Social media use is on the rise in 2022 and apps of almost every type are seeing a rise from Tik Tok to Instagram. The number of people using social media accounts worldwide has been steadily rising since the year 2017. When we look closely at the statistics, we find that the use of social media platforms will only continue with population growth. 

In this article, we are going to take a look at how many people are using Social Media in 2022 as well as what these trends mean for the future of digital marketing. When we begin to understand more about the audience that we have in this market this year, we can determine more on what trends throughout the industry will mean and what we can expect well into the future with social media networks. 

Let’s dive in to the early statistics on social media and just how much it is increasing in its use:

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In 2017 we saw 2.86 Billion people regularly using social media platforms throughout their day to day lives. In 2022, the number of active social media users has increased to an impressive 3.96 billion people. When we look at the progressive growth, we see that the numbers for each year in between saw a steady rise in users:

2021 - 3.78 Billion
2020 - 3.6 Billion
2019 - 3.4 Billion
2018 - 3.14 Billion

The number of social media users may seem high but when we take a look at the total number of active internet users, we can see just how dependent users of the internet have become with social media. Out of the estimated 5 billion internet users worldwide we now see nearly 4 billion of them on social media with active daily uses.

How many people use Social Media?

Based on our need for social media as internet users and based on the growth patterns we are seeing on social media use today, it is estimated that by 2025, there will be 4.41 billion people actively using social media on a daily basis.

How many people are expected to use social media in the future?

The term "social media" refers to websites and programs that focus on interpersonal communication, community participation, interaction, content sharing, and collaboration.

They can be presented in the form of a webpage, they can be installed as an application on a device, or they can take the form of a virtual environment. The newest platforms are emerging regularly and as we develop new applications and find new ways to connect online, the number of social networks is growing as well. 
People use social media to keep in touch with people they know, as well as interact with friends and family. Businesses utilize social networking tools to sell their products and collect consumer feedback.
Business-to-consumer websites may include social elements such as comment sections for customers. Businesses use a variety of tools to keep track of, measure, and analyze their social media attention, including brand perception and consumer satisfaction.
The term "social media" is not always used in reference to online technology where users post content. It can also refer to face-to-face interactions over snapchat, chat applications like whatsapp and more.

What is social media?

Each social media platform has its own varied user base. When we look at Facebook for example, India accounts for the most users on the popular network followed by the United States and Indonesia. When we look at Twitter, we find that the predominant users are from the USA with 76 million active users here followed by 58 million active users from Japan. Every network has its own front runners for a demographic of a worldwide population. 

The age groups on social media range greatly as well with 45% of seniors aged 65+ accessing social media regularly, 73% of potential users aged 50-64 accessing social media regularly, 81% of potential users aged 30-49 using social media regularly and 84% of potential users aged 18-29 accessing social media regularly. 

When we dive deeper into statistics on Facebook, we find that 77% of users are women, 76% of them earn 30-50k a year and 73% of the users have a college education. The majority of users on the platform also live in urban or suburban environments with 70% of the user base logging onto this network from a city broadband connection. 

Instagram features slightly different demographic statistics with income statistics being varied and only 49% of users being college graduates. 47% of the userbase on Instagram has an income higher than 75k making it one of the most promising for reaching out to a luxury audience. It is also one of the youngest demographics in a social network with 71% of the users being aged 18-29. 

As we dive deeper into the vision of who the average social media user may be, we begin to see more on the average ages, backgrounds, geographics and more on the majority of the users that are on each of the main networks. Using this data, marketers can find the best platform that they can use as they are targeting their products or launching new advertising campaigns.

Who uses social media?

Based on the number of active monthly users it is estimated that Facebook is the top social network in the world. Facebook currently has 2.91 billion active users per month. As we continue down the list of popular social networks we also find:

Facebook: 2.56 billion active users per month
Whatsapp 2.0 billion active users per month
Instagram: 1.47 billion active users per month
TikTok: 1 billion active users per month
Facebook messenger: .98 billion users per month
Dooyin: 600 million users each month
Snapchat: 557 million users each month
Telegram 550 million users each month
Pinterest: 444 million users each month
Twitter: 436 million users each month
Reddit: 430 million users each month 

Facebook currently represents the main market share for social media worldwide. Facebook also has the largest population of core family product users making it one of the best websites for marketers to use in targeting their products. Facebook as a platform will only continue to rise in its popularity and the reach that it offers to its marketing clients as well.

What are the most popular social media platforms?

In the United States it is estimated that we currently have 2.95 billion active social media users. It is estimated that this number will rise to an impressive 3.23 billion or more by the year 2026. There are two other countries that have a higher total of active social media users with India standing at 6.39 billion and China having an estimated 9.99 billion active users on social media.

How many people in the United States use social media in 2022?

The average daily use of social media is now at 2 hours and 27 minutes. Most users are splitting this time between multiple applications and networks as it is estimated that the average user has 7.5 social platforms that they will access in a given month. Social media has not reached the total daily time that we spend watching TV but it is on the rise up by 2 minutes from the year previously. Worldwide audiences are consuming 3 hours of 20 min of TV per day on average and this is down 4 minutes from the year before. Although users are spreading their time between multiple forms of media and sometimes multitasking, we are seeing a greater need to understand social media as people are spending more time on these networks than ever before. 

How much time do people spend on Social Media?

The social media platform that you may have seen signified by a ghost logo is Snapchat. The users of Snapchat founded the app as an instant picture sharing service that quickly deletes content as soon as it is sent. One of the features of the platform is that videos and images are only available for a short time and they are not stored within the app. The content that is sent gets viewed, opened and deleted and they become inaccessible unlike content on other networks that stays for other people to see. 

