform | Ages 18-29 | Ages 30-49 | Ages 50-64 | Ages 65+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 68% | 78% | 70% | 59% | |
| 76% | 66% | 36% | 19% | |
| 40% | 41% | 30% | 15% | |
| X (formerly Twitter) | 38% | 25% | 15% | 8% |
| 43% | 43% | 33% | 22% | |
| Snapchat | 65% | 32% | 14% | 4% |
| YouTube | 93% | 94% | 86% | 65% |
| 30% | 40% | 28% | 18% | |
| 46% | 35% | 11% | 4% | |
| TikTok | 59% | 40% | 26% | 10% |
| BeReal | 10% | 2% | 1% | <1% |
Social Media Users by Gender in U.S.
Surprisingly, there are more female social media users in the U.S. than males, whereas globally males make up the majority.
- Female users: 51.2% of social media users in the U.S.
- Male users: 48.8% of social media users in the U.S.
| Platform | Female Users | Male Users |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Social Media | 51.2% | 48.8% |
| 53.7% | 46.3% | |
| YouTube | 51.2% | 48.8% |
| 55.5% | 44.5% | |
| TikTok | 54.4% | 45.6% |
| 50.0% | 50.0% | |
| Snapchat | 54.8% | 44.8% |
| X (Twitter) | 36.9% | 63.1% |
| 71.5% | 18.2% |
Sources: Statista, Pewresearch, DataPortal
How Often Americans Use Social Media
- 87% of Americans use social media daily: A survey by Adtaxi reveals that nearly nine-in-10 Americans use social media every day, highlighting a significant opportunity for retailers and brands.
- Highest daily usage among ages 30-44: 89% of users aged 30-44 use social media daily, while 80% of those over 60 also engage daily.
- Product discovery on social media: 56% of monthly social media users encounter products or services of interest, increasing to 88% among weekly users.
- Active product searches: 48% of monthly users actively search for products or services, rising to 76% among weekly users.
- Social commerce growth: 68% of adults (over 70% of social media users) made a purchase directly through a social platform in the past month.
- Big-ticket purchases on social media: More Americans are using Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to shop for items like new vehicles, with 57% willing to buy a car online in 2024 (up from 49% in 2023).
Source: https://chainstoreage.com/survey-87-americans-use-social-media-daily
Social Media Ad Spend in the U.S
During COVID, it’s clearly visible that companies and brands understood the importance of advertising on social media, where the yearly average growth was 31.11% from 2017 until 2021.
| Year | Ad Spend (Billion USD) | Yearly Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 21.4 | — |
| 2018 | 29.6 | 38.32% |
| 2019 | 38.4 | 29.73% |
| 2020 | 49.1 | 27.86% |
| 2021 | 63.1 | 28.51% |
| 2022 | 66.7 | 5.71% |
| 2023 | 72.3 | 8.40% |
| 2024 | 76.4 | 5.67% |
| 2025 | 79.7 | 4.32% |
| 2026 | 82.5 | 3.51% |
| 2027 | 85.3 | 3.39% |
| 2028 | 88.1 | 3.28% |
However it has become more competitive and saturated, thus the ad spend growth has slowed down over the past few years and is expected to plateau in the future.
Source: https://www.statista.com/outlook/amo/advertising/social-media-advertising/worldwide?currency=usd
Most Downloaded Social Media Apps
In 2024, TikTok was the most downloaded social media app with over 825.48 million downloads, followed by Instagram and Facebook at 817.49 and 597.87 million respectively.
It just goes to show how popular TikTok is becoming around the world and it’s not too far-fetched to predict that TikTok will become the most widely used social media in the world within a few years.
| Rank | Mobile App | Number of Downloads (in millions) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | TikTok | 825.48 |
| 2 | 817.49 | |
| 3 | 597.87 | |
| 4 | WhatsApp Messenger | 564.33 |
| 5 | Telegram | 447.77 |
| 6 | Snapchat | 330.55 |
| 7 | Threads | 326.75 |
| 8 | WhatsApp Business | 294.12 |
| 9 | Facebook Messenger | 289.63 |
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1285960/top-downloaded-mobile-apps-worldwide/
Most Famous Influencers
Christiano Ronaldo is the king of social media with over 836 million followers/subscribers.
