Top 27 Social Media Platforms
We’ve compiled this list of the top social media platforms.
Specifically, we ranked the most popular social media networks based on number of users and monthly traffic data.
(Traffic data was obtained using Semrush and Similarweb).
All traffic data is estimated based on the most recent available 2023 data. Monthly active user estimates are calculated from the latest reports from each platform.
What Is The #1 Most Popular Social Media Platform?
According tot he latest available data, Facebook is the world's most popular and widely used social media platform. With 2.96 billion monthly active users, that means 37 percent of the world’s population uses Facebook at least once per month. With 2.56 billion users, YouTube is the second most popular social network.
Social media networks that focus on short-form video content are growing quickly. This includes YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. Messenger applications like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Telegram have also quickly climbed this list over the past few years.
Top 27 Most Popular Social Media Websites
| Ranking | Social Media Network | Monthly Active Users (MAUs) | Monthly Organic Traffic |
| 1 | 2.96 billion | 13,770,000,000 | |
| 2 | YouTube | 2.56 billion | 94,830,000,000 |
| 3 | 2.35 billion | 6,180,000,000 | |
| 4 | 2.0 billion | 1,680,000,000 | |
| 5 | TikTok | 1.53 billion | 3,390,000,000 |
| 6 | 1.31 billion | 5,600,000 | |
| 7 | Messenger | 1.30 billion | 182,800,000 |
| 8 | Snapchat | 750 million | 118,200,000 |
| 9 | Douyin | 743 million | 134,900,000 |
| 10 | Telegram | 700 million | 393,700,000 |
| 11 | Qzone | 600 million | 14,300,000 |
| 12 | Sina Weibo | 586 million | 135,200,000 |
| 13 | Kuaishou | 580 million | 15,800,000 |
| 14 | Spotify | 500 million | 788,000,000 |
| 15 | 450 million | 830,600,000 | |
| 16 | 430 million | 5,410,000,000 | |
| 17 | 368.4 million | 8,520,000,000 | |
| 18 | 310 million | 1,490,000,000 | |
| 19 | Quora | 305 million | 1,430,000,000 |
| 20 | Skype | 300 million | 61,000,000 |
| 21 | Microsoft Teams | 280 million | 1,510,000,000 |
| 22 | Line | 230 million | 271,700,000 |
| 23 | Discord | 154 million | 960,200,000 |
| 24 | Twitch | 140 million | 1,850,000,000 |
| 25 | Tumblr | 135 million | 379,900,000 |
| 26 | Stack Exchange | 100 million | 180,100,000 |
| 27 | Rumble | 78 million | 213,700,000 |
Not surprisingly, this list includes many of the big names in the social media space, like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
We decided to highlight a few of the top social networks experiencing increased growth right now.
1. Telegram
5-year search growth: 290%
Search growth status: Exploding
Monthly Active Users: 700 million
Monthly Traffic (Global): 393,700,000
Description: Telegram is a freemium instant messaging application that prioritizes security and encryption. The cloud-based platform allows users to share large media files and create groups of up to 200,000 members. Telegram Premium, an ad-free experience, grew to 1 million users within six months after its launch.
2. TikTok
5-year search growth: 3,133%
Search growth status: Exploding
Monthly Active Users: 1.53 billion
Monthly Traffic (Global): 3,390,000,000
Description: TikTok is a short-form video social media network focused on a highly personalized "For You" feed. Unlike many popular social media sites, TikTok's algorithm shows videos based on users' interactions, making it possible for users to go viral without a huge following.
3. Rumble
5-year search growth: 2,300%
Search growth status: Exploding
Monthly Active Users: 78 million
Monthly Traffic (Global): 213,700,000
Description: Rumble is an “alt-tech” online video-sharing platform similar to YouTube. Rumble allows for immediate monetization for new creators and aims to be more creator-friendly by sharing up to 60% of ad revenue with users. The platform was originally backed by some big name investors (like Peter Thiel) and went public in a SPAC deal in 2022.
4. Discord
5-year search growth: 244%
Search growth status: Exploding
Monthly Active Users: 154 million
Monthly Traffic (Global): 960,200,000
Description: Discord is a communication platform for creating communities and groups for gaming, education, or any other topic. Notably, the company turned down a $10 billion acquisition offer from Microsoft in 2021.
5. WhatsApp
5-year search growth: 136%
Search growth status: Exploding
Monthly Active Users: 2.0 billion
Monthly Traffic (Global): 1,680,000,000
Description: Now part of Meta, WhatsApp is a messaging app that allows users to send text messages, voice messages, make voice and video calls, and share media with other users. End-to-end encryption and user privacy controls keep conversations secure and private.
6. Reddit
5-year search growth: 85%
Search growth status: Exploding
Monthly Active Users: 430 million
Monthly Traffic (Global): 5,410,000,000
Description: Reddit is a social news and discussion platform where users can share content, vote on it, and comment on posts. It is organized into communities or subreddits about specific niche topics. This social media network aims to create authentic human connection online.
7. Douyin
5-year search growth: 4,900%
Search growth status: Exploding
Monthly Active Users: 743 million
Monthly Traffic (Global): 134,900,000
Description: Douyin is a social media app for creating and sharing short videos. It’s popular in China and other Asian countries and is owned and operated by ByteDance, the same company that created TikTok. The platforms are nearly identical but operate as completely different entities.
Conclusion
That concludes our list of the world's most popular social media networks.
Big brands like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube have all pivoted to short-form video content to keep users engaged, like TikTok. This content and messaging apps like Telegram, Whatsapp, and Discord are growing and popular and worth keeping an eye on throughout 2023.