Today, social networks are so firmly rooted in our lives that the composition of the top five most popular social platforms remains virtually unchanged from year to year. However, the penetration and use of these social networks varies depending on geography and demographic factors. Understanding these differences plays a big role when targeting specific audiences. When comparing the most popular social networks, it is important to pay attention not to the number of registered accounts, but to the number of active users. From the review you will learn which social networks are growing faster than others, and which are currently in decline.

The most popular social platforms

The chart, produced by analytics agency Statista, gives a clear picture of the number of active users (in millions) on the world's most popular social networks. Topping the list is Facebook. This can hardly surprise anyone. Facebook holds the majority of the market share with over 2 billion active users. In January 2017, the giant's closest competitor was WhatsApp, which is also owned by Facebook. Then he was in second place. Today, YouTube is in second place with 1.5 billion active users. Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp take third and fourth place respectively.

They are followed by platforms, the majority of whose audience is located in the Asia-Pacific region. These are QQ, WeChat and Qzone (with more than 600 million active users). This shows that there are a number of popular social media in APAC countries. After them, we see a cluster of platforms popular mainly in the West - Tumblr, Instagram and Twitter.

What about in Russia?

In Russia, the penetration of social networks is estimated at 47%; 67.8 million Russians have accounts on them. According to Statista, YouTube is used most actively in the Russian Federation (63% of respondents), VKontakte takes second place - 61%. Global leader Facebook is only in fourth place with an indicator of 35%. Skype and WhatsApp dominate among instant messengers (38% each).

Social networks that are growing faster than others

Marketers usually don’t spend much time on SMM. Which social network should you concentrate your efforts on? Twitter, which amassed 313 million users between 2010 and 2017, has seen the slowest growth compared to its biggest competitors Facebook, WhatsApp and China's WeChat. Founded in 2013, Instagram had already surpassed Twitter in terms of audience size by 2014.

A new study from Statista shows that Twitter fell far behind its peers in 2017. It showed the lowest growth in monthly active audience, which was only 23 million from Q3 2015 to Q3 2017. Facebook, meanwhile, grew by 461 million.

How users interact with brands on social networks

Knowing how to behave and what posts to make on social media is also important, since it shapes the image of your brand and, as a result, encourages users to buy your products or, conversely, unsubscribe from your groups. Social media is increasingly being used as a customer service platform where customers, existing and potential, want answers to their questions in real time. A chart taken from a Sprout Social report shows that 48% of users can be persuaded to buy by quickly answering questions in a group. 46% respond positively to promotions, and 42% may choose a brand's product if its page provides educational content. 27% of surveyed users admitted that they would be willing to make a purchase if they were shown materials that are usually left behind the scenes.

Half of Sprout Social survey respondents said they would unfollow a brand's community if I posted content that they found offensive, and 27% said they would mark a brand and its page as spam and block it. This is why it is so important to reach and engage your potential customers by publishing relevant and interesting content that resonates with your target audience.

Social networks with the most active audience

An important factor that influences how much time we should devote to SMM on a particular social network is the level of audience engagement. Here again, Facebook dominates, and also has the highest engagement over time, according to data from analytics firm comScore's study of a panel of US consumers.

Facebook's success is amazing. In addition to the social network itself occupying the top spot, other corporate-owned platforms also took second and third place. Facebook Messenger has a 47% penetration rate, with Instagram right behind it.

From the latest data from Pew Internet, shown in the chart below, we can see that Facebook also leads in the number of active audiences per day. 76% of users log into the social network every day, on Instagram this figure is 51%. Only 42% of Twitter users check it daily, which is almost half that of Facebook.

The average daily duration of use of social networks in the United States is 2 hours 1 minute; in Russia, users spend a little more time on social platforms - 2 hours 19 minutes.

Engagement rates in different social networks

Marketing analytics company TrackMaven analyzed 51 million posts from companies across 130 industries to find out which social networks have the highest engagement rates. The results showed that the absolute leader in terms of engagement per 1000 subscribers is Instagram. This is so much higher than other social networks that we had to create a separate chart to illustrate the difference between Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

As you can see from the second graph, Facebook is significantly ahead of Twitter and LinkedIn. This is largely due to the fact that more people post on Twitter because there is no algorithm to show content to only a small portion of the audience. Because of this, brands have to flood their feeds with posts to break through the information noise. This, in turn, reduces the response rate to publications. Below is the average daily number of posts per account on three social networks.

