Global Social Media Overview in April 2023 [Part II]

Photo of author

Written by: Alex Popa

Published:

Global Social Media Overview in April 2023 [Part II]

This is the second part of my comprehensive social media overview in April 2023. Here are the main highlights of this article:

Highlights

  • Men tend to use more social media platforms than women per month
  • Women would rather have fewer social media platforms more intensely
  • TikTok is the most used social media platform in the world on Android phones in April 2023, with 31 hours and 32 minutes spent per month
  • LinkedIn users will also use Facebook the most compared to users of other social media platforms (86.5% of them also use Facebook)
  • Reddit users will also use YouTube the most compared to users of other social media platforms (78.9% of them also use YouTube)
  • Telegram users will also use WhatsApp the most compared to users of other social media platforms (85.2% of them also use WhatsApp)
  • Snapchat users will also use Instagram the most compared to users of other social media platforms (87.7% of them also use Instagram)
  • Snapchat users will also use TikTok the most compared to users of other social media platforms (59.7% of them also use TikTok)
  • LinkedIn users will also use Telegram the most compared to users of other social media platforms (56.4% of them also use Telegram)
  • Reddit users will also use Snapchat the most compared to users of other social media platforms (47% of them also use Snapchat)
  • Reddit users will also use Twitter the most compared to users of other social media platforms (72% of them also use Twitter)
  • LinkedIn users will also use Reddit the most compared to users of other social media platforms (22.2% of them also use Reddit)
  • Reddit users will also use Pinterest the most compared to users of other social media platforms (55.5% of them also use Pinterest)
  • Reddit users will also use LinkedIn the most compared to users of other social media platforms (47.6% of them also use LinkedIn)
  • WhatsApp was voted as the most favorite social media platform of April 2023 (16.6% of all social media users voted for it)
  • Women aged 16-24 chose Instagram as their favorite platform
  • Women aged 25-34 chose Instagram as their favorite platform
  • Women aged 35-64 chose WhatsApp as their favorite platform
  • Men aged 16-24 chose Instagram as their favorite platform
  • Men aged 25-64 chose WhatsApp as their favorite platform
  • Indonesia had the highest concentration of social media users who are getting on social media platforms to learn more about brands (64.3%)
  • Japan had the lowest concentration of social media users who are getting on social media platforms to learn more about brands (27.1%)
  • On average, 47.7% of the world’s total social media users use these platforms to learn more about brands
  • Across all age brackets, there are more women who use social media to learn about brands
  • Across all age brackets, women’s interest in using social media to learn about brands decreases faster than men’s interest as they get older
  • Around 72.8% of the world’s internet users will use any type of social media (including vlogs, messaging services, forums, etc.) to learn about brands
  • Ghana had the highest concentration of internet users who use social media platforms for brand research (79.4%)
  • South Korea had the lowest concentration of internet users who use social media platforms for brand research (22.2%)
  • 61.7% of Instagram’s userbase used the platform for conducting brand research in April 2023, the highest share of users of any social media platform who engage in this
  • Nigeria is the country with the highest concentration of social media users who say they follow influencers on social media (45.8% of all the users)
  • Russia is the country with the smallest concentration of social media users who say they follow influencers on social media (5.6% of all the users)
  • There are more women than men who follow influencers on social media, at every age
  • As they get older, men stop following influencers in fewer numbers compared to women
  • Nigeria is the country with the highest concentration of social media users who use social media platforms for work (58.8%)
  • Japan is the country with the smallest concentration of users who use social media platforms for work (8.9%)
  • On average, more men use social media for work compared to women, even considering different age brackets
  • More women stop using social media for work as they older, compared to men
  • Nigeria is the country with the most social media users who use social media to get news (66.8%)
  • South Korea is the country with the fewest social media users who use social media to get news (17%)
  • More men use social media to get news, compared to women
  • Progressively more men start using social media to get the news across all age brackets compared to women

And here are the main sections we’ll be going through in this article:

