Nearly five billion people, or slightly more than 60 percent of the world’s population, are active on social media, according to a recent study. This represents an increase of 3.7 percent over the past year, according to calculations by digital advisory firm Kepios in its latest quarterly report.
The number of social network users is approaching the number that use the 5.19 billion which use the internet, or 64.5 percent of the world population. There are major differences between regions, with only one person out of 11 in east and central Africa using social media, while in India, the world’s most populous nation, the figure is one out of three.
The amount of time spent on social media has also increased, with the average user spending 2 hours and 26 minutes per day. However, there are large disparities, with Brazilians spending an average of 3 hours and 49 minutes per day on social media while the Japanese spend less than an hour. The average social media user is on seven platforms. Meta has three of the favorite apps with WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook, while China has three apps, WeChat, TikTok, and its local version Douyin. Twitter, Messenger, and Telegram round out the top social media platforms.