General statistics on social media usage around the world

Every year, WeAreSocial updates its comprehensive Global Digital Report, which compiles actionable data on social media around the world. From it you can find out how differently social platforms are used in different parts of the world. It is surprising that Western countries are seriously lagging behind in the rate of penetration of social networks.

Below are the main conclusions of the studies.

• The number of Internet users in 2018 reached 4.021 billion people, which is 7 percent more than a year ago.
• The audience of social networks in 2018 totals 3.196 billion people - 13% higher than last year’s figure.
• The number of mobile phone users is 5.135 billion people, which means an increase of 4% compared to last year.

The numbers are growing rapidly, especially for active users of social networks on mobile devices - the penetration rate is 39%, which is 5% more than in 2017.

If we talk about the structure of web traffic depending on the type of device, then the most traffic is generated by mobile users (52%, which is 4% higher than last year). Only 43% of all web pages are visited from desktops, which is 3% lower than last year.

Northern, Western and Southern Europe, as well as North America, boast the highest levels of Internet penetration, with 74%–94% of the total population using the World Wide Web. In Russia, 110 million people use the Internet—76% of the total population.

The growth in the global audience of social networks since January 2017 was 13%. The fastest growth in the number of users is observed in Saudi Arabia. Since January 2017, their number has increased by 32%, the global average is 17%. Other countries with the highest growth rates include India, Indonesia and Ghana. The reason for the jump was the development of technology, which made it easier for the population to access social platforms. Social networks grew the slowest in the UAE, South Korea and the UK -<5%. В России пользователей соцсетей стало на 8 826 000 человек больше (+15% к прошлогоднему значению).

Since Facebook has the largest share of users, it would be useful to know how the content you post will perform on the social network and what features to use to increase its reach. According to social network statistics, the average reach of a publication is 10.7%, with organic posts having 8% (organic reach in Russia is 11.3%), and for paid posts this value is 26.8% (27.4% in Russia) . Organic and paid Facebook posts have huge potential. It is important to target publications correctly in order to receive quality leads.

You can get a more complete picture of the state of the global digital market in 2018 by studying our review of the Internet 2017-2018 in the world and in Russia: statistics and trends, which we prepared based on the Global Digital 2018 study.

Popularity of social networks by country

The graph below from the GlobalWebIndex report, based on a survey of Internet users, perfectly reflects the popularity of various social networks by country. Indonesia, the Philippines, Mexico, India and Brazil are among the top ten most active audiences on each social network, significantly ahead of the US, UK and European countries.

Of the four social networks presented (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Google+), Russians are the most active users of the video service. Twitter and Google+ are used relatively often by only 20% of our compatriots, and Facebook is regularly viewed by just over 40%.

Demographic statistics of social media use

As can be seen from the graph, different age groups have a similar pattern of social media use. This suggests that social networks have reached a stage of maturity where they can reach all demographic groups, regardless of age and gender. The exceptions are Instagram and Tumblr, which have younger audiences.

Strategies for interacting with social media audiences

According to The State of Social 2018 study, 96% of brands have a presence on Facebook.

Moreover, only half of the respondents have a documented SMM strategy. Large businesses are a little more responsible about this issue than small companies (60% said they have such a document).

When it comes to the types of content brands publish, images, links, and text lead the way. Even though video posts tend to get the most engagement, video content only comes in fourth. This is primarily due to the complexity of creating such materials.

At the end of 2017, Smart Insights, together with Clutch, conducted a survey among business representatives, in which they asked which social networks were of the greatest value to them. It turned out that among B2C companies Facebook is considered the most effective (93% of respondents), and most B2B companies prefer LinkedIn (93%).

The Value of Social Media for Brands in 2018

1. If you think that your target audience is not on social networks, you are mistaken.

Through social networks you can reach any audience, regardless of gender, age, social status. 98% of online consumers are registered on social networks, a fairly large part of them are adults 55-64 years old.

1. People devote a third of their time on the Internet to social networks.

The average user spends 2 hours 15 minutes a day scrolling through their feed and communicating on social platforms, and young people aged 16-24 spend almost three hours. If you do not consider SMM as a channel for attracting customers, then you are voluntarily giving up the attention of your target audience to your competitors.

