Are you creating a social media marketing strategy and need to figure out what the many social media applications can do to help you reach your target audience? Then you need to know what the world’s most popular social media apps can do for you.
Listing the “top ten social apps” is so last year. We’ve got the top fourteen social media apps with a complete overview, stats section, key features, and resources below.
The top 14 social media apps in 2024
1. Facebook
Facebook’s status as a juggernaut social media app has never faltered. It was one of the first to truly break ground in this industry (way back in 2004) and hasn’t stopped evolving and experimenting since. Is it one of the best social media sites? Well, it remains the most used social media networks of today.
Marketers will find Facebook easy to use for nearly any kind of content strategy. It’s set up to promote text-only, imagery, video content, and short-lived Stories.
Monthly active users: 3 billion
Source: Statista
Key features:
Facebook stats:
Find more Facebook statistics here.
More Facebook resources:
2. Instagram
Formerly a humble photo-sharing app, over the past few years, Instagram has become one of the world’s most important apps for marketers, even more so than LinkedIn, YouTube, X (AKA Twitter), and TikTok. When you ask, What are the most popular social media apps? Instagram and Facebook should be at the top of your answer.
Alongside astrology memes and latte art, Instagram’s features help businesses sell products. If you’re in the ecommerce business, you should have Instagram in your strategy.
While the importance of a polished feed has shifted with the rise of ephemeral, live, and video content, brands should keep in mind that a strong visual identity is always key on Instagram.
Monthly active users: 2 billion
Source: Statista
As of January 2024, the United States alone had more than 169 million users.
Key features:
Instagram stats:
Find more marketer-friendly Instagram stats here.
More Instagram resources:
3. YouTube
YouTube isn’t always considered a social media application, and really, you could just as easily call it a video platform or the world’s second-largest search engine. Whatever you call it, one thing remains true: YouTube will always be one of the most popular trending social media apps.
Brands building their following should remember to play nice with the YouTube algorithm, which takes some combination of skill, strategy, budget, and luck. But if you can pull it off, it pays to be on YouTube.
Monthly active users: 2.5 billion
Source: Statista
Plus, YouTube Shorts are expected to reach 185 million U.S. viewers per month by 2026.
Key Features:
YouTube stats:
Want more? Try these 2024 YouTube stats.
More YouTube resources:
4. LinkedIn
For brands with a professional audience—especially B2B marketers focused on lead generation—a LinkedIn marketing strategy is key. LinkedIn is intentionally set up to be one of the most useful social platforms for businesses.
Professionals are seeing more and more value in LinkedIn. The number of global users is projected to increase between 2024 and 2028 by 171.9 million users (that’s +22.3%)!
Monthly active users: 310 million
Source: Statista
As of April 2024, LinkedIn had an addressable advertising audience reach of 85.8% in the United States.
Key features:
LinkedIn stats:
More LinkedIn stats can be found here!
More LinkedIn resources:
5. X (Twitter)
Everyone’s favorite text-based platform is a gateway to viral marketing, an easy way to get your message out there, and offers endless opportunities to clap back at competitors.
X lets you converse with your audience about the topics they care about and build those lucrative relationships.
Monthly active users: 421 million
Source: Statista
X is particularly popular in the U.S., with an audience reach of 106.23 million users.
Key features:
X stats:
Find more useful X (Twitter) stats here.
More X (Twitter) resources:
nobody will remember:
– your salary
– how “busy you were”
– how many hours you workedpeople will remember:
– your hilarious memes
– the typo in your social post
– your weird internet beef— Hootsuite 🦉 (@hootsuite) August 21, 2024
6. TikTok
TikTok’s the app of choice for Gen Z. The app has massive influence over what’s cool and what’s not (is it still cool to say cool?).
As a marketer, TikTok is one of the best channels out there for you to reach millennials and Gen Z. But you’re going to want to have your TikTok strategy on point. There’s nothing worse than, as the kids say, being cringe.
Monthly active users: 1.5 billion
Source: Statista
TikTok is projected to reach more than 120 million users in the U.S. by 2027.
Key features:
TikTok stats:
More TikTok stats for marketers can be found here.
More TikTok resources:
Always post at the right time
Find out when your audience is online and optimize your posting schedule for maximum engagement. It’s so easy.
7. WhatsApp
This might be news to a lot of North Americans, but WhatsApp is one of the world’s foremost social media apps.
For businesses, WhatsApp’s most appealing functions include streamlining customer service conversations and showcasing products in a catalog (essentially a digital storefront akin to Facebook Shop, though users must still leave the app to make purchases).
Monthly active users of WhatsApp Business:
200 million+
Source: Statista
Plus, WhatsApp is estimated to have reached almost three billion unique active users worldwide in June 2024.