Sections

I. Average Number of Social Media Platforms Used per User

II. Time Spent Using Android Social Media Apps per Month

III. Percentage of Users Who Use an Android Social Media App Daily

IV. Social Media Usage Overlap with Other Social Media Platforms

V. Favorite Social Media Platforms

VI. Favorite Social Media Platforms per Age

VII. Brand Research for Social Media Users by Country

VIII. Brand Research for Social Media Users by Age & Gender

IX. Brand Research for Internet Users by Type of Social Media Platform

X. Brand Research for Internet Users by Country

XI. Brand Research for Active Social Media Users by Specific Social Media Platform

XII. Percentage of Social Media Users Who Follow Influencers/Experts on Social Media per Country

XIII. Percentage of Social Media Users Who Follow Influencers on Social Media per Age & Gender

XIV. Percentage of Social Media Users Who Say They Use Social Media for Work per Country

XV. Percentage of Social Media Users Who Say They Use Social Media for Work per Age

XVI. Percentage of Social Media Users Who Say They Use Social Media to Get News per Country

XVII. Percentage of Social Media Users Who Say They Use Social Media to Get News per Age

Let’s begin!

Section I: Average Number of Social Media Platforms Used per Age & Gender

In this section, I’ll show you the average number of social media platforms used by every internet user monthly, based on their age and gender.

We should see some interesting things here, so here’s the data:

AgeMaleFemale
16-247.3 Platforms Used 7.4 Platforms Used
25-347.2 Platforms Used7.1 Platforms Used
35-446.7 Platforms Used6.5 Platforms Used
45-545.9 Platforms Used5.7 Platforms Used
55-645 Platforms Used4.7 Platforms Used

This is quite intriguing, actually. It seems that men tend to use social media platforms more than women, even though women are the ones using social media platforms more.

So:

  • Men tend to be more diverse in their choices of social media platforms
  • Women focus on a few social media platforms and spend more time on them

However, the gender-based difference is almost insignificant in many cases. For instance, men aged 25-34 used an average of 7.2 platforms while women of the same age used 7.1 platforms on average.

In a real-life analysis, these differences would be almost inconsequential. Let’s move on to the next analysis and see what’s next!

Section II: Time Spent Using Android Social Media Apps per Month

Now that we’ve seen how much time people spend on social media per month in 2023, let’s see where exactly they’re spending all that time.

Up next, I’ll show you the average time spent on specific social media platforms. Here’s the chart:

Social Media PlatformTime Spent Monthly
TikTok31 hours and 31 minutes per month
YouTube27 hours and 19 minutes per month
Facebook18 hours and 17 minutes per month
WhatsApp16 hours and 50 minutes per month
Instagram12 hours and 30 minutes per month
Line8 hours and 24 minutes per month
Twitter4 hours and 48 minutes per month
Telegram3 hours and 36 minutes per month
Snapchat3 hours and 17 minutes per month
Facebook Messenger3 hours and 17 minutes per month

TikTok, as always, is the poster child for social media in the 21st century. It gets all the attention it could ask for with one of the most addictive content formats imaginable – short-form content.

Users spend around 31 hours and 32 minutes per month on TikTok, globally, on Android phones, which is almost just shy of one and a half days.

An entire day dedicated solely to TikTok added up. Imagine that.

Next on the list is YouTube with 27 hours and 19 minutes per month. It’s not unexpected, I can tell you that much. YouTube is immensely popular these days and it keeps getting more popular with each passing day.

Facebook comes only after YouTube with 18 hours and 17 minutes per month, which doesn’t even come close to YouTube, let alone TikTok.

Section III: Percentage of Users Who Use an Android Social Media App Daily

Let’s see how many people open up their social media apps daily. In this section, I’ll give you the percentage of people who use a social media app vs. the total number of people with an account on that platform.