1. Half of all social media users follow brand pages.

4 out of 10 internet users follow their favorite companies on social media, and a quarter follow brands when planning to buy something. People respond positively to such content, so an active presence on social media is of great value to companies.

1. Social networks are the main source of information for consumers.

People aged 16-24 prefer to look for information about brands on social networks rather than on search engines. A quarter of users in this age group admit that a large number of likes on a brand’s page can persuade them to make a purchase. In the group of 35-44 years old, 20% of respondents said the same. Social commerce can be considered one of the main channels for generating profit, which means it is important to diversify your efforts and not rely only on advertising.

1. Watching videos is a favorite pastime on social media.

Facebook is the largest social network in terms of number of users, but YouTube takes first place in terms of traffic and the reason is because of the video. Video posts receive the most active response, and that is why leading brands constantly publish videos on their pages.

The following materials were used in preparing the article:

1. Global Social Media Research Summary 2018 by Smart Insights
2. The State of Social 2018 report by Social Media Week
3. The Biggest Social Media Trends Shaping 2018 article published on the GlobalWebIndex blog
4. Social Networks Study: How social networks were used in 2017 by analytical agency Metricool
5. Global Digital 2018 report package compiled by WeAreSocial analytical agency

Do you want to order the maintenance of your company’s communities on social networks? Contact us by phone:

Social networks in Russia (list)

Surely you know some social networks. networks that are popular among Russians, but the more sites are used, the higher the results will be (attracting traffic or advertising). Here is the complete list of Russian social networks:

1. VKontakte takes first place in all indicators in Runet. This site is also especially popular in Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
2. Odnoklassniki is a Russian-language social network that ranks second in Runet ratings.
3. Twitter is a foreign microblogging system that has long been included in the TOP of Russian-language sites.
4. Facebook is a leader at the global level, which has managed to overtake even search engines in terms of traffic.
5. Google+ is a network from a famous search engine. The audience is growing rapidly as profiles are used for different purposes (for example, on Google Play).
6. My Circle is a project suitable for finding jobs and employees for a company. In 2015, the project was bought by a large company, so now it should be actively developed.
7. YouTube - there are elements of a social network on this site (creating your own page, publications, comments), so it can also be included in the list.
8. My World - the developers claim that the project is a national Russian social network (third place in Runet in popularity).
9. Friend Around is one of those social networks. networks that require the installation of a special program to use.
10. Instagram - registration only from mobile devices, convenient photo sharing, excellent option for branding.
11. LinkedIn is one of the oldest social networks. networks created to establish business connections, find jobs and employees.
12. MySpace is another foreign project that has long been translated into Russian and has earned popularity on the Runet.
13. Small World - suitable for communicating with neighbors and people living near you. The functionality is wide, personal messages, photos, groups and so on.
14. Hello - on this site you can find old acquaintances, make new acquaintances, publish photos and even create your own blog.
15. Professionals - you can already guess from the name that this network was created for business people and professionals from different fields.
16. Fotostrana is one of the most popular dating sites in Russia, where you will also find functions inherent in social networks.
17. Mendoo - erotic social. a network in which registration is available only to adult users.
18. Diary - school social. network, it is used by both students themselves and teachers and parents.
19. On the Internet - in the Belarusian segment of the Internet this is a very popular project. High-quality social network in Belarus.
20. Twoo - More than 174 million people are registered on this site who are looking for new acquaintances.
21. Socl - the well-known Microsoft company is the owner of this social network. Not many people use it in Russia.
22. Classnet - a resource for schoolchildren has been created. Here they will find interesting communication and receive help in learning.
23. Flirchi is a large network used for meeting new people. It’s convenient that its developers created mobile applications a long time ago.
24. Galaxy is the most unusual dating site with social elements. networks. A mobile application is also available.
25. Classmates - many people consider this site to be the first social network, since it was created in 1995.
26. Pinme - every day thousands of people share interesting pictures and post on this social network, which distinguishes the project from its analogues.

The result was a large list and it included all popular Russian social networks. It is useful for various purposes, and in addition to advertising and attracting visitors to sites, you can establish new connections and search for people with similar interests. I wish you success!!!

Don't forget to write your comment if you liked the article. A few words from you, and for me - recognition from search engines that I write normal human articles. Thank you in advance!