| Rank | Person | X (Twitter) | TikTok | YouTube | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 648,000,000 | 114,600,000 | n/a | 73,400,000 | 836,000,000 |
| 2 | Selena Gomez | 422,400,000 | 65,600,000 | 58,100,000 | 34,900,000 | 581,000,000 |
| 3 | MrBeast | 65,500,000 | 32,000,000 | 114,100,000 | 352,000,000 | 563,600,000 |
| 4 | Lionel Messi | 505,000,000 | n/a | n/a | 3,900,000 | 508,900,000 |
| 5 | Justin Bieber | 294,900,000 | 109,600,000 | 28,400,000 | 74,700,000 | 505,600,000 |
| 6 | Kylie Jenner | 394,800,000 | 39,600,000 | 56,900,000 | 12,100,000 | 503,400,000 |
| 7 | Dwayne Johnson | 395,300,000 | 17,100,000 | 77,300,000 | 7,000,000 | 496,700,000 |
| 8 | Taylor Swift | 282,600,000 | 94,500,000 | 32,700,000 | 60,600,000 | 470,400,000 |
| 9 | Ariana Grande | 376,500,000 | n/a | 37,800,000 | 55,500,000 | 469,800,000 |
| 10 | Kim Kardashian | 358,400,000 | 75,100,000 | 9,800,000 | 2,000,000 | 445,300,000 |
| 11 | Katy Perry | 204,900,000 | 105,400,000 | 8,400,000 | 45,800,000 | 364,500,000 |
| 12 | Beyoncé | 313,100,000 | 14,900,000 | 6,300,000 | 27,700,000 | 362,000,000 |
| 13 | Khloé Kardashian | 304,600,000 | 29,800,000 | 6,200,000 | 746,000 | 341,346,000 |
| 14 | Virat Kohli | 270,400,000 | 65,700,000 | n/a | n/a | 336,100,000 |
| 15 | Neymar Jr | 227,900,000 | 64,000,000 | 33,400,000 | 4,900,000 | 330,200,000 |
From the rankings above, we can conclude that celebrities from the music and entertainment industry are the majority with 40%, followed by sports athletes at 26.7% and TV show celebrities at 26.7% as well.
Source: Wikipedia, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X
Top Social Media Influencers Net Worth
Despite what people say about them, the Kardashian sisters are the wealthiest social media influencers who were able to leverage their fame to build multi-billion dollar companies.
It’s also worth mentioning that MrBeast will most likely become the wealthiest social media influencer after 5-10 years as he is still young and further adding to his net worth year by year.
| Rank | Influencer | Estimated Net Worth | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kim Kardashian | $1.7 billion | Instagram, Twitter |
| 2 | Kylie Jenner | $750 million | Instagram, TikTok |
| 3 | Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson | $800 million | Instagram, Twitter |
| 4 | Cristiano Ronaldo | $500 million | Instagram, Twitter |
| 5 | MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) | $500 million | YouTube, Instagram |
| 6 | Huda Kattan | $560 million | Instagram, YouTube |
| 7 | Jake Paul | $150 million | YouTube, Instagram |
| 8 | Logan Paul | $120 million | YouTube, Instagram |
| 9 | PewDiePie (Felix Kjellberg) | $55 million | YouTube, Instagram |
| 10 | Charli D’Amelio | $50 million | TikTok, Instagram |
Source: Wikipedia
Countries Where Social Media is Banned or Heavily Censored
- North Korea – All Western social media is completely banned. News media is fully controlled by the government. No foreign messaging apps are allowed. Citizens have extremely limited internet access, mostly restricted to a government-controlled intranet.
- China – Blocks all Western social media platforms. Forces citizens to use WeChat, which has no encryption and government backdoors. News media is heavily censored. Extensive surveillance system.
- Iran – Western social media banned. Heavy government control of news media. Strict restrictions on messaging apps. Forces citizens to use domestic platforms. Comprehensive internet monitoring and filtering system.
- Eritrea – The only African nation with continuous social media blocks. Implements complete social media site bans. Heavy surveillance of online activities. Strong government control over all internet access.
- Belarus – Sometimes imprisons citizens for activities on the internet and social media. Thousands face criminal penalties for online posts. Restricts VPNs and messaging services. Heavy censorship of political media. Monitors all social media content.
- Turkey – Monitors citizens’ social media content. Restricts encryption services. Requires platforms to share user data. Heavy restrictions on political content online.
- Myanmar – Frequent social media shutdowns during protests. Heavy internet restrictions. Strong government control over online content. Extensive surveillance systems are in place.
- Russia – New 2024 laws criminalized VPN use. Heavy social media restrictions. Government control of news media. Increased internet censorship recently.
- Cuba – Restricts social media platforms. Heavy surveillance of online activities. Restricts VPN use. Controls messaging and VoIP apps. Government monitoring of all internet usage. Forces use of state-approved communication channels.
- Turkmenistan – All Western social media platforms are banned, and the government controls internet access. News media is heavily censored, with no independent reporting allowed. Citizens are limited to using state-approved platforms.
Source: https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/internet-censorship-map/
Final Thoughts & Conclusions
Despite what some people preach about the harmful effects of social media, it’s here to stay, and by 2027, we’re predicted to reach almost 6 billion social media users in the world.
Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube may be the dominant platforms as of 2026, but given the trend, their growth seems to be plateauing whereas TikTok is on track to become the world’s most widely used social media platform in the next few years.