The Top Social Media Platforms

Social media is omnipresent, but not all channels work for every company. Find out which of these top social media networks will work best for your audience.

Social media is crucial to our everyday life.

With 4.8 billion social media users globally – accounting for 59.9% of the global population – social networks have become important centres for getting information, engaging with our friends and loved ones, and expanding our companies.

And social media users have evolved to trust and depend on their chosen social networks for everything from real-time news and updates to lifestyle hacks, product research, and more.

For marketers, the world of social media provides a vast area of possibility – and every user is a potential consumer.

With the correct tools, resources, and a solid social media strategy, marketers can exploit social media platforms to improve visibility for their brand, engage their target audience, and even create a dedicated community.

But with so many various social media platforms operating today, it’s practically hard to be present on every single one — much alone succeed in every place.

Success in social media marketing begins with picking the correct channels for your company. You need to understand where your target audience is spending the most time and where it makes sense for your business to engage with them.

In this post, we’ll look at the biggest social media platforms, offering a basic explanation of what they are before considering what sorts of companies could find them most beneficial.

Top 10 Social Media Platforms Compared

*Number of monthly active users globally, updated October 2023.

The Top 10 Social Media Apps By Monthly Active Users

*Number of monthly active users globally updated October 2023.

The Top 10 Social Media Sites And Platforms

1. Facebook

• Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA.

• Launched: 2004.

• Monthly Active Users: 3 billion.

• Founders: Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes.

• Revenue: Facebook-specific revenue not known.

While Facebook may not be the thrilling new platform it once was – and could have fallen out of favor with younger users – make no mistake: it’s still alive, and more popular than ever.

Today, Facebook runs under the umbrella of Meta, Inc., which also includes platforms including Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads. Per Meta’s full-year financial report, its “Family of Apps” – which includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and other applications – produced a total of $114.45 billion in revenue in 2022.

In recent years, Facebook has seen a demographic transition – but its power in the social media sector remains unsurpassed.

Industries such as financial services, ecommerce, retail, media, telecom, technology, and consumer goods continue to harness Facebook’s expansive reach to connect with consumers and grow their brand awareness – with newer sectors like gaming, entertainment, and automotive businesses also finding their footing on the platform.

If you’re hoping to generate conversions, your best chance is to invest in Facebook advertisements – particularly considering the News Feed is rapidly suppressing business postings.

That said, there are still lots of methods to increase organic interaction without paying in marketing.

Consider joining (or establishing) specialty groups using Facebook Groups, employing Messenger chatbots for tailored communication, or using live streaming to stimulate real-time audience involvement.

2. YouTube

• Launched: 2005.

• Headquarters: San Bruno, California.

• Monthly Active Users: 2.5 billion.

• Revenue: $29.24 billion (2022).

• Founders: Jawed Karim, Steve Chen, Chad Hurley.

YouTube continues to keep the crown as the top original video social media platform. It is presently the second most utilised platform, with 2.5 billion monthly active users.

According to Alphabet’s Q4 2022 results, YouTube commercials produced $29.24 billion in revenue in 2022. It’s worth noting that that amount does not include money from non-advertising sources, which includes subscription fees from services like YouTube TV and YouTube Premium.

The potential for reach on YouTube is unsurpassed, with 81% of U.S. adults utilising the site. Such engagement indicators are hard for marketers and companies to ignore.

From longform video storytelling to the recent debut of YouTube Shorts, the platform’s TikTok competitor, YouTube gives lots of options for companies to participate in visual storytelling and reach new audiences.

And according to the corporation, it’s a really strong marketing tool. YouTube users claim they’re 2X more likely to purchase something they saw on YouTube, and 4X more likely to utilise the site to obtain information about a company, product, or service vs other social networks.

Whether you’re into beauty lessons, gaming streams, instructional material, or DIY hacks, YouTube has it all. And for organisations trying to transition into video-centric content marketing, YouTube is the medium to prioritize.

3. Instagram

• Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA.

• Launched: 2010.

• Monthly Active Users: 2 billion.

• Founders: Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger.

• Revenue: Instagram-specific revenue not known.

Instagram is a social network where product-based companies, influencers, and coaches may flourish.

Launched in 2010, Instagram soon became the dominant image-based, visually-rich networking platform. Since then, it has only increased in popularity and scope, providing a platform for users to conduct and explore every area of their life.

The platform has also provided new capabilities that advertisers can exploit to boost awareness, like ephemeral Stories, vertical-video Reels, and more.

Since launching shoppable articles in 2018, the potential ROI for product-based companies has been bigger than ever.

Not only can B2B firms engage with a vast audience, they can effortlessly move followers from product study to purchase by integrating product information and completing transactions - all inside the Instagram interface.

And if your target group is under 35, Instagram is a gold mine: over 68% of Instagram users are under 35.

4. TikTok

• Launched: 2016.

• Headquarters: Culver City, California.

• Monthly Active Users: 1.2 billion.

• Founders: ByteDance Ltd, Zhang Yiming, Toutiao.

• Revenue: Unknown.

TikTok advertises itself as “the leading destination for short-form mobile video” with a business objective to encourage creativity and deliver pleasure. And clearly, it’s succeeding.

As a privately owned firm, ByteDance is not obligated to reveal financial information, therefore we cannot be confident of TikTok’s yearly income. However, an estimate from Bloomberg indicates the parent firm produced somewhere in the tune of $80 billion in 2022 — and the social app accounted for a part of it.

TikTok’s stratospheric development over the last several years has been remarkable. In 2017, after just one year, the app became the fastest-growing app globally.

Its concentration on short-form films driven by aural and visual trends has swept the globe by storm, with rival platforms trying to mimic it.

Despite efforts to prohibit TikTok in the U.S. and being banned in India, as of 2021, the app has been downloaded more than 3.5 billion times internationally.

And although TikTok reaches people of all demographics, if your company wants to engage with Generation Z, it should be your first goal.

In the U.S., it’s most popular among the 12 to 17 age range, who form roughly 17.7% of the user population.

Those users are extremely engaged, too, with the typical user spending over 54 minutes on the app every day — the largest amount of time of any app, ahead of YouTube at 48.7 minutes.

5. Snapchat

• Headquarters: Los Angeles, CA.

• Launched: 2011.

• Monthly Active Users: 750 million.

• Founders: Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, Daniel Smith, David Kravitz, Leo Noah Katz.

• Revenue: $4.6 billion (2022).

If a younger demographic is your objective, Snapchat can be a platform worth investigating. This social site is a terrific area for communicating with millennials and Gen Z people.

Snapchat now reaches 70% of 13 to 24-year-olds, proving its huge appeal to the younger population.

The typical Snapchat user spends 19 minutes per day on the app — not enough time to match that of TikTok and YouTube, but still an opportunity window for marketers to engage and interact with them.

Snapchat has a distinctively organic vibe, with content that delivers an unvarnished view into ordinary situations – therefore the platform is a paradise for user-generated content, behind-the-scenes films, exclusive deals, and influencer takeovers.

The network has always maintained its devotion to real-time, ephemeral material, and it delivers a feeling of privacy to users that many other social platforms do not. For this reason, it’s a great tool for marketers that want to legitimately communicate to a younger population that may be less interested in the wider methods of other social networks.

And although it may not garner as much attention as the likes of Instagram and TikTok, Snapchat is quietly humming away. Since introducing its premium membership service Snapchat+, the company stated it has attracted 5 million paying users who are eager to shell out money for access to special features.

6. X/Twitter

• Headquarters: San Francisco, CA.

• Launched: 2006.

• Monthly Active Users: 541 million (July 2023).

• Founders: Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone, Noah Glass.

• Revenue: $3 billion (2023) projected.

Since being bought by Tesla CEO Elon Musk in October 2022 for $44 billion, Twitter has undergone some substantial modifications — including its rebranding as “X.”

Different changes Musk has made during his experience as President incorporate presenting Twitter Blue (presently X Premium), a paid month-to-month membership administration that joined a sticker price to confirmation, closing down various bot records, and sending off a help where makers can get compensated a level of income produced by their endorsers.

This might explain the variability in the facts and stats regarding X’s traffic and users. While some statistics indicate X’s traffic as being down YoY, a July tweet from Musk claimed that monthly users hit an all-time high in 2023.

One thing is certain: X (previously Twitter) remains a place to monitor. Despite some volatility over the last year, it’s evident that there are enormous aspirations for the site, and it remains a trailblazer among social media platforms.

If your company is linked to entertainment, sports, politics, tech, or marketing, there are still chances to create excellent interaction on this app — if you can locate your audience there.

On X, companies have a chance to design and refine their voice. There’s potential to be smart and charming while still being knowledgeable and useful.

Jump into discussions, add value, contribute your own stuff as well as others, and join the discourse. Just be careful to check the app and your audience to make sure your investment is paying off.

7. Pinterest

• Launched: 2010.

• Headquarters: San Francisco, CA.

• Monthly Active Users: 465 million.

• Founders: Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra, Evan Sharp.

• Revenue: $2.8 billion (2022).

Like Instagram, Pinterest is a social networking site that’s centred on beautiful graphics. From delectable recipes to home design inspiration, wedding ideas, gym techniques, and DIY-related material, Pinterest is where visual fantasies come to life.

If your business has an interest in visual storytelling, Pinterest is the platform for you.

Notably, 60% of Pinterest users are women. If your audience is largely women, that’s a strong argument to spend time in social media marketing on Pinterest.

That’s not to suggest that males aren’t on Pinterest — male Pinners are growing 40% year-over-year (as are Gen Z Pinners!).

What’s more, Pinterest has proved itself to be a great marketing tool. 89% of weekly Pinners use the site for inspiration on their journey to buy, while 80% have found a new brand or product on Pinterest.

8. Reddit

• Launched: 2005.

• Headquarters: San Francisco, CA.

• Monthly Active Users: 430 million.

• Founders: Steve Huffman, Alexis Ohanian, Aaron Swartz.

• Revenue: $400 million (estimated).

Reddit touts itself as “the front page of the internet,” and according to Alexa statistics, Reddit is one of the top 20 most-visited sites.

Since it’s not a public business, Reddit does not required to publish its financials, thus we don’t have a precise image of its yearly income. However, in mid-2021, the firm alluded to have exceeded $100 million in quarterly ad income — therefore, based on this, we can confidently infer it’s in the vicinity of $400 million.

It has become regarded as the dominating digital watercooler, and supplanted forums and chatrooms of old to be the go-to destination for engaging with likeminded groups and having your questions addressed.

Reddit is a unique combination of material and community, with more than 2.8 million communities, or subreddits, devoted to every subject conceivable. Whether you’re in tech, fashion, gaming, or health, there’s at least one subreddit actively discussing your field.

With so many niches, there’s a space for every brand and company to engage their audience - it’s a question of locating the niches where your prospective consumers are active and diving in.

However, be warned: Reddit relies on honesty and real contact. Users don’t normally react well to obvious self-promotion, and marketing tricks will be viewed with acute suspicion.

Brands should cautious before strolling into any subreddit and attempting to pitch their goods to community members.

It’s vital to get the tone right from the outset, since commenters won’t hesitate to pick out and attack anything they see as inauthentic.

Engage wisely, contribute sincerely, and Reddit might be a great marketing tool for your company.

9. LinkedIn

• Headquarters: Sunnyvale, CA.

• Launched: 2003.

• Monthly Active Users: <350 million (2023) projected.

• Founders: Reid Hoffman, Konstantin Guericke, Allen Blue, Jean-Luc Vaillant, Eric Ly.

• Revenue: $15 billion+ (2023).

LinkedIn has been something of a dark horse among social networking networks. While many may not originally have anticipated a career-focused social site to take off, it has become one of the most popular and engaging platforms, with a big and powerful community of professionals.

Unlike other social media networks, LinkedIn does not publicly reveal its number of monthly active users. However, as part of the EU’s new DSA, the company did release MAU counts for its EU users – and by taking the percentage of active users in the EU and applying the same trends to global user counts (and accounting for variations in usage), the team at Social Media Today was able to come up with “less than 350 million” as a reasonable estimate.”

The site claims over 180 million members holding senior jobs, 63 million decision-makers, and 10 million C-level executives — making it a hotspot for those wanting to engage with those who have the authority to employ your firm, stock your product, or collaborate with your brand.

And the platform isn’t simply for networking — it’s an aspirational centre. Every week, 61 million individuals use LinkedIn to hunt for employment possibilities – so it’s a sensible location to sell your brand.

LinkedIn is a particularly targeted social media network. Because of it, it offers endless potential for connecting with an elite set of people who can make a difference for your company.

10. Threads

• Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA.

• Launched: 2023.

• Monthly Active Users: 100 million (2023).

• Founders: Mark Zuckerberg.

• Revenue: Unknown.

The newest on the block, Threads was designed by the guys behind Instagram and released in July 2023. The text-based programme was created as a rival to X (previously Twitter).

It looks and performs pretty similarly to X (previously Twitter), however Threads needs you to have an Instagram account in order to join up.

Threads first made a stir in the social media sector by swiftly topping 150 million downloads and became the most successful social media platform launch in history.

Since then, it has struggled to maintain members — but there is still lot of potential for the future of the site.

So, who should be advertising on Threads? It’s still early days, so the answer isn’t fully evident yet.

The good news is that Threads looks to be engaging people by leaning into its plan to build a positive community environment, and diverting away from the extremely political landscape that you may find on X.

If your company is searching for an alternative to X (previously Twitter) or is willing to try your hand at a new platform, Threads is absolutely worth investigating.

Its interaction with Instagram implies that you have the ability to acquire a following pretty swiftly if you have a strong and active Instagram community.

Which Platforms Should You Use?

The prevalence of social media is clear.

From your teenage neighbor who wants to become popular on TikTok to your 86-year-old granny who’s using Facebook to search down long-lost acquaintances, everyone has a need for social media.

Yet, when it comes to company, a one-size-fits-all strategy to social media won’t work.

So, if you were thinking you’d reach the conclusion of this essay, and get a straightforward, conclusive answer on the best platform for your company, you’re out of luck.

Every social media combination will be unique.

Each platform provides various features and functions, some which connect more naturally with certain sectors or marketing aims.

Whether you’re aiming to promote consumer engagement, expand reach, or create remarkable brand experiences, it all begins with becoming clear on your objectives.

Start by establishing your goals, finding out where your audience is most engaged, and then personalising your plan to resonate on those channels.

It’s all about making the proper decisions and achieving real harmony in order to make advantage of this huge marketing opportunity.