The Internet is woven into everyday life, but the downsides of constant connectivity – excessive screen time, social media fatigue, and a growing wave of low-quality, AI-generated content – are becoming harder to ignore, especially among younger users. As digital overload shifts from a background annoyance to a daily reality, one interesting example stands out: last year, Australia became the first country to ban social media for users under the age of 16.
As many governments now consider similar moves to counter social media addiction, the team at PlayersTime decided to examine the countries where users spend the most time on social media per day. Drawing on data from several sources, including Similarweb, DataReportal, and Statista, we are analysing average daily activity across major platforms – including TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook – and looking into social media penetration across a total of 68 nations to map out where social media holds the strongest influence in everyday life.
Key takeaways:
- Global social media usage has increased steadily since 2000, reaching approximately 67.8% of the Earth’s population, or 5.66 billion, by the end of 2025.
- Kenya ranks as the most active social media country, with users spending an average of 5 hours and 11 minutes per day on social media, followed by the Philippines with 4 hours and 50 minutes.
- YouTube remains the most popular social media platform among users aged 13 – 17, with 90% of U.S.-based teens saying they use it, while Facebook is the most used platform overall, with 3.07 billion active monthly users.
Who Spends the Most Time on Social Media?
Number of accounts and as % of population as of late 2025
Data Sources: DataReportal, Statista
Digital connectivity continues to expand worldwide, with social media gaining massive popularity in markets where it barely existed just a few years ago. In early 2026, figures show there are 6.04 billion Internet users, and 5.66 billion of them use social media. This means that around 67.8% of the world’s population is estimated to scroll through endless feeds, connect with family, friends, and even strangers via apps, and consume a colossal amount of social media content that can never be processed by the human brain.
As the vast majority of people now have at least one social media account, it is unsurprising that the world’s most populous countries dominate in terms of total user numbers. China leads globally with approximately 1.28 billion users, followed by India, with around 500 million users, and the United States, ranking third with 254 million. China also reports the highest level of social media adoption, at 90.30%. By contrast, other highly populated countries, despite their relatively large user bases, exhibit considerably lower adoption levels.
Indonesia, Brazil, and Russia complete the group of countries with hundreds of millions of accounts, being home to approximately 180 million, 150 million, and 106 million users, respectively. With around 99 million social media users, Japan sits just below the nine-digit threshold. At the bottom of the list, Latvia records the smallest user base in the sample, with approximately 1.4 million users.
Who Spends the Most Time on Social Media?
Average daily time (minutes)
Data Sources: DataReportal, Statista
When the focus shifts from headcounts to habits, a very different story of social media use comes into view – one defined by minutes, not millions. The countries with the largest social media user bases are no longer concentrated at the top of the ranking. Kenya records the highest daily usage, with users spending an average of 5 hours and 10 minutes (310 minutes) per day. The Philippines follows closely at 4 hours and 50 minutes (290 minutes). High engagement is also observed in Brazil and Nigeria, where users spend an average of 4 hours and 9 minutes (249 minutes) per day, while South Africa reports 4 hours and 2 minutes (242 minutes).
The United States, home to several of the world’s leading social media platforms – including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp – falls near the middle of the ranking, with an average daily usage of 2 hours and 52 minutes (172 minutes). China records lower daily engagement at 1 hour and 53 minutes (113 minutes), while Japan ranks last among the selected countries, with the lowest average daily usage at 1 hour and 6 minutes (66 minutes).
Monthly Active Users and Average Daily Usage
Based on Monthly Active Users (MAU) as of October 2025
Data Sources: DataReportal, Backlinko, Statista, Demandsage
With user bases of around 3 billion, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp stand out as the world’s largest social media apps. Facebook remains the most used platform, reaching 3.07 billion monthly users and averaging 67 minutes of daily use. It is closely followed by Instagram and WhatsApp, each with 3 billion monthly users, though engagement differs: Instagram records an average of 73 minutes per day, while WhatsApp averages 59 minutes.