Cue the chart:

Social Media PlatformShare of People Who Use It Daily
WhatsApp82.6%
YouTube63.2%
Facebook62.8%
Line61.3%
TikTok60.5%
Instagram58.5%
Twitter43.4%
Facebook Messenger42.3%
Snapchat39.1%
Telegram38%

This is where the situation changes a bit. TikTok is not at the top anymore but WhatsApp is. A lot more people use WhatsApp daily than TikTok.

And a lot more people use YouTube daily compared to TikTok.

It seems that WhatsApp still holds dominance in terms of engaging its users daily, and none of the other platforms even have a fighting chance.

If I were to hazard a guess about this dominance, I’d say that WhatsApp’s core audience “needs” the platform on a daily basis for messages and communication.

Whereas YouTube, Facebook, and the rest of the social media platforms are on a “want” or “crave” basis. You get some shots of dopamine, see some interesting things, and that’s about it.

But many times, don’t have time for some social media platforms some days. Or you get that dopamine shot elsewhere.

Whereas you need WhatsApp to talk to people, even at work.

In the next section, I’ll show you a pretty unique statistic that you won’t find anywhere else (except on Data Report). Keep reading.

Section IV: Social Media Usage Overlap with Other Social Media Platforms

In this section, I will show you the percentage of social media users who belong to one social media platform but also use other platforms.

Basically, it’s an overlap of social media use that shows a trend in social media usage. Here’s the data:

Types of UsersFacebook UsersYouTube UsersWhatsApp UsersInstagram UsersTikTok UsersTelegram UsersSnapchat UsersTwitter UsersReddit UsersPinterest UsersLinkedIn Users
Unique to Platform0.6%1.2%0.7%0.2%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.2%0.1%0.2%0.2%
Also Using Facebook100%76.4%78.5%81.8%82.4%79.4%81.3%82%78.6%80.5%86.5%
Also Using YouTube71.1%100%72.8%73.8%74.9%78.2%75.6%76.6%78.9%75.8%74.5%
Also Using WhatsApp72.7%70.7%100%76.1%72.1%85.2%79.1%75.3%66.8%77.6%82.6%
Also Using Instagram76.8%75%77.2%100%79.6%83.2%87.7%86.8%81.9%85.7%83.1%
Also Using TikTok50.3%46.4%47.6%51.8%100%53.8%59.7%58.1%56.9%59%50.6%
Also Using Telegram43.3%45.6%50.2%48.3%48%100%53.7%55.1%50.3%52.1%56.4%
Also Using Snapchat30.6%29%32.1%35.1%36.8%37.1%100%38%47%41.6%39.4%
Also Using Twitter47.4%48.3%46.9%53.4%54.9%58.3%58.3%100%72%57.4%64.4%
Also Using Reddit12.1%14.3%11.1%13.4%14.4%14.2%19.3%19.2%100%22%22.2%
Also Using Pinterest31.3%33.4%32.6%35.5%37.6%37.2%43%38.7%55.5%100%47.1%
Also Using LinkedIn28.6%28%29.4%29.2%27.4%34.2%34.6%36.8%47.6%47.1%100%

There are clear divisions of interest between users of different social media platforms. Some are more likely to use a particular social media platform outside their main one.

For instance, out of all the users of all social media platforms, Reddit users use YouTube, Snapchat, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn the most.

There are also Snapchat users who will use Instagram and TikTok the most out of all the users of all the other social media platforms.

The conclusion is that there’s a specific overlap between social media platforms of a certain type, though it’s not always easy to predict these things.

Section V: Favorite Social Media Platforms

Next, I’ll show you a list of all the favorite social media platforms according to social media users. We’ll start with the most favorite one and move to the bottom:

Social Media PlatformPercentage of People Calling a Platform Their Favorite
WhatsApp16.6%
Instagram14.7%
Facebook13.7%
WeChat13.6%
TikTok6.1%
Douyin5.9%
Twitter3.5%
Facebook Messenger2.4%
Telegram2.2%
Line1.9%
Kuaishou1.7%
Pinterest1.5%
Snapchat1.3%
QQ1.1%
IMessage0.9%
Xiaohongshu0.9%

WhatsApp was voted as the most favorite social media platform in the world, with 16.6% of all users agreeing.

