Understanding the latest social media demographics is an important component of creating (or updating) an effective social media strategy. Use the information here to build buyer personas, plan your social ad mix, and determine where to engage your organic social media audience.
Bonus: Find out what people really want from brands on social—including why they follow, engage, buy, and even unfollow them—in The Social Media Consumer Report.
What’s new in 2024?
1. The average age of social media users is creeping up
Almost all major platforms (except Snapchat) have seen significant rises in the average user age over time, especially since 2022. Social has extensive reach in all age categories in 2024. We get into the details by platform below. 
Source: GWI
2. More than 6.5 million Gen Alpha Americans will be using social networks by the end of 2024
While more users at the upper end of the age range are drawing the average age of social media users upwards, the next generation is also coming into the social sphere. The oldest Gen Alphas, born in 2010, are now old enough to have their own social accounts.
3. As AI use increases, Gen Z is least likely to trust (21%) and engage with (20%) social content created by AI
Virtually all social marketers are incorporating AI tools to reduce workload and improve ROI. But be careful about leaning too heavily on AI for content generation—a human touch is important to maintain relationships with your social audience.
Source: Hootsuite Social Trends Report 2024
4. As of 2024, the number of social media users worldwide was 5.17 billion. That’s nearly two-thirds of the entire population of earth.
5. Globally, people spend an average of 2 hours and 20 minutes per day using social media.
6. China currently has the largest number of social media users at 1.07 billion. It’s followed by India (862 million) and the United States (308 million).
7. However, by 2029, India is expected to have more social media users than China, at 1.31 billion. By 2029 China is expected to have 1.27 billion social media users.
8. Nigeria is seeing the fastest growth in the number of social media users, with the number expected to increase from 47.5 million in 2023 to 114.8 million in 2029.
9. Northern Europe is the region with the greatest social media penetration among internet users at 80.2%. Next are Western Europe at 78.2% and Eastern Asia at 74.9%.
10. 82% of the total U.S. population aged 12 and up is using social media. That’s an estimated 235 million people. This percentage is unchanged since 2021.
Source: Edison Research
11. The generations most likely to see affiliate content on social media channels are Gen Z (63.0%) and Millennials (60.9%).
12. 46% of Gen Z use social networks to search for information online, while 58% still use search engines.
13. 75% of B2B marketers say social media is their most-used marketing channel, and 71% plan to increase their social media usage.
Social media demographics by platform
Facebook demographics
14. Facebook has more than 3 billion monthly active users.
15. 25.7% of all Facebook users are aged 45 and older.
16. Only 33% of American teenagers use Facebook. That’s down from 71% in 2014-15.
17. 75% of Americans aged 30 to 49 use Facebook, compared to 67% of Americans aged 18 to 29, 69% of Americans aged 50 to 64, 58% of Americans aged 65+, and 33% of Americans aged 13 to 17.
18. 56.7% of Facebook users identify as male, and 43.3% identify as female. Male users aged 25 to 34 continue to make up the biggest demographic of Facebook users.
Source: Statista
19. However, note that 76% of American women use Facebook compared to 59% of American men.
20. India has the most Facebook users in the world, with more than 378 million users.
21. After India, the countries with the most users in the world are: the USA (193.8 million), Indonesia (119.05 million) and Brazil (112.55 million).
22. In the U.S., 71% of college graduates use Facebook.
23. Facebook is the most popular social media platform in the United States, where it’s used by 63% of the population aged 12+.
Read more: Learn more about the social media platform demographic for Facebook to help your brand with your social media strategy.
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Instagram demographics
24. Instagram has more than 2 billion monthly active users.
25. Instagram is the most-used social network (31%) by social media users aged 12 to 34.
26. 78% of Americans aged 18 to 29 use Instagram, along with 59% of Americans aged 30 to 49, 35% of Americans aged 50 to 64, 15% of Americans aged 65+, and 59% of Americans aged 13 to 17.
27. 67.8% of global Instagram users are under the age of 35.
28. As of January 2024, 50.6% of all Instagram users worldwide are male and 49.4% are female. Male users aged 18 to 34 make up the largest demographic segment.
Source: Statista
29. However, note that 54% of American women use Instagram, compared with 39% of American men.
30. India has the most Instagram users in the world, with 362.9 million users as of January 2024.
31. Following India, the countries with the most Instagram users in the world are the U.S. (169.65 million), Brazil (134.6 million), Indonesia (100.9 million) and Turkey (57.1 million).
Read more: If your business relies heavily on Instagram, check out more of the essential demographics of social media users on Instagram.
X (formerly Twitter) demographics
32. X has 611 million monthly active users.
33. X is the fifth-most popular social platform among Millennials. It does not make the top five for any other generation.
34. 73.2% of global X users are under 35.
Source: Statista
35. 60.9% of X users identify as male, and 39.1% identify as female.
36. 42% of Americans aged 18-29 use X, compared to 27% of Americans aged 30 to 49, 17% of Americans ages 50-64, 6% of Americans aged 65+, and 20% of Americans aged 13 to 17.
37. Overall, 19% of the U.S. population aged 12+ uses X, a decline of 30% from 2023.
Source: Edison Research
Read more: Find more informative social media age demographics and other details for X (Twitter) to help drive your brand’s social media marketing strategy.