Other major platforms with more than one billion users include YouTube, with 2.58 billion users, and TikTok, which reaches 1.99 billion. Instant messaging platform Telegram completes the group of billion-user apps with approximately 1 billion monthly users, while its average daily usage places it in the middle range at around 30 minutes. Discord, an instant messaging and VoIP-based social platform, has the smallest user base in this group, with around 200 million monthly users, and records an average daily usage of 15 minutes.
Based on average daily usage per user on Android apps
Data Sources: DataReportal, Statista
While TikTok is relatively newer and smaller in reach than Facebook, for instance, it seems to be much more addictive, with younger generations, in particular, picking it as their favourite social media app. In terms of daily engagement, the Chinese short-form online video platform leads with an average time spent of 97 minutes per day, followed by YouTube at 85 minutes, Instagram at 73 minutes, and Facebook at 67 minutes.
Social Media Usage by Gender and Age Group
Data Sources: DataReportal
To provide a more precise view, social media usage was analysed by age and gender. As a whole, the data shows higher adoption among men, who account for 56.9% of users, compared with 43.1% for women. Less surprisingly, Elon Musk’s X attracts significantly more men than women, with 63.7% of its user base being male. Snapchat emerges as the platform where the two genders are almost equal in numbers – 50.1% men versus 49.9% women.
Based on U.S. participants ages 13-17 who use social media
Data Sources: Pew Research Center
Age-based patterns indicate particularly strong engagement among teenagers, especially on certain platforms that prioritise video content. YouTube emerges as the dominant platform, used by 90% of people between the ages of 13 and 17, according to a Pew Research survey among U.S. teens. This means that among teens using social media, nearly all report accessing the popular platform. TikTok ranks second with approximately 63% saying they use it, followed by Instagram (61%), and Snapchat (55%).
Usage drops below the halfway mark for Facebook (32%), despite its position as the platform with the largest monthly active user base. Close to a quarter of American teenagers (23%) say they use WhatsApp; X is used by 17% of survey participants, Reddit by 14%, while Meta’s Threads records the lowest adoption among teens at 6%.
The Evolution and Meteoric Rise of Social Media (2000–2025)
Data Sources: Kepios, DataReportal
Social media has become a core part of daily life, reshaping how people communicate, access information, and spend their time online. While early platforms such as SixDegrees.com appeared in the late 1990s, widespread adoption accelerated in the 21st century as social networking sites gained global reach.
The first social media website to reach a truly global reach was MySpace, which launched in 2003, bringing a revolution in the way people found each other online, how they communicated, and how they defined and presented themselves to the world. Between 2004 and 2009, MySpace was the largest social media website in the world; that changed with Facebook’s global rise in 2008-2009. By mid-2010, it reached 500 million users, more than 40% of all 1.21 billion social media users around the world at the time.
Also, by 2010, social media entered a new phase with the rise of mobile-first platforms and apps, marked by the launch of Instagram and the accelerated growth of Facebook and Twitter through mobile usage.
By 2015, Facebook had established itself as the dominant global platform, approaching 1.5 billion users, while regional networks such as QZone, WeChat (Weixin), and Douyin (Chinese TikTok) remained prominent in markets like China. In 2020, global screen time reached unprecedented levels, with platforms such as TikTok experiencing rapid growth and record download numbers.
By 2025, the total number of social media user identities worldwide reached approximately 5.66 billion. Today, social media platforms function as central channels for communication, entertainment, information sharing, and digital interaction, underlining their lasting and expanding role in everyday life.
Methodology
The analysis draws on multiple authoritative sources to present a clear, high-level view of the world’s most socially active countries online in 2026. Data from DataReportal, Backlinko, Pew Research Center, Similarweb and SocialPilot was used to examine both highly developed, tech-driven nations – such as the United States, Germany, and Japan – and other major markets worldwide. Key metrics included average daily time spent on social media, penetration rates, and total user numbers.
In addition, the most influential social media platforms were reviewed individually, using platform-specific data to assess engagement patterns. Social media growth was measured by tracking the increase in new users over time, while global usage trends were further analysed by age and gender to deliver more precise insights for each platform.