The game plan for social media changes every minute, and users are quick to follow (and create) new trends. In spite of this, there are obviously some favourites that persist, of course, and which have been around for a good while. Are you familiar with Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, and blogs, for example?
In this post, we’ll go into the most popular social media platforms in use today and how they work, both in general and from an influencer marketing perspective. So whether you’re a newbie or already a wizard on social media, we hope that you’ll learn something new!
Social media: an overview
In terms of number of users, the social media platforms Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat are the biggest in the world. Also at the top are the chat apps Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, along with the Chinese equivalents of some of the aforementioned social media channels. No matter which country you look at, the use of social media is high. Taking two big markets as an example, 66% of the UK population are active social media users and in the U.S., more than 70% of the population holds a social media account.
When talking about who is on the various social media platforms, it’s important to bear in mind that usage varies significantly depending on age. TikTok and Snapchat are examples of platforms where use is higher among younger people, whilst Facebook and LinkedIn have an older user base. This may not come as a surprise considering that LinkedIn is an employment network.
When it comes to influencer marketing collaborations, Instagram is the leader – followed closely by YouTube. Facebook and blogs are significantly lower ranked than Instagram and YouTube.
Instagram was founded in 2010 and is a social network for taking photographs, editing and sharing images and videos with your followers on the platform. You can also send messages to other users, a ‘Direct Message’ (more commonly referred to as a ‘DM’). The name Instagram is a combination of the words ‘instant’ and ‘telegram’. Within two years of Instagram being founded, the platform was bought by Facebook for SEK 7 billion. From a global perspective, Instagram is one of the biggest social media platforms and the biggest target group is people between 25-34. The split between men (44%) and women (51%) is quite balanced. In U.S., Statista