It was followed by Instagram and Facebook, with 14.7% and 13.7% respectively. There’s also WeChat with 13.6%, and that’s it for the platforms with a “favorite ratio” above 10%.

The reason why WhatsApp was voted as the most favorite is, in my opinion, its focus on messaging and communication.

People “need” WhatsApp much more than they do Facebook, whether on a personal or professional level. Many in the workplace use WhatsApp to communicate with each other these days.

Plus, the platform has end-to-end encryption, an intuitive interface, and flawless performance with a 99.99% uptime. What’s not to like?

Section VI: Favorite Social Media Platforms per Age & Gender

Now, how about I show you the world’s favorite social media platforms based on user preference, age, and gender?

Here’s the first chart focused on women:

Social Media PlatformAge 16-24Age 25-34Age 35-44Age 45-54Age 55-64
WhatsApp13.5%14.7%16.5%17.8%20.2%
Instagram23%18%13.4%10.3%7.7%
Facebook6.6%12.4%14.3%16.1%18.3%
WeChat9.3%14.5%16.1%15.2%13.6%
TikTok12.2%7.5%5.5%4.7%2.5%
Douyin4.8%7.1%7.2%6.5%4.6%
Twitter4.8%2.7%1.9%2%2%
Facebook Messenger2%2.5%2.6%2.7%3%
Telegram2.1%1.5%1.7%1.6%1.9%
Line0.8%1.2%2%3.3%4.5%

So:

  • Women aged 16-24 chose Instagram as their favorite platform
  • Women aged 25-34 chose Instagram as their favorite platform
  • Women aged 35-44 chose WhatsApp as their favorite platform
  • Women aged 45-54 chose WhatsApp as their favorite platform
  • Women aged 55-64 chose WhatsApp as their favorite platform

Moreover, the older female social media users become, the more they prefer WhatsApp, it seems. And Facebook, apparently.

At rest, usage seems to decrease with age, especially in the case of TikTok and Instagram. Douyin sees a decrease in women’s usage as they age, as well.

Telegram seems to remain at the same usage level, while Line increases in usage over time. That’s quite interesting, to be honest.

Next, I’ll show you the chart for men:

Social Media PlatformAge 16-24Age 25-34Age 35-44Age 45-54Age 55-64
WhatsApp15.8%15.9%17.4%19.3%20.8%
Instagram23.7%15%10%7.1%4.9%
Facebook9.3%15.4%16.4%16.8%17.8%
WeChat9.2%13.9%15.6%15.4%15.3%
TikTok7.8%5.4%4.3%3.8%2.5%
Douyin4.6%6.1%6.8%5.6%4.9%
Twitter4.3%4.4%3.8%4.2%3.1%
Facebook Messenger1.9%2.4%2.5%2.3%2.4%
Telegram3%2.7%2.5%2.2%1.9%
Line0.7%1.2%1.8%2.8%3.7%

In the case of men:

  • Men aged 16-24 chose Instagram as their favorite platform
  • Men aged 25-34 chose WhatsApp as their favorite platform
  • Men aged 35-44 chose WhatsApp as their favorite platform
  • Men aged 45-54 chose WhatsApp as their favorite platform
  • Men aged 55-64 chose WhatsApp as their favorite platform

We see approximately the same patterns in the case of men as we saw for women. The older they get, the more they prefer WhatsApp and Facebook to TikTok and Instagram.

Section VII: Brand Research for Social Media Users by Country

Let’s look at the share of users who visit social media platforms with the goal of finding out more about brands.