Social networks have become a part of the lives of Internet users. Many people have no idea how they lived before they appeared. And now they devote all their free time to communicating with virtual friends. Therefore, startupers and developers are trying to create new ones, become leaders in the network and even overtake Facebook. Every year new projects appear, both for mothers and housewives, as well as for admirers of literature and music. Today there are six interesting social networks that are worthy of your attention.

And although it seems that existing social networks will always be popular, in reality this is not true. For example, not long ago the social network Instagram was created and in a short time it gathered a huge audience. By the way, instead of Instagram you can use an interesting online service. A large number of interesting online services are gradually being created around popular sites.

New social network #1 - Bookish.

On the social network you can discuss your favorite literary works and buy books. The network was created with the support of large publishing houses - Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group and Penguin Group. The main goal of the project is to unite the author of the book and the reader. On the social network you can read excerpts from books, interviews with authors, as well as user reviews. If a user is interested in a book, he can purchase it; he just needs to follow the link to local stores or Amazon. The network interface is very convenient, which allows you to find the author you like by any means. But Bookish will only be useful for English-speaking users and “reading enthusiasts.”

The network database consists of two million books, as well as four hundred thousand pages with information about the authors.

New social network No. 2 - Fancy.

While this social network is popular in the United States, few people know about it in other countries. However, this service is growing quickly. And this is expected, since the creators and. Users are encouraged to search for unique items online, collect them in a specific location, and make purchases. Thus, the Fancy network is both a blog, an online store, and a community of like-minded people who follow fashion, buy designer items and jewelry, and also collect photographs of exotic countries. The user can not only exchange images, but also buy those things that are captured on them. There are not many visitors yet, only about 250 thousand registered users. However, the popularity of the network is growing, as the team has developed not only a web interface, but also mobile applications for iOS and .

New social network No. 3 - Icebergs.

For now, the service is just getting ready to launch, so if you want to become a member of the network, leave a request for testing. But it is not yet known when the project will start.

New social network No. 4 - Medium.

Twitter developers decided to open a new social network. It was created so that each user can evaluate their information contribution. That is, you offer content to the network, such as photos, and Medium collects similar data from other users. Anyone can add information or view it. The network issues messages by rating, and not in the traditional chronological order. The content is divided into collections, each with templates and themes for downloading materials. Authorization occurs via Twitter. Therefore, any microblog user can place a post in a thematic collection.

New social network #5 - Vine.

So far, this service does not look like a full-fledged social network, but perhaps it will soon become so. Currently, this is an application for mobile devices with which you can create short six-second videos. This service was acquired by Twitter back in October last year, but it only launched in January 2013. About 100 thousand users use the service. But it also appealed to corporate clients. Popular brands are starting to take a closer look at the new service.

New social network No. 6 - Zeen.

Video.
Interesting video about new social media.

Social networks and the Internet are inextricably linked with each other. Almost everyone is registered here. Moreover, these resources managed to conquer users of all ages, from young to old. There are more and more diverse social networks. There are favorites among them.

Statistics of social networks of the world

Currently, Facebook has the most users. Although the network has lost ground a little compared to the same. The network was founded by Mark Zuckerberg. Since its appearance, it has been in high demand and has held the first position in the ranking for a long time (62.18%). Pinterst takes second place (16.12%) and has actively begun to gain popularity, primarily due to its new feature. YouTube's third place (8.71%) over the past year has surpassed Twitter, which is now in 4th place (8.17%). They choose him for his mini-blogs. Many famous people have accounts here.

World statistics in % terms as of July 2018 by:

According to statistics from the site, which ranks social networks by the number of active monthly users, the list of the best social networks is as follows:

	Number of active users per month
Facebook	2,200,000,000
YouTube	1,900,000,000
Instagram	800,000,000
Qzone	563,000,000
Weibo	376,000,000
Twitter	336,000,000
Reddit	330,000,000
Pinterest	200,000,000
Ask.fm	160,000,000
Tumblr	115,000,000
Flickr	112,000,000
Google+	111,000,000
LinkedIn	106,000,000
VK	97,000,000
Odnoklassniki	71,000,000
Meetup	35,300,000

Let's look at the TOP 20 most popular social networks:

