Social media is a go-to platform for more than half the world’s population as well as an essential marketing channel to communicate, engage and influence consumers.

Between communities on Facebook, eye-grabbing videos on TikTok, and captivating photos on Instagram and Pinterest, there is a range of interests and features across the channels. Just about every demographic uses a social media platform to find out about their interests and share content.

To help you keep on top of social media developments, let’s look at some of the numbers that define social media, and explore the emerging trends that will shape the ever evolving landscape.

Social media has taken the world by storm, and the increasing usage across the globe is a testament to both of those factors.

According to We Are Social’s 2025 Global Overview Report, there are now over five billion active social media users worldwide. As a comparison, there were only 415 million global users in 2018 – that’s an incredible rise.

As new platforms enter the digital arena and today’s digital natives continue to connect, converse, and source information from social media outlets, global adoption could continue to rise.

Studies from Statista show that whether you’re talking about Baby Boomers, Gen Zers – or anyone in between – YouTube is the most popular social media platform.

To dig a little deeper, here are the most popular social media platforms according to age group:

• 18 to 29 years: YouTube (93%), Instagram (76%), Facebook (68%), Snapchat (65%).
• 30 to 49 years: YouTube (94%), Facebook (78%), Instagram (66%), Pinterest (43%).
• 50 to 64 years: YouTube (86%), Facebook (70%), Instagram (36%), LinkedIn (30%).
• 65+: YouTube (65%), Facebook (59%), Pinterest (22%), Instagram (19%).

Social media users of all ages find video content accessible, engaging, and informative. Music videos, comedy videos, live streams, sports footage, and educational content are among the most popular forms of visual content.

When it comes to social media, one of the most important things you can do is offer your audience consistent value for their time. If your messaging lacks depth and you create one-size-fits-all sales content, your follower base may start to shrink.

According to Hootsuite’s Social Media Consumer Report, here are the social media behaviors that prompt social media users to unfollow brands:

• Sharing click-bait and content that is hollow or misleading.
• Publishing content that is overly political or sensitive. In fact, 64% of consumers will boycott a brand that shares overly charged messaging or shares a political stance that doesn’t agree with their values (Edelman).
• Not engaging in conversations with your audience and failing to respond to comments, messages or queries.

Remember, social media is a social space. So you need to offer your audience value, avoid pushing personal opinions, and engage in conversations to see your social media following soar.

Read: Why ignoring social listening can harm your brand

As we’ve established, social media usage is on the rise – and so is the adoption of AI in social media.

Around 42% of marketers use generative AI tools to assist with social media copy creation and 14% of small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) report using AI to support their social media marketing efforts, according to Statista.

Used strategically, generative AI creation tools can streamline social media content creation production and enhance your visibility across channels. But, there’s something you should know…

While AI is fast-becoming woven into the fabric of the digital world, it’s worth noting that 70% of social media users are concerned about AI-generated deep fakes that are potentially harmful or misleading according to Statista.

An increasing number of marketers may use generative AI to support their content creation efforts (and for good reason), but while this is the case, it’s important to use AI tools responsibly.

Be aware that AI tools can play a positive role in social media strategy and content creation. But, if you use generative AI, ensure your content is accurate, authentic, and has a human touch.

Since Elon Musk took over X and rebranded it as ‘X’, the platform has seen its fair share of controversy such as a boycott by big advertisers.

Yet despite the likelihood of X’s follower base declining, the numbers suggest that it’s still a highly engaged social media channel. Here are some stats from Sprout Social to prove it.

• Almost half of active social users own an ‘X’ account
• X sees around 364 billion total user active seconds and 8.3 billion video views daily
• 59% of X users engaged with the platform to connect with the latest news

So X could still be worth considering as part of your social media strategy.

TikTok is a platform that has skyrocketed in popularity in recent years. Even in the face of proposed bans in the U.S, the video-based network gets 2.65 billion monthly visits, reports Semrush. Plus, Android phone users across the globe spend an average of 35 hours per month watching TikTok videos.

Among these highly engaged monthly users, 35.3% are 25 to 34 years old, (the largest age group on the platform), followed by people aged 18 to 24 years old (30.7%).

The same study also shows that Gen Zers use TikTok as a search engine to find information and product discovery. These stats are definitely worth considering when creating your next targeted TikTok marketing campaign.

Facebook may still be one of the world’s most popular social media platforms, but there are plenty of contenders for the throne. Fortunately, for Facebook, the biggest threat to its dominance isn’t a threat at all, since Facebook already owns it!

Currently, Instagram has over 1.74 billion active monthly users according to Datareportal. The platform is popular among Millennials and Gen Zers, with younger digital natives saying they prefer the platform for customer care.

Plus, 69% percent of social users state they see the most engaging brand content on Instagram, and 44% wish brands used Instagram more frequently, reported Sprout Social.

While Facebook has some fierce competition, it’s far from dead in the water.

While the amount of time and resources you spend on Facebook will depend on your brand’s specific engagement metrics and strategy, these stats from Statista suggest that it’s still worth focusing on:

• 96% of social media users still maintain a Facebook profile
• Facebook remains the world’s biggest social media platform with around 3.065 billion monthly active users.
• Facebook is the most-used platform by marketers around the world (86%)

While it may not be your priority platform as a social media marketer, these statistics definitely suggest that you shouldn’t give up on the platform any time soon.

Thanks to Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, video is still one of the most popular forms of marketing in social media today, particularly short-form video.

According to a report by Wyzowl, 89% of consumers say they’d like to see more videos from brands, while 52% of consumers are more likely to share videos than any other type of content. So keeping your visual content fresh will elevate your social media strategy across channels.

Social media provides marketers with opportunities to connect with audiences from all demographics on a global scale. But there’s an art to using social media channels effectively. DMI’s short course on Social Media Platforms covers everything you need to know to be effective across all social networks. You’ll learn about social research, social content, and social strategy across key platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, X and WhatsApp. Enroll today to get started!