This is a country-based analysis, so it’ll be a long one. Here’s the data:

CountryShare of Social Media Users Who Do Brand Research on Social Media
Worldwide47.7%
Indonesia64.3%
Nigeria63.4%
Brazil62.9%
Philippines61.2%
South Africa61.2%
Greece60.8%
Kenya60.5%
Malaysia58.9%
Turkey58.3%
Chile57.4%
Colombia57.1%
Vietnam54.9%
Mexico54.3%
Portugal54.2%
Romania54.1%
Argentina53.8%
U.A.E.52.1%
Poland51.4%
Thailand50.8%
Saudi Arabia49.8%
India49%
Spain47.3%
Israel46.6%
Italy46.5%
Singapore45.7%
Czechia45.6%
China43.6%
Hong Kong43.1%
Russia43%
Norway42%
Sweden41.5%
Denmark41%
U.S.A.40.9%
Taiwan40.6%
Egypt40.1%
New Zealand39.9%
Ireland39.7%
Belgium39.2%
Canada39.1%
Germany39.1%
Netherlands39%
Switzerland38.6%
Australia38.5%
Austria38.4%
U.K.36.9%
France36.7%
Ghana35.4%
Morocco32.8%
South Korea29.7%
Japan27.1%

In April 2023, Indonesia was the country with the highest share of social media users who got on social media platforms to seek information about brands (64.3%).

Japan was at the bottom with only 27.1% of social media users looking for brand information on platforms.

And the world average came at 47.7%, so around half of the world’s social media users are using these platforms to find information about brands.

This is not a low number, as it tells us that half the world is either looking to buy something or trying to learn more about a product before they buy something.

We can see why online advertising is so important across industries, especially when done on social media. It’s the perfect place to meet potential buyers.

Next, let’s see the same stat but based on the users’ age and gender.

Section VIII: Brand Research for Social Media Users on Age & Gender

Will men or women seek out more information on brands through social media? Let’s see:

AgeMaleFemale
16-2445.1%54.1%
25-3447.2%55.6%
35-4445.8%51.4%
45-5442.4%48%
55-6436.2%40.6%

On average, women are using social media to seek out brands and learn more about products before they buy them. This happens across all ages.

The older social media users get, the less they’ll use social media for this purpose. However, here’s an interesting observation:

Men’s use of social media to learn about brands decreases a lot slower than women’s interest.

For instance, the difference in men’s 45-54 and 55-64 age brackets was a decline of 6.2% in total male social media users who used these platforms to learn about brands.

Comparatively, for the same age brackets in women, there was a decline of 7.4%. So, as they got older, more women stopped using social media to learn about brands compared to men.

And this difference is consistent (more or less) across all age brackets. At every age bracket transition, there were more women compared to men who stopped using social media to learn about brands.

Section IX: Brand Research for Internet Users by Type of Social Media Platform

In this section, I’ll show you what types of social media platforms internet users use to do their brand research. Look at the data below:

Type of Social Media PlatformPercentage of People Who Use It for Brand Research
Any Type of Platform72.8%
Social Networks44%
Question & Answer Sites (Quora)18.7%
Forums and Message Boards13.6%
Messaging and Live Chat Services14.1%
Micro-Blogs (Twitter)13.4%
Vlogs11.8%
Online Pinboards (Pinterest)8.7%

Disclaimer – This statistic shows the percentage of all internet users who use social media for brand research.

In total, it seems that 72.8% of the world’s social media users will use social media, no matter the type, to find information about brands or products.

Most of them will use classical social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok (44%) while a minority will use sites like Quora, forums, messaging services, micro-blogs, vlogs, and online pinboards.

Section X: Brand Research for Internet Users by Country

Now, I will show you the percentage of internet users per country who use social media platforms for brand research.

Remember, this statistic differs from the previous ones that focused on social media users. These ones focus on internet users, which are more numerous.