• Sina Weibo. Residents of the Middle Kingdom spend their leisure time here. The social network has been operating since 2009.
• Lenkedln. The audience numbers 106 million users. This includes mainly representatives of business structures. Here they look for a new job, make deals, share news and information.
• Badoo. This is a kind of place to meet people. It has 230 million users. The portal has similar functionality as social networks.
• Tumblr. Favorite place for bloggers. They maintain their own blogs, comment on and read others’. The resource was created in 2007 and has 115 million people.
• Classmates or in another way OK. The project has long been considered one of the leaders of the Russian Internet. To date, 210 million accounts have been registered. Russian social network statistics are strong.
• Instagram. Appeared in 2010. Quite quickly he took a leading position. Users liked the ability to share videos and photos.
• Pinterest. Here you can exchange ideas on different topics, recipes, projects.
• Flickr. The audience includes 112 million people. This project makes it possible to send a large number of photos.
• MySpace. It was founded in 2003 and includes 50 million accounts. Used for: sharing photos, videos, messages. This is where people meet and blog.
• Scribd. Considered a text copy of youtube. Used to exchange books.
• MeetUp. On this portal they form groups in order to communicate live. More than 40 million participants found friends here and began to spend time together without the virtual web.
• Tagged. Used for communication, dating.
• Askfm. It's easy to get answers to your questions here. 38 million accounts have been registered. One of them will definitely suggest the right solution.
• MeetMe. The social network was created for gadget lovers. It has already included 16 million people.
• ClassMates. Analogue of Russian OK. The project appeared in 1995, but failed to become as popular. The audience numbers only 15 million users.
• In contact with. It was created in Russia back in 2006. Since that moment, the portal has not lost its popularity. The number of accounts is about 300 million, although not all accounts are active. It is known that residents of Ukraine who do not have free access to this social network are registered on VK.
• Orkut. A Google development that is loved by residents of India and Latin America. Today the resource is closed and will be moved to the Hello social network platform.
• Snapchat. Here you can not be afraid to be as you are. There are no comments or likes, so there is no pressure. Everything is real, not faked.
• Yik Yak. There are also no friends, subscribers, or likes on this portal. This makes him attractive to American teenagers.
• Medium. Beginner bloggers register. They have the opportunity to leave comments near parts of the text, rather than at the very end.

This is what the statistics for the World look like, but each country has its own favorites.

What social networks are popular in the USA?

China also has its favorite resources

What is in demand in the Middle Kingdom.

In China, many of the listed projects are simply blocked, so many residents use exclusively their own sites. The most popular are:

• Qzone. The audience numbers 625 million people. The portal was developed by Tencent. Here you can write blogs, diaries online, watch videos, and distribute photos. Firms use the resource to promote their products and services.
• QQ. This is a kind of messaging service. Everything is provided for communication: video, voice chat, data exchange. There are about 300 million registered people.
• Pengyou. Portal for friends. The network is supplemented with applications and games.
• WeChat. The functionality is quite diverse. You can exchange information, photos, video content, change contacts.

This is not the entire list of Chinese resources. The Internet of the Celestial Empire, just like the European one, is vast. There are also: Weibo, Renren, Douban, etc. Each of the platforms is unique in its own way.

The Internet and everything connected with it today is wildly popular among all segments of the population, regardless of age, gender and status. Social networks are the best way to communicate with friends and family, as well as to keep up with the latest news and always be aware of the latest incidents.

The variety of social networks is quite huge and for each person there is an optimal option that fits perfectly according to all criteria, from the interface to the available menu and options. There is even a rating of social networks 2017, which contains the best social networks, according to the opinion of the world, humanity. The data to create such a rating is collected according to statistics. The total number of visitors and actions on a social network are the main criteria for moving up the rankings. The number of registrants also plays a role. If we consider the ranking of social networks in the world , then it will look like this:

• In fifth place in the world ranking of social networks is a network such as VKontakte. Marvelous? If it were not for the departure of the social network LinkedIn from the Russian Federation, the latter would have had a larger audience. At the same time, the correct actions of the VKontakte management in the South American market allowed it to gain enough new audiences to enter the global top 5 social networks.

Rating of social networks in Russia 2017

The world ranking is the total number of people's choices across the planet. In each country, the top five may differ significantly because people do not always have the same preferences. For example, the popularity rating of social networks in Russia 2017 will look like this: