This Is the Biggest Social Media Platform: Ranking the World’s Largest Networking Sites

Social media has exploded into a global phenomenon over the last 15 or 20 years. Once mostly a way for schoolmates and co-workers to interact – Mark Zuckerberg famously launched what he originally called “TheFacebook” in 2004 as a way for his fellow students at Harvard University to connect – social platforms now permeate all aspects of society. (The subject is also a major focus of a popular dystopian anthology series broadcast here on Netflix. Here are all 27 episodes of “Black Mirror” ranked from worst to best.)

Grandparents are joining Facebook, teens are glued to TikTok, and Instagram influencers fill our feeds. While concerns over privacy, misinformation, and addiction swirl, one thing’s for certain: Social media is here to stay. (It’s not all teens on TikTok, of course. These are the 35 professions dominating TikTok.)

To compile a list of the biggest social media platforms in the world right now, as of 2022, 24/7 Tempo reviewed a report by consumer data site Statista, which in turn drew on a study conducted by DataReportal.

According to DataReportal, user numbers for Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, WeChat, TikTok, Telegram, Kuaishou, Sina Weibo, GQ, and Pinterest are self-reported. Those for YouTube, Facebook Messenger, SnapChat, and X (Twitter) come from the platforms’ self-service advertising resources. The number of Douyin users is from the Chinese data site Analysys.cn. (TikTok and Douyin were both launched by the Chinese internet technology company ByteDance, but operate independently.) WhatsApp had not yet verified its 2022 users at the time of the DataReportal report, so that number is from 2021.

Facebook was the first social network to hit 1 billion users and now has nearly 3 billion monthly active users. Its parent company, Meta, owns four of the biggest platforms on the list – Facebook itself, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram.

An estimated 4 billion people around the world now use social media to connect across borders and demographics. Love it or hate it, social media has woven itself into the fabric of daily life.