The last quarter of a century has seen societal change on an unprecedented scale. The way we live has been altered forever by the march of technology, as has the way we interact with each other.
Right at the centre of these shifts is social media – a relatively unknown phenomenon before the new millennium, but one which billions of people globally now see as an integral part of their daily lives.
Social networks have also transformed digital marketing, as brands and businesses can now take advantage of the targeted opportunities that this type of advertising provides, with specialist social agencies such as Social Chameleon offering a whole host of insights and expertise.
Which makes us perfectly-placed to ask the questions that matter when it comes to social media. How did we get here? What does the social media landscape look like? And where will this weird and wonderful ride take us next?
Social Media Over Time
It’s easy to think of social media as a relatively recent phenomenon, intertwined with the rise of the internet in the late 1990’s. However, social media is more Baby Boomer than Gen Z, as many precursors to the social sites we know and love today were born as early as the 1960s.
The first example of social media in the internet age was Six Degrees, a site similar to Facebook that was launched in 1997. In its heyday, Six Degrees attracted over 3.5 million registered members worldwide, but couldn’t maintain its momentum and folded just over three years later.
The UK Social Media Scene
The first social media site to experience huge popularity in the UK is largely unknown to the TikTok generation, but will certainly be familiar to many Brits of a certain age! Friends Reunited was born in the year 2000 and allowed its users to search for and connect with old school friends and work colleagues.
Sounds familiar doesn’t it?
Before Facebook was even a scribble on a whiteboard, Friends Reunited connected people in a way that had never been seen before in the UK, attracting 15 million users at its peak, and even being purchased by ITV.
Which makes it bitterly ironic that when Facebook exploded in popularity in the mid to late noughties, Friends Reunited suddenly seemed dated by comparison. The writing was on the wall, and while the site surprisingly stayed live until 2016, its downward trajectory began long before then.
Enduring Social Success
Facebook conquering all comers after its launch in 2004 is no surprise to those who have seen how popular it has remained to this day. However, the longest-running popular social media site currently in operation globally, is not the house that Zuckerberg built, but LinkedIn.
Everyone’s favourite job search, networking and humble brag platform actually predates Facebook by a couple of years. Its unique USP, along with an impressive ability to change with the times, has allowed LinkedIn to attract over 1 billion monthly active users.
Other elder statesmen of the social media scene are YouTube, which seems to have been around forever but only came along in 2005, along with X, which was launched in 2006.
Facebook, X, and YouTube are hugely popular to this day, but you couldn’t exactly call them modern social media platforms! That title belongs to TikTok and Snapchat, while Instagram straddles both worlds, having been launched in 2010, but earning a lofty stature among young people, in particular.
Key Global Social Media Statistics in 2025
The numbers attached to social media are massive. We’re not talking “Waiting in a queue for Oasis tickets” figures here, we’re talking about lots more zeroes, as the number of global social media users in 2025 is over 5 billion.
That’s an increase of over a quarter of a billion people in a year, with over 60 percent of the world population checking in with their social network of choice on a semi-regular basis.
When it comes to the amount of time we’re spending on social networks, the numbers are also eye-catching. In 2025, the average amount of time spent on social media worldwide sits at over two hours every day.
Presuming that the average person spends around seven or eight hours sleeping, this would suggest that people are spending around 15% of their waking hours on social networks!
Regional Breakdown: Social Media Users in 2025 by Country
China is leading the way when it comes to social network users, with over one billion. India follows with over 860 million, and then it’s a steep dropoff to the USA in third, with around 300 million.
In the UK, the number of social media users reached over 52 million in 2024, with that number expected to increase to almost 58 million by 2029.
That’s one side of the coin, but the flipside is when you analyse these figures as a percentage of the population, rather than the total number of users.
The Global average is over 60%, but the UK far exceeds that number, with around 80% of the population being active on social media.
The worldwide picture changes again when you look at it through the lens of time spent on social media, with Brazil and Nigeria leading the way, boasting figures that are over an hour higher than the average.
The UK’s figures are positively paltry by comparison, sitting at a good 40 minutes below the global average – perhaps we’re all out enjoying the weather instead, or maybe not!
User Demographics
The overall picture when it comes to gender is a simple one to understand – a rarity for social media statistics! There is roughly an even split between male and female social network aficionados worldwide, which is matched across most mediums.
The only outlier here is X, which has the highest share of male social media users in 2025, at over 60%
Popular Platforms and Their User Behaviour in 2025
The most popular social media platform in 2025 is Facebook, with over 3 billion monthly active global social media users.
