Social media has revolutionized communication and connections in the 21st century, with over 4.65 billion users worldwide as of January 2023. From titans like Facebook and YouTube to emerging platforms like TikTok, social apps continue to evolve and captivate increasingly diverse audiences spanning countries, generations and interests.
Let‘s delve into the latest numbers and nuances shaping the dynamic social media landscape in 2023 and beyond. This comprehensive, up-to-the-minute guide covers key users and growth trends, emerging behaviors and formats, advertising and commerce statistics, influencer marketing benchmarks, video streaming and more across leading platforms.
Users and Growth Trends
Total Active Users on Major Platforms
Despite mounting competition, Facebook retains the numero uno spot with 2.96 billion monthly active users (MAUs) as of January 2023. WhatsApp and Instagram (both Meta/Facebook-owned) follow closely with over 2 billion MAUs each.
- Facebook: 2.96 billion global MAUs
- YouTube: 2.56 billion MAUs
- WhatsApp: Over 2 billion MAUs
- Instagram: 2 billion MAUs
- WeChat: 1.29 billion MAUs (mostly China-based)
- TikTok: Over 1 billion MAUs
Fastest Growing Platforms
While Facebook‘s growth has plateaued, TikTok is the rising star seeing staggering engagement. The short-video app saw 124.5 million new installs in January 2023 – a 100% increase over two years. Snapchat and Pinterest also witnessed healthy double-digit percentage growth in monthly active users.
- TikTok: 100% 2-year growth with 1.05 billion MAUs
- Snapchat: 20% YoY user growth, hitting 545 million MAUs
- Pinterest: 9.1% YoY user growth, reaching 478 million MAUs
Time Spent Per Day
Thanks to addictive scrolling and video content, the daily time spent per user continues to grow across major platforms. Users now average over 2.5 hours per day as per 2023 estimates. This is dominated by behemoths YouTube and Facebook.
- YouTube: 38 minutes daily average per mobile user
- Facebook: 33 minutes daily average per mobile user
- Instagram: 30 minutes
- TikTok: 24.5 minutes
- Snapchat: 24 minutes
Usage Trends and Emerging Behaviors
Beyond growth statistics, how exactly are netizens engaging with their favorite social apps in 2023? From networking to entertainment, shopping and more, here are key highlights.
Top Reasons for Using Social Media
A 2023 survey revealed users hop onto platforms mainly for three key reasons:
- Staying in touch with friends and family
- Filling up spare time
- Discovering/reading news
Other motivations like shopping, sharing life updates, creative expression, and community discussions ranked lower.
Rise of Social Shopping
Social commerce or shopping directly via social apps is exploding, thanks to native stores and influencer marketing. Global social commerce sales hit $604 billion in 2022, expected to triple within four years.
- Estimated $992 billion social commerce sales in 2023
- Projected $2.9 trillion sales by 2026
Live Video Streaming Takes Off
As video dominates social feeds, live broadcasts are gaining steam too. 52% of internet users streamed live video in 2022 versus just 28% in 2016. Key platforms driving this growth are TikTok LIVE, Instagram Live, YouTube Live and Facebook Live. Users find live content more authentic and engaging.
Social Media Advertising and Revenue
Soaring Ad Spends
As social media usage explodes, so do advertising dollars flooding digital platforms. Global social media ad spend hit $186.91 billion in 2022, expected to grow a further 23% in 2023.
- $186.91 billion in 2022 (21% YoY increase)
- Projected $226 billion+ in 2023
Facebook Still Rules Paid Marketing
Thanks to unmatched targetting capabilities and audience reach, Facebook ads continue generating major revenues despite crises.
- 4 billion+ advertisers using Facebook stories ads per month
- $85 billion ad revenues expected in 2023
- $36 estimated 2024 revenue per Facebook user
Instagram is the growth darling though, with younger demographics and expanding features.
- 2+ million advertisers on Instagram
- $47 billion projected 2023 ad revenues
- $42 estimated 2024 revenue per Instagram user
Average Cost Metrics
For those planning social media ad campaigns, average costs vary notably across platforms. LinkedIn charges premium rates thanks to its professional audience base, while costs are economical on Facebook.
- Average cost per click (CPC): Facebook – $0.97, Instagram – $3.56, LinkedIn – $5.26
- Average cost per 1000 impressions (CPM): Facebook – $7.19, Instagram – $7.91, Pinterest: $30
The Rise of Influencer Marketing
Leveraging popular social media personalities to promote brands, influencer marketing has changed digital promotion playbooks with skyrocketing budgets. Here‘s an overview of spending and adoption statistics for 2023.
- $4.6 billion projected influencer marketing spend in the US alone for 2023 (19% YoY growth)
- 87% of marketers planning increased Instagram influencer campaigns
- 68% of marketers exploring TikTok collaborations
- 45% of paid content collabs happened on TikTok in 2022
- YouTube has 50% higher engagement rates for influencer content than other social video platforms
In terms of costs, YouTube channels also command the highest average fees given video production efforts.
- YouTube: $418 average cost per influencer video
- Instagram: $401 average cost per sponsored post
- TikTok: $297 average cost per branded video ad
Platform Demographics and Differences
While often bucketed together, every major social media platform has unique visitor demographics, content styles and marketing capabilities. Understanding such nuances is vital for impactful campaigns.
Gender Split of Users
Some social networks like Pinterest tend to have more female users, while tech platforms see more males. TikTok and Instagram are closer to overall internet gender ratios.
- 53% internet users globally are men
- 62% Pinterest users are female
- 63% Twitter users are male
- 54% TikTok and YouTube users are male
- Facebook: 43% male, 57% female
Age Group Variances
Generational preferences also differ drastically. Gen Z and young millennials dominate visually-driven apps like TikTok and Snapchat. Older demographics peruse Facebook and LinkedIn.
- 41% TikTok users are between 10 to 29 years
- 59% Snapchat users are under 30 years old
- 29.9% Facebook users are 25 to 34 years old
- 45% LinkedIn users are 30 to 49 year olds
Such nuances between platforms impact marketing decisions and budget allocation. Awareness helps optimize outreach.
Mobile vs. Desktop: Adapting for an Omni-channel Experience
With growing device penetration and web access, users today hop between mobile, desktop and tablets for social media access. This requires marketers to optimize messaging and experiences across channels.
As per 2023 reports:
- 91% of internet users leap online via mobile phones
- 65.6% regularly use laptops or desktops too
- 27.3% also employ tablets for web browsing
Consider YouTube‘s variances in engagement metrics:
- 4.63 pages visited on average via YouTube mobile app
- 2.84 pages visited on average via YouTube on desktop/laptop
Such insights showcase why marketers must track platform analytics separately for mobile vs. desktop users and tailor creatives accordingly.
The Road Ahead: 2023 & Beyond
As metaverse technologies and AI integrations advance, social networks must continue enhancing experiences to retain users amidst stiff competition.
We can expect developers to focus on these key directions in 2023:
- More interactive interfaces with AR
- Enhanced recommendation engines
- Stronger security and privacy controls
- Support for virtual identities/avatars
- Tighter ecommerce integrations
- Self-service advertising platform upgrades
While innovating features, networks also need to manage rising brand safety and ethical concerns from users and regulators alike. Striking the right balance will separate leading platforms going forward.
As this in-depth analysis reveals, the social media landscape keeps evolving at breakneck speed. So marketers must stay updated on latest benchmark statistics and trends reshaping major networks. Mastering such nuances is imperative to create engaging experiences that resonate with target users across channels in 2023 and beyond.