Let’s see the data:

CountryShare of Internet Users Who Use Social Media to Learn About Brands
Worldwide44%
Ghana79.4%
Kenya76.6%
Nigeria76.2%
Colombia64.3%
Indonesia63.7%
Argentina61.8%
Mexico61.7%
Saudi Arabia60.8%
South Africa59.5%
Brazil58.9%
Vietnam58.7%
Chile57.3%
Philippines54.7%
Malaysia52.4%
Egypt51.7%
U.A.E49.7%
Turkey49.6%
Israel49.3%
Morocco48.8%
India46.3%
Portugal46.2%
Thailand46.2%
Romania45.2%
Greece40.9%
Russia40.4%
Spain40.3%
Poland39.9%
Hong Kong39.5%
Taiwan39.2%
Czechia37.3%
China35.3%
U.S.A.35.2%
Singapore34.2%
New Zealand33.7%
Australia33%
Norway32.5%
Sweden32.4%
Italy32.1%
Canada31.6%
Denmark31.5%
Germany31.5%
Ireland31.5%
France31%
U.K.29%
Austria28.3%
Belgium27.5%
Japan27.3%
Switzerland26.5%
Netherlands23.7%
South Korea22.2%

Ghana appears to have the largest concentration of internet users who use social media to do their brand research and learn more about products.

At the other end of the spectrum is South Korea with only 22.2% of internet users using social media for brand research.

It seems like underdeveloped countries like Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria have a much higher concentration of internet users who do brand research on social media, compared to the rest of the world.

Just look at the top three countries:

  • Ghana -79.4%
  • Kenya – 76.6%
  • Nigeria – 76.2%

The next country, Colombia, has 64.3%, so a decline of 11.9% in the share of internet users who do brand research on social media.

At the end of the spectrum are a host of particularly-developed countries like the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Japan, and South Korea.

This doesn’t seem like a coincidence to me. Underdeveloped countries seem to do a lot more brand research on social media compared to developed countries.

Section XI: Brand Research for Active Social Media Users by Specific Social Media Platform

Let’s take a look at which social media platforms, specifically, internet users from around the world use to conduct brand research.

Here’s the data:

Social Media PlatformShare of Internet Users
Any of These 8 Platforms81.7%
Instagram61.7%
Facebook54.6%
TikTok38.2%
Twitter36.6%
Pinterest36.5%
Reddit27.6%
LinkedIn23.5%
Snapchat20.4%

The most used social media platform for brand research is Instagram. Around 61.7% of all internet users are using it to find out more about products and brands.

Then comes Facebook with 54.6%, and then there’s a sharp decline all the way to TikTok at 38.2%. It seems that Facebook and Instagram are still the most used platforms for brand research.

The least used platform is Snapchat, with only 20.4% of all internet users using it for brand research. It makes sense, given Snapchat’s platform structure. It’s not really made for social media marketing.

A whopping 81.7% of all active social media users use all 8 of these platforms to conduct brand research and learn more about the products they’re interested in.

Section XII: Percentage of Social Media Users Who Follow Influencers on Social Media per Country

Next, I will show you the share of social media users who claim they follow influencers on social media, per country. We’ll see just how popular influencers and so-called experts are, in the mind of the general population.

Here’s the chart:

CountryShare of Internet Users Who Follow Influencers on Social Media
Worldwide21.2%
Nigeria45.8%
Philippines43.8%
Brazil39.7%
Kenya36.8%
South Africa34.9%
Indonesia31.6%
Portugal29.6%
Malaysia29.1%
Saudi Arabia28.6%
Colombia28.4%
Argentina28.1%
Chile27.2%
U.A.E.27.2%
Mexico26.7%
Spain26.3%
Egypt23.7%
New Zealand23.3%
Hong Kong22.9%
Italy22.2%
U.S.A.22.1%
Greece21.8%
Australia21.7%
Ireland21.6%
Poland21.3%
India21.1%
Sweden21%
Vietnam21%
Canada20.2%
Denmark20.1%
Singapore20%
Norway19.9%
France19.8%
Romania19.5%
Germany19.4%
Ghana19.3%
South Korea19.2%
Austria19.1%
Morocco18%
U.K.17.3%
Israel17.1%
Taiwan17%
Switzerland16.9%
Thailand16.6%
Belgium16.4%
Netherlands16.2%
Czechia15.6%
Japan13.8%
China13.2%
Turkey11.9%
Russia5.6%

On average, 21.2% of the world’s social media users claim they follow influencers on social media. That number is much lower than I expected, honestly.

