Social media is a go-to platform for more than half the world’s population as well as an essential marketing channel to communicate, engage and influence consumers.
Between communities on Facebook, eye-grabbing videos on TikTok, and captivating photos on Instagram and Pinterest, there is a range of interests and features across the channels. Just about
every demographic uses a social media platform to find out about their interests and share content.
To help you keep on top of social media developments, let’s look at some of the numbers that define social media, and explore the emerging trends that will shape the ever evolving landscape.
1. Social media usage continues to rise
Social media has taken the world by storm, and the increasing usage across the globe is a testament to both of those factors.
According to We Are Social’s 2025 Global Overview Report, there are now over five billion active
social media users phone number library worldwide. As a comparison, there were only 415 million global users in 2018 – that’s an incredible rise.
As new platforms enter the digital arena and today’s digital natives continue to connect, converse, and source information from social media outlets, global adoption could continue to rise.
Social Media Calendar Template 2025
- ↗Generate great content ideas
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2. YouTube is the most popular social media platform across age groups
Studies from Statista show that whether you’re talking about Baby Boomers, Gen Zers – or anyone in between – YouTube is the most popular social media platform.
To dig a little you can also send sms through klaviyo deeper, here are the most popular social media platforms according to age group:
- 18 to 29 years: YouTube (93%), Instagram (76%), Facebook (68%), Snapchat (65%).
- 30 to 49 years: YouTube (94%), Facebook (78%), Instagram (66%), Pinterest (43%).
- 50 to 64 years: YouTube (86%), Facebook (70%), Instagram (36%), LinkedIn (30%).
- 65+: YouTube (65%), Facebook (59%), Pinterest (22%), Instagram (19%).
Social media users of all ages find video content accessible, engaging, and informative. Music videos, comedy videos, live streams, sports footage, and educational content are among the most popular forms of visual content.
3. People crave value on social media
When it comes to social media, one of the most important things you can do is offer your audience consistent value for their time. If your messaging lacks depth and you create one-size-fits-all sales
content, your sms to data follower base may start to shrink.
According to Hootsuite’s Social Media Consumer Report, here are the social media behaviors that prompt social media users to unfollow brands:
- Sharing click-bait and content that is hollow or misleading.
- Publishing content that is overly political or sensitive. In fact, 64% of consumers will boycott a brand that shares overly charged messaging or shares a political stance that doesn’t agree with their values (Edelman).
- Not engaging in conversations with your audience and failing to respond to comments, messages or queries.