YouTube Leads As Most Popular Social Media Platform in 2024

YouTube has become the top visited social media platform in 2024, according to new reports.

Marketing measurement platform Lifesight.io, utilized SEMrush to unravel the complex dynamics of social media usage by analyzing trends, user demographics, country-specific engagement, and platform growth; the study aimed to offer comprehensive insights into the shifting landscape of social media.

YouTube maintained its leadership in social media, skyrocketing to 1.35 trillion visits in 2023 from 263.3 billion in 2019, marking an impressive 80.49% growth.

Although it lost its top spot, Facebook remained a key player, with 216.4 billion visits in 2023, up 15.33% from 2019. This growth, albeit more modest, demonstrates Facebook’s enduring relevance in social networking, with a fairly balanced gender distribution and almost equal use of desktop and mobile platforms.

PARIS, FRANCE – JANUARY 31: In this photo illustration the Facebook logo is seen on the screen of an iPhone on January 31, 2019 in Paris, France. The social media Facebook revealed to have paid teenagers to watch their activities on their phone. The company has offered Internet users to download the application “Facebook Research” to observe all their deeds and actions, against payment. Despite this, Facebook shares soar by 11% in the wake of the announcement of a net profit up 61% to $ 6.9 billion for the last quarter of 2018.(Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)

Following close behind, X (Twitter) had visits soaring to 112.9 billion in 2023, a 63.19% increase from 41.6 billion in 2019. This reflects Twitter’s appeal for real-time content, with a slightly male-dominated user base and a significant preference for mobile usage (77.51%).

Capitalized on the visual content trend, Reddit saw 87.3 billion visits in 2023, a 62.40% increase from 2019. Instagram’s growth underscores its strength as a mobile-first platform, popular for visual entertainment, with a gender distribution leaning towards male users (67%).

The TikTok logo is seen on a mobile device in this photo illustration in Warsaw, Poland on 20 July, 2023. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Apart from being banned in many countries, TikTok showed the most explosive growth among all platforms, with a 60.15 times increase in visits, reaching 41.8 billion in 2023 from just 0.7 billion in 2019. This surge underscores TikTok’s rapid rise as a mobile-centric platform, equally popular among male and female users.

Whatsapp reached 31.3 billion visits in 2023, a 68.72% increase from 2019. The platform is predominantly used by male users and has a surprising number of desktop users, indicating its broad appeal as a cross-platform communication tool.

Linkedin continued to grow steadily, reaching 20.5 billion visits in 2023, up 59.41% from 2019. This growth reflects LinkedIn’s importance in the professional networking space, with a majority male user base and a preference for desktop usage.

Meanwhile, Twitch nearly doubled its visits to 20.0 billion in 2023, marking a 48.14% increase. Twitch’s growth is indicative of the rising popularity of live streaming, especially within the gaming community, with a significant male user base and considerable mobile device usage.