What is the world's most favourite social media platform?

Instagram is the world's favourite social media platform, pushing last year's crowned winner - Whatsapp - to second place. 

However, out of the social media platforms, TikTok has the highest average time per Android user of any social platform globally, clocking in at 34 hours per month. This is equal to more than an hour on TikTok per day.  YouTube takes second place with just over 28 hours per month on its Android app. 

This was according to a report titled "Digital 2024" by media intelligence firm Meltwater and creative social agency We Are Social. "Digital 2024" also found that the average social media user spends 2 hours and 23 minutes per day on social media and uses 6.7 platforms each month. 

Don't miss: Study: 93.5% of brands prefer LinkedIn for social media marketing campaigns 

These findings are similar to data presented in a Digital Global Overview Report published in November 2023 that shared 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.

In addition, "Digital 2024" found that there are over 5.04 billion users on social media today. This is equivalent to 62.3% of the world's population, and an increase by 266 million over the past year. This was according to a report by media intelligence firm Meltwater and creative social agency We Are Social. 

It also found that there are now 5.35 billion using the internet, making up 66.2% of the world. On average, a user spends 6 hours and 40 minutes using the internet. 

Some top trends found amongst internet users include excitement and concern for AI, distrust when reading news from the internet and that baby boomers, despite being the generation least likely to feel represented in advertising, are scrolling and spending more on the internet as compared to any other generation. 

What's the scene in Singapore?

These concerns are similar to the concerns of Singaporean internet users. In Singapore, misinformation is a concern with 65.2% of adults aged 18+ being concerned about what is real or fake on the internet. 

Notably, 85% of the country's population use social media, spending an average of 2 hours and 14 minutes on social media each day. Only 43.7% of Singaporeans visit social media to learn about brands and see their content. Singaporeans also use an average of 6.9 social media platforms. 

How are Malaysians behaving on social?

On the other hand, Malaysians use the internet to check their health symptom more than the rest of the world each work, with almost a quarter of them (23.2%) as compared to the global average of 22.3% 

The average internet user in Malaysia spends 2 hours and 48 minutes on social media each day and internet users in Malaysia use approximately 8 social media platforms on average – with 44.4% of social media users cite reading news as the main reason for using social media.

61.5% of social media users in Malaysia are also using it to learn more about brands and see their content. Correspondingly, 61.9% of internet users in Malaysia buy something online each week where a majority of these purchases (64.3%) are made on a mobile phone. 

Interestingly, the report found that Filipinos are drawn to online videos with 72.7% watching music videos and 58.3% using them as learning sources each week. 

What are Filipinos consuming? 

The Philippines is also ranked as the number 1 country in consumption of online video each week with 97.2% of internet users doing so. 

Filipinos spend an average of 3 hours and 34 minutes on social media each day, well above the global average of 2 hours and 23 minutes. In addition, an average internet user in the Philippines use approximately 8 social media platforms on average. 

Other key highlight of the report includes how digital ad spend grew by 10% year-on-year, with almost US$720 billion spent on digital ads in 2023. Social ad spend has also increased by 9.3% to US$207 billion, and investment in influencer activities increased by 17%. 

Related articles:
Study: 66% find short-form content to be the most engaging format
Study: 49% of marketers expect to increase ad spend on podcasts
Study: Global influencer ad spending expected to jump by 13% in 2024