Social media platforms have become an integral communication channel for individuals as well as businesses who aim to connect more and maintain relationships.
According to a report by Searchenginejournal, there were 4.8 billion social media users worldwide as of 2023, representing 59.9% of the global population and 92.7% of all internet users.
However, some social media platforms which boast of the largest user base are controlled by just a handful of companies e.g Meta, the tech giant formerly known as Facebook, owns four of the five most widely used platforms.
10 social media platforms with the highest monthly active users
This list compiled by Visualcapitalist highlights the biggest social networks across the globe, measured by their monthly active users (MAUs).
| Rank | Platform name | Parent company | Country | Monthly active users, in millions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Meta | U.S. | 2,910 | |
| #2 | YouTube | Alphabet | U.S. | 2,291 |
| #3 | Meta | U.S. | 2,000 | |
| #4 | Messenger | Meta | U.S. | 1,300 |
| #5 | Meta | U.S. | 1,287 | |
| #6 | Tencent | China | 1,225 | |
| #7 | Kuaishou | Kuaishou | China | 1,000 |
| #8 | TikTok | Bytedance | China | 1,000 |
| #9 | Telegram | Telegram | UAE | 600 |
| #10 | Qzone | Tencent | China | 600 |
From the list, the social media network space is currently dominated by Meta-owned platforms with a combined total of 7.5 billion MAUs across all four of its platforms which include Facebook, Whatsapp, Messenger, and Instagram.
Other companies which hit the one billion MAU mark on the list include Tencent which has the second-highest user base from its three platforms—WeChat, Qzone, and QQ with a combined user base of 2.4 billion MAUs
Alphabet came next on the list with its platform, YouTube. The video streaming platform currently has over 50 million content creators, who share approximately 500 hours of video content every minute. Alphabet’s combined MAU was 2.3 billion during the period.
Bytedance came just behind Alphabet with a combined MAU of 1.6 billion across its two platforms—Douyin and its international counterpart TikTok.
UAE-based instant messaging platform, Telegram also made the list with 600 million users.