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The figures below keep those measures separate. Global reach is from DataReportal’s April 2026 update; platform-use and age comparisons are medians from Pew Research Center’s Spring 2026 survey across 37 countries.
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How many people use social media in 2026?
DataReportal estimated 5.79 billion social media user identities in April 2026, equal to 69.9% of the estimated world population of 8.28 billion. The estimate increased by 294 million identities, or 5.4%, in the 12 months to April 2026. DataReportal’s Digital 2026 Mid-Year Global Update cautions that user identities may not represent unique human beings: people can have multiple accounts, and platforms’ reporting practices and estimation methods vary.
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Read this as an estimate of identities, not an audited headcount. It is also distinct from survey responses about platform use and from advertising-reach estimates. Those measures have different definitions and denominators, so they should not be added together or treated as interchangeable.
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Which social media platforms are most used?
In Pew Research Center’s 2026 comparison, the median share of adults in 37 surveyed countries who said they use each service was highest for Facebook among the five platforms asked about. This is not a complete ranking of all social platforms or a global population-weighted estimate.
| Platform | Median reported use | Measure and coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 69% | Median across 37 countries; adults reporting use | |
| 51% | Median across 37 countries; adults reporting use | |
| TikTok | 40% | Median across 37 countries; adults reporting use |
| X | 18% | Median across 37 countries; adults reporting use |
| Snapchat | 18% | Median across 37 countries; adults reporting use |
Pew’s report, published October 1, 2026, draws on the Spring 2026 Global Attitudes Survey: international interviews ran February 8 to May 13, 2026, alongside separate U.S. survey waves. The platform question covered Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X and Snapchat—not every available service. Facebook led the five in general, though Instagram was as popular or more popular in some high-income European and Asia-Pacific countries. Pew Research Center’s country comparison explains the survey and its coverage.
Why different rankings have different winners
DataReportal’s account of GWI self-reported monthly use among internet users aged 16 and older puts Facebook first at 56.3%, YouTube second at 55.3% and Instagram third at 54.6%. A separate Similarweb app-open dataset ranks YouTube first; its WhatsApp app-user index is 87.4% of YouTube’s, followed by Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. These rankings describe different behaviors and datasets, not contradictory measurements of the same thing. DataReportal’s Digital 2026 report discusses these distinct views of platform popularity.
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Which platforms are most used by age?
The age figures below are Pew’s 37-country medians: the share of adults in each age band who reported using a platform. They are not global age-weighted totals.
| Platform | Age 18–34 | Age 35–49 | Age 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 78% | 74% | 59% | |
| 77% | 57% | 29% | |
| TikTok | 64% | 44% | 26% |
| Snapchat | 35% | 12% | 4% |
| X | 29% | 16% | 9% |
Instagram use skews younger in 36 of the 37 countries Pew surveyed, and TikTok use is much more common among younger adults virtually everywhere in the sample. Facebook’s age pattern varies by income context: younger adults lead in many middle-income countries, while adults aged 35–49 tend to lead in high-income countries. The country medians are useful for broad comparisons, but they do not mean the same age group leads in every country.
Which social media platforms are growing?
Pew’s comparison of selected middle-income countries found statistically significant increases in TikTok use between its 2023 and 2026 surveys in all six countries shown below. Nigeria had the largest increase in the listed comparisons.
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|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 25% | 57% |
| Indonesia | 35% | 62% |
| Argentina | 31% | 55% |
| South Africa | 37% | 59% |
| Mexico | 41% | 62% |
| Kenya | 37% | 58% |
These are country-level survey comparisons, not evidence that TikTok grew at the same rate worldwide. In the eight middle-income countries where comparisons were available, Facebook and Instagram also rose somewhat in several. X was unchanged or declined in most, including Brazil, where reported use went from 22% in 2023 to 7% in 2026; use grew in Indonesia and Nigeria. The selected-country results do not establish a global decline for X. Pew’s trend comparisons also note that Snapchat was not included in the 2023 comparison and that country availability varied by platform.
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Why do people use social media?
GWI data reported by DataReportal says 49.0% of adult social media users visit to keep in touch with friends and family, 39.3% to fill spare time, and 30.1% to read news. These are motivations, not mutually exclusive categories: respondents could choose multiple reasons and reported just over 4.5 reasons on average. The figures describe reported reasons for use, not the share of users who use a platform exclusively for any one purpose. DataReportal’s April 2026 update reports the GWI findings.
How to read social media statistics
- User identities: an estimate of accounts or identities, which may include duplicates and is not necessarily a count of unique people.
- Survey-reported use: respondents’ answers to whether they use a service. Country medians, age bands and survey dates matter.
- Advertising reach: a platform’s potential ad audience, not automatically its monthly active users or unique people.
- App activity: measures such as opens or app-user indexes describe activity captured in a particular dataset; they are not the same as self-reported use.
- Motivations: people can report multiple reasons for using social media, so percentages may add to more than 100%.
Before comparing two numbers, check the measure, denominator, geography and field dates. A broad global identity estimate answers a different question from a country survey or an app-activity ranking.
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