Almost 50% Of People Surveyed Said They Use This Social Media App The Most
A recent survey of 631 people in the United States revealed that Facebook was by far the most popular app among social media users. The results showed that 49.3% of respondents used the platform, followed by Instagram which took second place at around 20%. Other social media networks such as TikTok came after at 13%, then Twitter at 11.5%, and Snapchat at 5.7%, respectively. The results correlate with other published statistics that show Facebook as the biggest social media platform in the world with almost 3 billion subscribers (via Statista).
Things are changing and it may not enjoy the top spot for much longer. TechCrunch reported in February that Facebook was not growing as fast as it used to and no longer attracting new subscribers. Statistics showed that not only did the platform's monthly active users remain flat in the third quarter of 2021, the number of people who used it daily actually decreased. Additionally, the platform continually faces fierce competition from the rapidly-scaling social network TikTok, which is especially popular among teens and young adults (via The Guardian). Nevertheless, that doesn't take away the fact that the Meta-owned company is still the largest social platform among consumers — at least for now.
Who uses Facebook and why?
To break it down even further, you may need to look at demographics that closely examine who Facebook users are. In the United States, most Facebook users are women. As of March 2022, the statistics show that Facebook's user base was 54% female and 46% male. On top of that, Statista reveals that Facebook is most popular among millennials who are between the ages of 25 to 34 years old. Forbes reports that one of the reasons why millennials are drawn to Facebook is because, generally, they are content consumers and not content creators like Gen Z.
On the other hand, younger generations such as Gen Z who did not grow up using Facebook prefer to spend their time on other social networks like TikTok, which lets them have more creative self-expression. When you look at the time spent on the social network, the average person in the United States goes on Facebook for 33 minutes per day (via Statista). Even though it has retained its number one spot, CNBC reports that there are tell-tale signs people are moving away from Facebook and spending less time on it overall.