Must-know social media statistics for 2024
What are the most popular social media platforms?
Let’s start with some key social media statistics on the most popular platforms du jour.
There are clear winners in the race for social media world domination, and perhaps not surprisingly they vary by age.
Our data shows Facebook is still the global leader for monthly engagement among millennials, Gen X, and baby boomers. It even ranks in Gen Z’s top three platforms, dispelling the myth that younger groups are ditching their accounts.
Talking of Gen Z, if you think they spend all their time on TikTok, think again. It’s actually Gen Alpha who like TikTok most, with 22% saying it’s their favorite social media platform.
Gen Z do have a unique social media footprint, though. Instagram is both their most-used app, and the one they’re most likely to say they’ve mentioned recently in a real life conversation – which leads nicely to our next point.
What are people using social media for?
Social media statistics show that the way people consume news is changing. Perhaps surprisingly, more consumers say they follow news influencers than fashion equivalents, and there’s been an uptick in people using social platforms to keep up with current events. It seems that with trust in the mainstream media dwindling, people are looking for information elsewhere.
Despite this, “staying in touch with friends and family” is the top reason for using social – proof that despite the blizzard of marketing content flooding our feeds, the social side of social media is still going strong. Beyond “staying in touch”, older groups tend to follow news stories on social channels, with younger groups more interested in busting boredom.
Before we move on, let’s get specific and break all this down by generation.
Why is short-form video content hotting up, big time?
It goes without saying that different content works best on different social channels – but the influence of short-form video across the global media landscape has been massive. TikTok is less than a decade old, yet social media statistics show it competes in the same leagues as Netflix and YouTube when it comes to monthly engagement.
Right now, TikTok is the market leader for short-form content, but definitely isn’t the only player in town. Instagram and YouTube have taken advantage of their massive user bases to launch their own short-form features, both of which have become very popular.
The number of Instagrammers using Reels has grown by over 50% in the last three years.
While 2024’s Super Bowl broke all kinds of live TV viewing records, 25% of Gen Z and millennial viewers also kept up with the game via updates on social media. And just as short clips have helped make some lesser-known music artists popular, they’re also carving out a bigger space for emerging sports.
Social videos – typically movie trailers – should also be on the film industry’s radar. Industry leaders like The Boxoffice Network hope that by giving social scrollers some tasty snippets they’ll visit cinemas or stream from home more, and it seems to be working. Compared to other US Instagram users, those who watch Reels and movie trailers on social media are 23% more likely to say they go to movie theaters at least monthly.