This social media app is surprisingly the most popular among online users in 2023

While Instagram is only the third largest platform in the social media space ahead of Facebook and TikTok, it surprisingly comes out on top as a favorite amongst users. In fact, almost 16% of social media users named Instagram as their number-one social media platform, 2% more than Facebook, and double the share of TikTok.

According to data presented by OnlyAccounts.io, the photo and video-sharing social networking app is expected to hit 1.3 billion users in 2023, 86 million more than a year ago. It also noted that by 2017, this figure is expected to grow by another 17% and hit 1.56 billion worldwide.

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While this is still less than Facebook and TikTok's user count, Instagram still comes out on top when it comes to popularity among users. 

According to a recent Digital Global Overview Report, 15.7% of social media users aged between 16 and 64 named Instagram their favorite choice, 1.5% more than six months ago.

Facebook ranked as the second most popular platform with a 13% share among respondents. However, statistics show the platform has lost some popularity since April, when 14.2% of social media users named it their top choice.

The report also showed that Instagram is more popular than TikTok, which had only a 7% share among respondents. Still, this represents an increase from a 6.1% share the short-form video platform had six months ago, it said.

X, formerly Twitter, ranked in the middle of the list with a 3.2% share among social media users, almost the same as in April. The survey showed that Snapchat was the least popular among social media users, with only 1.3% of respondents naming the platform as their favorite.

Besides its popularity amongst users, Instagram also saw an increase in the average time users spent on its app. 

According The Digital Global Overview Report, Android users worldwide spent an average of 15 hours and 50 minutes using Instagram per month, or nearly four hours more than last year.

TikTok though managed to come out on top when it came to keeping a user's attention with an average of 33 hours and 28 minutes spent using the app in one month, ten hours more than in 2022.

Facebook was also ahead of Instagram, with 18 hours and 50 minutes, this was an hour less than its usage last year. 

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