Nigeria is the country with the highest concentration of users who claim they follow influencers on social media – 45.8%.

At the other end of the spectrum is Russia with 5.6% of social media users who claim the same. As for the reason – I can’t say. I don’t know.

Now let’s see the same stat but based on the age and gender of users!

Section XIII: Percentage of Social Media Users Who Follow Influencers on Social Media per Age & Gender

Will more men or women follow influencers on social media, and why is it, women? Let’s find out:

Age RangeShare of Men Who Follow InfluencersShare of Women Who Follow Influencers
16-2423.9%31%
25-3421.9%26.5%
35-4420%20.6%
45-5415.5%16.9%
55-6410.2%11%

So, more women are following influencers than men, just like I said. This is likely because women are more attracted to the type of content that influencers dish out.

Though, the difference begins to lessen the older the users become. At ages 35-44, for instance, 20% of men follow influencers compared to 20.6% of women.

It also seems that men stop following influencers in lesser numbers compared to women, at different ages.

From ages 16-24 to ages 25-34, 2% of men stop following influencers. In the same period, 4.5% of women stop following influencers.

This can be seen across all age brackets, with more women than men giving up on following influencers on social media.

One could say that men are more stable followers of influencers, while women tend to fluctuate a lot with their social media followings.

Section XIV: Percentage of Social Media Users Who Say They Use Social Media for Work per Country

What about the use of social media for work? How many people do that? Let’s see a Data Reportal analysis per country:

CountryShare of Social Media Users Who Use Social Media for Work
Worldwide37.5%
Nigeria58.8%
Kenya52.5%
South Africa49.4%
Brazil46.9%
Philippines45%
Colombia44.9%
Greece44.9%
Vietnam44.5%
Egypt44.1%
U.A.E.43.4%
Indonesia42.7%
Malaysia42.2%
India42%
Mexico41.3%
Chile40.9%
Argentina40.5%
China40.2%
Saudi Arabia39.3%
Ghana39.2%
Portugal37%
Turkey37%
Israle36.9%
Spain32.5%
Romania31.7%
Singapore30.9%
Taiwan30.1%
Poland29.6%
Ireland29.3%
Denmark29%
Switzerland28.7%
Czechia28.4%
Norway28.3%
New Zealand27.9%
Canada27.8%
Hong Kong27.8%
Thailand27.8%
Australia27.4%
Italy27.4%
Morocco27.4%
U.S.A.27.4%
Russia26.8%
U.K.26.7%
Sweden26.4%
Netherlands25.4%
Austria24.6%
Belgium23.7%
France21.9%
Germany19.3%
South Korea15.9%
Japan8.9%

It looks like underdeveloped countries are again at the top of the chart, this time for the usage of social media for work.

Nigeria is the country with the highest share of social media users who use social media for work – 58.8%, followed by Kenya and South Africa.

At the end of the spectrum is Japan with only 8.9%, followed by South Korea with 15.9% and Germany with 19.3%.

The world average is 37.5%, which is neither good nor bad. More people use social media for following influencers than they do for work, that much is clear.

I’m guessing that underdeveloped countries put a lot more emphasis on work, and so even platforms that aren’t required for work become work-centric, like social media.

Section XV: Percentage of Social Media Users Who Say They Use Social Media for Work per Age & Gender

Let us see whether more men or women use social media for work and the age differences for this. See the chart below:

AgeMale Usage of Social Media for WorkFemale Usage of Social Media for Work
16-2434%33.6%
25-3443%40%
35-4443.3%39%
45-5441.6%33.6%
55-6431.7%22.4%

Across all age brackets, men use social media more than women, though it’s until a later age that the differences become significant.

Until the age of 45, there’s a difference of around 3-4% between men and women in terms of their usage of social media for work.