LinkedIn demographics
38. There are more than one billion LinkedIn members worldwide.
39. 65 million people use LinkedIn each week to search for jobs — and 6 people are hired each minute.
40. 67 million companies are listed on LinkedIn.
41. 43.6% of users are female; 56.4% are male.
42. 50.6% of all LinkedIn users worldwide are ages 25 to 34. The next biggest user base is the 18 to 24 age group, making up 24.7%.
43. 32% of Americans aged 30 to 49 use LinkedIn, compared to 32% of Americans aged 18 to 29, 31% of Americans aged 50 to 64, and 12% of Americans aged 65+.
44. The country with the largest LinkedIn audience is the USA, at 220 million users.
Source: LinkedIn
45. After the USA, the countries with the most LinkedIn members are India (127 million), Brazil (75 million), and the UK (39 million).
46. As of January 2024, The Cayman Islands has the highest LinkedIn audience penetration at 115.6%.
47. 53% of U.S. adults who earn over $100,000 a year use LinkedIn.
Read more: To get an even better idea of how to think about social media and demographics for this platform, check out the top LinkedIn demographics that matter to social media marketers.
TikTok demographics
48. TikTok has 1.58 billion global monthly users.
49. Indonesia has the largest TikTok audience at 127.5 million users.
50. After Indonesia, the most popular countries for TikTok use are the United States (121.5 million users) and Brazil (101.8 million).
51. The average U.S. adult TikTok user spends roughly 55 minutes per day on the app.
52. 25% of American men use TikTok, compared to 40% of American women.
53. In the USA, 62% of Americans aged 18 to 29 use TikTok, along with 39% of those aged 30 to 49, 24% of Americans aged 50 to 64, 10% of those aged 65+, and 63% of those aged 13 to 17.
Source: Pew Research Center
54. 17% of American teens say they use TikTok almost constantly, and 58% use it every day.
55. Among all Americans aged 12+, TikTok is the third-most-popular social network (13%)
56. TikTok is the fastest-growing app among baby boomers. While it’s their #4 most-used app for now, its monthly use in this demographic has increased 57% in the last three years.
Source: GWI
Read more: Check out our full post packed with user demographics, social media statistics, and more for TikTok.
YouTube demographics
57. YouTube has 2.504 billion users worldwide.
58. The average adult user spends 50 minutes per day on YouTube.
59. People watch more than 1 billion hours of YouTube content on TVs every day.
60. India has the highest number of YouTube users at 476 million.
61. After India, the leading countries for YouTube users are the United States (238 million users), Brazil (147 million), and Indonesia (139 million).
62. Globally, 45.7% of YouTube users identify as female, and 54.3% identify as male.
63. 93% of Americans aged 18 to 29 use YouTube, along with 92% of Americans aged 30 to 49, 83% of Americans aged 50 to 64, 60% of Americans aged 65+, and 79% of internet users under age 12.
64. 93% of U.S. teenagers use YouTube. 16% say they use it “almost constantly,” and another 38% use it several times per day.
Source: Pew Research Center
Read more: Find even more YouTube statistics to help guide your YouTube marketing strategy.
Pinterest demographics
65. Pinterest has 518 million monthly active users.
66. 98 million of those users are in the United States and Canada, 140 million are in Europe, and 279 million are in the rest of the world.
Source: Pinterest Investor Relations
67. The Rest of World segment is growing the fastest, with a16% increase year-over year. Compare that to +10% for Europe and +3% for the USA and Canada.
68. 69.4% of Pinterest’s global audience identifies as female, 22.6% identifies as male, and 8% did not specify their gender.
69. 45% of Americans aged 18 to 29 use Pinterest, compared to 40% of Americans aged 30 to 49, 33% of Americans aged 50 to 64, and 21% of Americans aged 65+.
70. Gen Z is both the largest audience on Pinterest (42%) and the fastest growing.
71. Gen Z is also the most engaged generation on the platform: They save nearly 2.5 times more Pins and make 66% more boards than other generations.
72. 41% of Americans with a household income over $100K use Pinterest.
Read more: Pinterest stats to help guide your brand’s Pinterest marketing strategy.
Snapchat demographics
73. Snapchat has more than 800 million monthly active users.
74. 422 million people use Snapchat each day.
Source: Snap
75. The company’s internal data shows it reaches 75% of 13-to-34-year-olds in the United States, or 90% of 13-to-24-year-olds.
76. 49.1% of Snapchatters are female and 50% are male.
77. However, in the United States, 32% of women use Snapchat, compared to 21% of men.
78. 65% of Americans aged 18 to 29 use Snapchat, compared to 30% of Americans aged 30 to 49, 13% of Americans aged 60 to 64, and just 4% of Americans aged 55+.
79. 60% of American teens aged 13 to 17 use Snapchat.
80. 14% of U.S. teens say they are on Snapchat almost constantly. And another 29% are on the app several times per day.
81. Snapchat has 100 million daily active users in North America, 96 million in Europe, and 226 million in the rest of the world.
82. India is the country with the largest number of Snapchat users (202.5 million).
83. The United States (106.7 million), Pakistan (31.93 million), and (France (27.5 million) follow India for the largest Snapchat base in the world.
Read more: Find even more details in our post on the most important Snapchat demographics for marketers.
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