Key features:
WhatsApp stats:
Want more? Try these WhatsApp stats for marketers.
More WhatsApp resources:
8. WeChat
WeChat is the dominant social network in China, but this super social media app goes beyond messaging. Users can message, video call, shop using WeChat Pay, use government services, call rideshares, play games—you name it.
For businesses looking to expand their efforts in China, looking into WeChat marketing—whether that’s advertising, influencer campaigns, in-app e-commerce, or building out a mini-app within WeChat—will be an important step.
Monthly active users: 1.3 billion
Source: Statista
Key features:
- WeChat Pay
- WeChat Groups
- WeChat Search
- WeChat Moments
WeChat stats:
More WeChat resources:
Source: thewechatagency
9. Pinterest
Pinterest, the digital vision board app, has a reputation as a positive, apolitical, moderated space for brands.
People love browsing around Pinterest, saving products and ideas as they go. This puts them in a unique state for most social media channels; meaning, they’re open to brands advertising directly to them.
Monthly active users: 518 million
Source: Statista
69% of Pinterest users worldwide identify as female.
Key features:
Pinterest stats:
More marketer-friendly Pinterest stats.
More Pinterest resources:
Source: Pinterest
10. Reddit
In the age of AI-generated content and spammy search results, you can often find the truth on Reddit.
Reddit is a community-driven platform where users have little time for overtly promotional advertising or BS from brands.
This makes it the perfect platform for genuinely connecting with your audience (try posting something they’d be interested in, like the NFL example below!). Or to do some research into what people really think of your brand.
Monthly active users: 1 billion
Source: Statista
During the second quarter of 2024, Reddit had approximately 45.5 million daily active users in the U.S. alone.
Key Features:
Reddit stats:
More Reddit resources:
Source: NFL on Reddit
11. Threads
Threads, Instagram’s version of Twitter, had over 100 million new users join in the first week. This made Threads the fastest-growing app ever. It’s arguably one of the more popular “new” social media platforms in 2024.
Marketers can use Threads to post text-based content to their followers and network at large. It’s in the Meta family, meaning it’s super easy to use and integrate with your existing digital strategy.
Monthly active users: 150 million
Source: Statista
Key Features:
- Instagram sync: You can import your profile picture, name, bio, and link into Threads
- Paid Partnership: You and your collab partners, like influencers, can mark posts as a “Paid Partnership” and tag your brand to show off your relationship
- Advertising, apparently, will come in the future
Threads stats:
More Threads resources:
12. Messenger
Messenger is Meta’s other messaging app. It’s a little less popular than its sibling, WhatsApp, but it still holds its own with 262.5 million downloads in 2023. Not bad, not bad!
Marketers can use Messenger as a way to provide online customer service to their audience. It’s important to be available and communicative with your community, and Messenger gives you an easy way to do just that.
Monthly active users: 1.01 billion
Source: Statista
Key Features:
Messenger stats:
More Facebook Messenger stats for marketers you can use!
More Messenger resources:
13. Snapchat
This camera-first, disappearing content app has existed since 2011. Owned by Snap Inc. (a rare company independent of the Facebook empire), Snapchat’s Stories are a popular format that has been repeatedly cloned by competitors.
You can use Snapchat to humanize your brand but don’t just blast your promotional content out. Treat it like a two-way conversation and engage with the Snapchat community.
Daily active users: 422 million
(and yes, that says daily active users)
Source: Statista
Key Features:
Snapchat stats:
Find more statistical reasons to get your Snapchat ducks in a row.
More Snapchat resources:
14. Telegram
Marketers shouldn’t sleep on Telegram. It’s super easy to use, has a global reach, and offers renowned privacy features. With Telegram, you can genuinely connect with your audience through groups, channels, and direct messages.
Monthly active users: 900 million
Source: Statista
Telegram was also the fifth-most downloaded mobile app from the Google Play Store in March 2024.
Key Features:
Telegram stats:
More Telegram resources:
Source: Telegram
One social media app to manage (practically) every other social media app
Hootsuite
Most brands use multiple social media sites as part of their digital strategy. As a content creator or marketing professional, you need to publish content and track notifications and messages across multiple platforms.
Luckily, that’s exactly what we do best.
Hootsuite helps you get better at social media marketing on many of the top social media apps, including:
- TikTok
- X (formerly Twitter)
- YouTube
- Threads
- and more!
It will save you time and level up your social media marketing efforts.
Watch the video below to see how Hootsuite works.
Ready to manage all your social media apps in one place? Try the tool trusted by thousands of social pros free or request a demo today.
Do it better with Hootsuite, the all-in-one social media tool. Stay on top of things, grow, and beat the competition.