Snapchat has seen consistent growth since it launched in 2014. The user base has grown to over 3 billion users today worldwide and 557 million active users each month. This growth of total users is up by almost a billion users from its numbers a year ago. 

Snapchat is a platform that continues to be popular in North and Central America with 90 million users on the platform coming from this region. The United States is the predominant country for Snapchat users. In 2020 the application was sharing at least 4 billion photos each day.

What social media app has a ghost as its mascot?

Social media is an excellent tool for connection and the social sites that we use are often indefensible for our day-to-day lives. However, there is a line between using social media in a healthy way and letting it consume us. When we start to use social media in an obsessive way, it can lead to negative consequences for our mental health. 

Some of the ways that social media can affect mental health include: 

- Social media can be addictive. The constant stream of notifications and updates can trigger symptoms of anxiety and poor well-being. Being off of social media causes anxiety in 34% of young adults, according to a recent poll.

- Social media can lead to jealousy. Comparing our lives to others is unhealthy and can trigger feelings of sadness and inadequacy. 43% of teens report feeling ashamed if no one liked their post.

- Managing so many connections is exhausting. Keeping up with different social media platforms can be overwhelming and lead to feelings of anxiety and depression. Teens who spend more than 5 hours a day on their phones are twice as likely to get depressed.

According to Statista polls, 15% of persons between the ages of 23 and 38 admit they are addicted to social media. This would suggest that a good number of the young people using social media every day are not just using the applications and websites as social tools but they are compelled or even addicted to spending time on the platform. Rates of social media addiction are likely to increase alongside the active use on the platform.

How does social media affect mental health?

Social media and communication amongst people worldwide can be dated all the way back to the telegraph in 1844. Since people have been reaching out to each other digitally, they have been using technology to form social networks. 

More modern social networking sites did not start until 2001 with the launch of Friendster which was the first platform to start basic online networking. From sites like this we would see networks like Livejournal and Blogger as well as the launch of Linkedin in 2002. Myspace was another large player in early social networking, launching in 2003 and becoming one of the world's most visited websites by 2006. 

2008 brought on the world’s most popular social network Facebook which ushered in the age of modern social networks that we see today. Some of the earliest networks that have risen to popularity in social networks worldwide are Tiktok founded in 2016 and Snapchat founded in 2011.

How did social media start and how did we get here?

As social networks have grown considerably throughout the years there are also people on each of these social networks that have risen to popularity due to the content they create or the celebrity status they hold outside of the network. Influencers are people on social media platforms who are able to build a reputation and a mass following. 

Sometimes influencers build a following their status as a celebrity, by engaging a following and sharing their knowledge or simply by producing amazing content that gets shared. Most influencers today are able to amass a following over multiple social networks and use the connections they have to promote products, share their own merchandise or message and act as a general “Influence” over the social network. 

Influencers can be divided into multiple levels of influence. With social media we have:

These are influencers that have millions of followers on a platform and are heavily recognized celebrities. They are often athletes, musicians or actors and they have amassed a following by inviting people into their lives. Mega influencers can also rise to fame by putting in the work with marketing and producing ongoing engaging content. Many influencers start at the bottom and as their success snowballs, they eventually create a profile or brand on social media that rivals any Hollywood actor or celebrity. Many of the worlds top mega influencers are able to use their influence to sell products, get free gifts from brands world-wide and more. These influencers use social media as the main platform to monetize their brand. Mega influencers can command hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote content over social media or millions per post if they have a reach of several million followers. 

These influencers usually have less than a million followers and they are often at the stepping stone to becoming mega influencers. They are usually influencers offering great value to their users and raising awareness for their brand. This level of influencer may not be a high profile celebrity but they could be an important local figure or a minor internet celebrity figure. They are often well recognized in specific communities and can still consider social media to be their full time job or main way to monetize their brand. 

This is an emerging group of influencers we see on social media today and these people typically have 1000-40k followers on a social media platform. These influencers are more common and a bit less famous than a local celebrity or internet celebrity. They are usually people with a small yet loyal fan base and they can qualify for specific opportunities to monetize their content with the right brands. More brands are focusing on micro influencer paid content because it converts in a loyal fan base and is much cheaper than a mega influencer. 

What is an influencer?

A social media manager is a useful professional for influencers, brands and individuals who need assistance with their online presence. A social media manager will work on engagement and work to improve the presence of a person over social media. Most influencers on social media platforms use these professionals or introduce some form of software to automate processes within their social media accounts.

Social media managers are crucial because an account that has thousands of followers or an account that needs to grow requires constant attention. A manager can work on the content for a social media account, make sure the branding is uniform, schedule posts, respond to comments and enhance an online presence considerably. Social media managers can assist with marketing social media content, handling the work behind a social media account and freeing up time for the face of the brand or the subject the social media page is about.

A Hollywood celebrity would not have the time to manage a social media presence so managers like this are indefensible on each network to ensure a steady stream of content and a happy audience.

What does a social media manager do?

Now that we have jumped in on the current trends in social media, you can see just how important a cross examination of use, the most popular networks and demographic data can be from a marketing perspective. As we continue to see social media use rise it will be interesting to see what the dominant networks, trends for user base and daily usage time will mean for our social media future.

How Many People Use Social Media (2022)

What is an influencer?

Conclusion

How Many People Use Social Media (2022)

How many people use Social Media?

How many people are expected to use social media in the future?

What is social media?

Who uses social media?

What are the most popular social media platforms?

How many people in the United States use social media in 2022?

How much time do people spend on Social Media?

What social media app has a ghost as its mascot?

How does social media affect mental health?

How did social media start and how did we get here?

What is an influencer?

What does a social media manager do?

Conclusion

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