Global Use of Social Media

Year after year, the number of Internet users in the world increases exponentially — a figure that has been driven by the rise in the use of mobile devices.

Today, the number of Internet users in the world has reached 5 billion people, which represents 63% of the world’s population.

For their part, social networks have earned a unique position in the digital world, creating new spaces for communication and meet-ups between families and friends.

Over the last few years, and especially during the pandemic, people around the world have been looking for new ways to connect with their loved ones. This resulted in a considerable increase in new users on social networks. The number of users joining social networks is about 14 new users per second — 424 million in a year.

Regional use of social media shows the wide variation in social media penetration, with less impact in places like South Asia, West Africa, and Central Africa.

This number is expected to grow as developing digital markets catch up in terms of infrastructure and the availability of cheap mobile devices. In fact, most of the global growth of social networks is driven by the increasing use of mobile devices. The use of mobile phones has revolutionized internet use, making global connectivity readily available to those with cell phones. The connectivity provided by mobile phones also makes using them the favorite recreational activity of users. This is evidenced in usage time statistics. Users spend more time on mobile phones than watching live TV, the favorite recreational activity of the past.

Social Network Usage Time

Social networks offer an ever-widening variety of things to do. Whether it’s seeing your friends, filling your free time, becoming famous, or finding the perfect outfit.

Social networks also have a powerful influence on our daily activities. They can affect what we buy, what we like and dislike, and the places we choose to visit.

The amount of time people spend on social media is also important in terms of income for brands and companies.

Many people claim that using mobile phones and social networks is the recreational activity they spend the most time doing. People spend about 15 percent of their waking lives using social media. Globally, social media users between the ages of 16 and 64 reported spending nearly 2.5 hours on social media per day. This means that, collectively, the world spends more than 10 billion hours using digital social platforms every day, which is equivalent to almost 1.2 million years of human existence.

It is interesting to note that the number of hours of use of social networks also varies according to region. South America is the continent at the top of the list, with users reporting that they use social networks for almost 3 and a half hours per day, while Europe reports daily use of around an hour and fifteen minutes.

The pandemic encouraged the use of social networks, causing it to reach a historical milestone — in 2022, penetration of social networks has exceeded half of the population for the first time, with a total of 58.7% of the world, or 4.650 billion people.

Companies were also incorporating social networks as a way to do business, but systems were increasingly difficult to manage, so they needed the help of new specialists, giving rise to the rising demand for Community and Social Media Managers, among others. The sector has also hit other unexpected benchmarks, such as the case of Desatranques Jaén in Spain, and continues to evolve every day.

The number of online users is huge, so when you post an ad, you can reach a large number of people in a matter of seconds.