Global Social Media Leaders: Who’s Winning in 2025?

As of April 2025, the world’s social media landscape continues to be dominated by a handful of global giants — but the growth patterns tell a deeper story about user engagement and platform evolution.

• Facebook remains the undisputed leader with 3.1 billion monthly active users, posting a modest 0.2% year-on-year (YoY) growth.

• In second place, YouTube boasts 2.5 billion users with 1.4% YoY growth, showing continued strength in the video-first content space.

• WhatsApp and Instagram are tied at 2 billion users each, but both show only 0.1% YoY growth, suggesting market saturation in mature regions.

• Meanwhile, TikTok is the clear growth champion — reaching 1.8 billion users with a staggering 16.3% YoY increase, driven by its addictive short-form video model and rapid global adoption.

In total, there are 5.31 billion social media users worldwide, representing a 4.7% increase from 2024. This means 7.6 new users join a social media platform every second — a testament to the continued expansion of the digital ecosystem.

Key takeaway: While Facebook still leads in total users, TikTok’s meteoric growth is reshaping how audiences consume content, and platforms that fail to innovate risk losing share in this hyper-competitive attention economy.

Source: Data Reportal by Kepios

Infographic Created by: Algorithm Research