From age 45 onward, women experience a substantial decrease in social media use for work. For instance, in the 55-64 age bracket, there are 9.3% fewer women using social media for work than men.

It also seems that women will stop using social media for work in larger numbers and much quicker when compared to men.

From every age bracket to the other, there are many more women who stop using social media for work vs. men.

This might mean that:

  • Women use other means of communication for work so that they don’t need social media
  • Men have become more accustomed to using social media for work
  • Women work in industries that don’t require as much use of social media as part of their job descriptions

I can’t say which of those is true, or even if any of them is true, but what I can is offer you the data. Make your own conclusions based on it!

Section XVI: Percentage of Social Media Users Who Use Social Media to Get News per Country

Last but not least, I’ll show you how many social media users use social platforms to get their news. First, I’ll give you the data per country:

CountryShare of Social Media Users Who Use Social Media to Get News
Worldwide34.5%
Nigeria66.8%
Greece55.9%
Turkey54.3%
Brazil53.5%
Poland52.7%
Colombia51.2%
Argentina50.7%
Vietnam48.9%
Chile48.6%
Italy48%
Portugal47.9%
Czechia47.7%
South Africa46.8%
Malaysia45.9%
Mexico45.3%
Philippines44.7%
Spain44.1%
Kenya43.5%
Indonesia42.5%
Ghana41.8%
Romania41%
Austria39.7%
Russia39.5%
Thailand38.8%
Germany38.4%
Sweden36%
Switzerland36%
Singapore35.5%
Belgium34.5%
Netherlands34.2%
Ireland33.1%
India32.6%
U.A.E.31.9%
Denmark31.6%
France31.4%
Hong Kong31.2%
Norway30.3%
Canada28.4%
U.K.27.1%
Taiwan25.8%
Saudi Arabia25.6%
Australia25.1%
China24.2%
Israel23.5%
Japan22.6%
Egypt21%
Morocco18.3%
South Korea17%

On average, 34.5% of all social media users in the world use social platforms to get news. The country with the highest concentration of users who get their news on social media is Nigeria, at 66.8%.

The country with the fewest users who get their news on social media is South Korea with 17%. Even Japan is 4th from the bottom with 22.6% of users who look for the news on social media.

There doesn’t seem to be any order in which the users of different countries use social media for news. This time, underdeveloped countries aren’t at the top nor at the bottom of the list, not necessarily.

Now, let’s see the last statistic!

Section XVII: Percentage of Social Media Users Who Use Social Media to Get News per Age & Gender

In this last section, I’ll show you the share of social media users who use social media to get news based on their age and gender.

Let’s see who’s more interested in the news on social media:

AgeMale Usage of Social Media to Get NewsFemale Usage of Social Media to Get News
16-2429.9%30.4%
25-3434.8%33.8%
35-4437.6%35.2%
45-5438%35.6%
55-6438.1%35.4%

Men are slightly more interested in getting the news on social media compared to women, at almost all ages, except for the 16-24 age bracket.

As they get older, more men and women start looking for news on social media. However, there are more men, in every age bracket, who start getting the news on social media, compared to women.

And that’ll be all for this article. There have been a few ups and downs in terms of social media usage in April 2023, compared to previous years.

But I hope this guide (Part I and Part II) will be useful to you. Stay tuned for more up-to-date social media analyses!

Sources

  1. Data Reportal – Digital 2023 April Global Statshot Report
Photo of author

Alex Popa

My name is Alex and I have a knack for social media in all its shapes and forms. I’ve dealt with such things for quite some time and I noticed that many people have issues with social media and technicalities.

Unforeseen errors, bugs, and other problems make their use of social media problematic. These things will be discussed amply in the guides on Whizcase.

I'll present the facts as they are, and offer quick and easy solutions for them.

Leave a Comment

Join the community for periodic updates to your inbox!

    By signing up to the Whizcase newsletter you agree to receive electronic communications from Whizcase that may sometimes include advertisements or sponsored content.