Unbelievably, this is the platform that is spent the most time by social media users

Although Facebook and TikTok lead by far in the number of users, Instagram, the third largest platform in the social media space, is a favorite among social network users. According to the data, almost 16% of social media users named Instagram as their number one platform, 2% more than Facebook, and twice the share of TikTok.

Instagram and TikTok rise in popularity, Facebook loses ground

The number of Instagram users has increased over the past few years. According to Statista data, the photo and video sharing social networking app is expected to hit 1.3 billion users in 2023, up 86 million from the previous year. By 2027, this figure is expected to grow by another 17% and reach 1.56 billion worldwide. And while that's still far less than Facebook or TikTok's user count, both social media giants are losing the race to Instagram when it comes to popularity in the social media space.

According to the latest Digital Global Overvieë report, 15.7% of social media users aged 16 to 64 named Instagram their preferred choice, up 1.5% from six months ago.

Facebook ranked as the second most popular platform, with a 13% share among respondents. However, statistics show that the social media giant has lost some popularity since April, when 14.2% of social media users named it their top choice.

DataReportal's survey also showed that Instagram is much more popular than TikTok, which only had a 7% share among respondents. Still, that's up from the 6.1% share the short-form video platform had six months ago. X, formerly Twitter, ranked in the middle of the list with a 3.2% share among social media users, roughly the same as in April. The survey showed that Snapchat was the least popular, with only 1.3% of respondents naming the platform as their preferred choice.

People spend almost 16 hours a month on Instagram, four hours more than last year

In addition to its growing popularity in the social media space, Instagram has also seen a significant increase in the average time spent using its app. According to the Digital Global Overview Report, Android users worldwide spent an average of 15 hours and 50 minutes using Instagram per month, or nearly four hours more than last year. TikTok remained an absolute king in this category, with an average of 33 hours and 28 minutes spent using the app in a month, a maximum of ten hours more than in 2022. Facebook was also ahead of Instagram, with 18 hours and 50 minutes. But that's almost an hour less than the social media giant's usage time last year. Statistics show that Telegram users spent nearly four hours using its app each month, or 45 minutes more than a year ago.