YouTube is hot on its heels with over 2.5 billion users, but when it comes to the more standard social media sites, Facebook’s closest rival is Instagram, which sits third with 2 billion active social media users in 2025.
Luckily for Mark Zuckerberg, he purchased Instagram for a cool one billion dollars back in 2012. #savvy!
With 1.8 billion monthly active users, TikTok is closing fast, supercharged by its popularity among Gen Z. Since its launch in 2017, TikTok has experienced one of the fastest year by year growths of any platform, and given its increased value as a social media marketing tool (more on that later), it’s fair to say we haven’t seen the end of its meteoric rise.
Digging Deeper Into Social Platform Demographics
When it comes to digital marketing, some of the most important social media statistics are not the ones that outline worldwide numbers, which are just too large to comprehend in many cases!
What is far more useful are the statistics which allow you to take a deeper dive into social platform demographics such as who is logging in to which platform, what they consider to be thumb stopping content, and how long they are spending interacting with it.
It’s no surprise that social media is predominantly a young person’s game, with 59% of global social media users sitting between the 18-34 age bracket.
However, there are stark contrasts when you compare different sites. 70% of TikTok and X users are aged 18-34, Instagram sits at around 60%, while only a third of Facebook’s users are between the ages of 18 and 34.
Understanding user intent is the key to unlocking the insights behind these figures. Research has proven that young people crave the kind of authentic, user generated content that is prevalent on sites such as TikTok and Instagram.
When it comes to X, being seen as an accessible news platform for people that wouldn’t necessarily consume current affairs on other mediums, has certainly contributed to its popularity among young people.
Facebook users, on the other hand, are far more interested in creating and maintaining connections with friends and family, which explains their older demographic.
Growth Projections for Social Media Usage
We’re normally a cliche-free zone at Social Chameleon, but when it comes to the future of social media, we’ll allow ourselves a small lapse!
So, we’re just going to leave this here. The social media bubble isn’t about to burst any time soon, the sky really is the limit, and content will continue to be king.
That’s better, now on to some actual insights!
The number of social media users is projected to rise beyond 6 billion in 2028, with all the major players forecast to experience continued growth.
However, some social media networks are projected to grow far quicker than others, with Facebook, in particular drawing the attention of the naysayers, many of whom predict that the gap between them and the chasing pack will decrease year by year.
The Future of Social Media Engagement
Looking into how and why we will interact with social media in the coming years and decades is a fascinating rabbit hole to fall down.
The failure of Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse warrants a whole article in itself, but that doesn’t mean wearable technology can’t have a big role to play in the future of social media.
If used correctly to enhance human connection rather than replace it, the potential is there for VR headsets, smart glasses, or even contact lenses to transform the social media experience.
A Familiar Future
Of course, Generative AI will have a huge say when it comes to social media user behaviour in 2025 and beyond, providing previously unseen levels of personalisation when it comes to a user’s content feed, the ads they are targeted with, and even the interactive experiences they are offered.
The major issue with AI is its effect on authenticity, which leads us nicely to the role of the Influencer in 2025 and beyond.
If you’re reading this article, we doubt there’s any need to tell you about the importance of influencers in certain branches of social media, but what we will say is it’s set to evolve in the coming years.
We expect Micro and Nano Influencers to play a more prominent role in the future. These types of Influencers, with a relatively small following of no more than 100,000 are often able to forge deeper connections with their audience.
They can be considered to be more authentic, as often they are less interested in adding followers and more concerned with developing their expertise and forging meaningful connections with their audience.
Search-First Social Media®
Another future growth area is a term that we ourselves have coined, and that’s “Search-First Social Media”.
What that means is social media users in 2025, particularly in the famous 18-34 age bracket, are increasingly looking to social media sites such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube as a way of replacing traditional searching on sites such as Google.
And if you think about it, you can understand why. If you’re looking for a service or product, words on a page can never convey as much information as an actual person expressing their opinion in a real, authentic, and entertaining way.
It’s a movement that we are spearheading, and one which has brands and businesses taking notice of the opportunities it can provide.
Putting the Audience at the Heart of Things
What connects the past, present and future of social media is that the audience must always be at the heart of things. Statistics in the billions have been built by catering to the needs of social media users who want different ways to connect with the world around them, communicate with people, and sometimes just tell their own stories.
If the future is to be as bright as what has gone before, social media providers will need to recognise that their users are their lifeblood, and their North Star when it comes to the products and features they wish to develop in the coming years.
At Social Chameleon, we know that the same rules apply to digital marketing, which is why we are proud to be at the forefront of a new way to use social media, which benefits both consumers and brands.
So, if you’d like to know more, we’d love to hear from you!
