Top 21 Social Media Platforms Ranked by Active Users (2025)

Social media platforms are websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking. The success and influence of these platforms are most commonly measured by their Monthly Active Users (MAUs), which indicates the number of unique individuals who have engaged with the service within a 30-day period.

Key Takeaways

• The global landscape of social media platforms is dominated by a few key players, with Meta (Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger) controlling a significant portion of the world’s user base.
• Video, particularly short-form, continues to be the most dominant and engaging content format, driving the growth of platforms like YouTube and TikTok.
• While global giants have massive reach, many of the largest platforms are region-specific, highlighting the importance of a localized approach for international marketing.
• The definition of a social platform is expanding beyond traditional networks to include messaging apps, community forums, and video-sharing sites, each offering unique marketing opportunities.
• Choosing the right platform is not about chasing the largest user numbers but about understanding where your specific target audience is most active and engaged.

The Global Social Media Landscape in 2025

In the digital age, the world connects, shares, and discovers on a vast network of social media platforms. These digital nations, each with its own culture, language, and rules, are where modern commerce and communication happen. For any business, understanding the sheer scale and diversity of this landscape is the first step toward building a successful online presence. The standard metric for measuring this scale is Monthly Active Users (MAUs), a number that represents the real, engaged audience of a platform.

This guide provides a comprehensive ranking of the top 21 social media platforms by their MAUs in 2025. But this is more than just a list of numbers. It is a strategic map of the digital world. By understanding the key players, their core demographics, and the unique opportunities they present, you can make informed decisions about where to invest your time and resources. A misstep can lead to wasted effort, while a well-placed strategy can connect you with millions of potential customers. Navigating this complex environment is the core of what we do as a leading digital marketing agency.

The Global Titans: Platforms with Over a Billion Users

This elite group of platforms represents the absolute pinnacle of global reach. Their user bases are larger than the populations of most continents, making them essential for any brand with global ambitions.

1. Facebook (3.070 Billion MAUs)

The undisputed king of social media platforms, Facebook remains the largest and most widely used network in the world. Despite the rise of newer platforms, its sheer scale and diverse user base make it a foundational channel for nearly any marketing strategy. Its audience spans all age groups, making it incredibly versatile. For marketers, Facebook offers a powerful suite of tools for both organic community building and hyper-targeted advertising. Our Facebook marketing services are designed to leverage these tools to drive real business results.

2. YouTube (2.504 Billion MAUs)

Owned by Google, YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine and the undisputed leader in online video. It is a powerhouse for everything from entertainment and education to product reviews and brand storytelling. Its audience is vast and global, with users of all ages turning to the platform for both long-form and short-form (Shorts) content. A strong YouTube presence can build immense authority and drive significant traffic. For businesses ready to harness the power of video, our YouTube marketing services can help you create and optimize a channel for growth.

3. WhatsApp (2.0 Billion MAUs)

As Meta’s flagship messaging app, WhatsApp dominates direct communication in most of the world outside of North America and China. While it started as a simple messaging service, its evolution into WhatsApp Business has created powerful opportunities for customer service, direct marketing, and e-commerce. It allows for a personal, one-to-one connection with customers that is difficult to achieve on public-facing social media platforms. Our WhatsApp marketing services can help you build a strategy that respects this personal space while driving business goals.

4. Instagram (2.0 Billion MAUs)

Another Meta-owned giant, Instagram is the cultural hub for visual storytelling. With its focus on high-quality photos, Stories, and the wildly popular Reels format, it is a dominant force among younger audiences, particularly Millennials and Gen Z. For brands in visual industries like fashion, food, travel, and beauty, a strong Instagram presence is non-negotiable. Its e-commerce integrations also make it a powerful platform for direct sales. Building an engaged following requires a specific skill set, which is why our Instagram marketing services are designed to help brands thrive on this platform.

5. TikTok (1.582 Billion MAUs)

The phenomenal rise of TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, has been driven by its powerful algorithm and its addictive short-form video format. It has become a global cultural engine, particularly for Gen Z, and has redefined the way trends, music, and memes spread across the internet. For marketers, TikTok offers an opportunity to reach a massive, highly engaged audience with creative, authentic, and often viral content. Success on this platform requires a unique approach, which is why our dedicated TikTok marketing agency helps brands create content that resonates with its fast-paced culture.

6. WeChat (1.343 Billion MAUs)

Owned by Tencent, WeChat is more than just a messaging app; it’s a “super-app” that is deeply integrated into daily life in China. Users can chat, order food, pay bills, book appointments, and run businesses, all within a single ecosystem. For any business looking to enter the Chinese market, a presence on WeChat is absolutely essential.

7. Messenger (1.01 Billion MAUs)

Originally the messaging feature within Facebook, Messenger was spun out into its own powerful stand-alone app. It is the dominant messaging platform in North America and is a key tool for customer service, lead generation through chatbots, and direct marketing. Its integration with Facebook’s ad platform makes it a powerful channel for driving personalized conversations at scale.

8. Telegram (1.0 Billion MAUs)

Telegram has built a massive following based on its focus on privacy, security, and the ability to create large-scale “channels” and groups. These channels allow brands and creators to broadcast messages to a massive number of subscribers, making it a powerful tool for community building and information dissemination, particularly in the tech and crypto spaces.

The Major Players: Shaping Niches and Industries

This next tier of social media platforms may not have the multi-billion user counts of the titans, but they command immense influence within specific demographics and industries.

9. LinkedIn (930 Million MAUs)

Owned by Microsoft, LinkedIn is the world’s undisputed professional network. It is the premier platform for B2B marketing, networking, and recruitment. The audience is educated, affluent, and in a professional mindset, making it the ideal place to share industry insights, build thought leadership, and connect with decision-makers. A strong personal and company presence on LinkedIn is critical for any B2B business. Our specialized LinkedIn marketing services are designed to help businesses leverage this powerful platform for lead generation and brand building.

10. Snapchat (900 Million MAUs)

Snapchat pioneered the “camera-first” and “stories” formats that have since been adopted by other platforms. It remains incredibly popular with a very young audience, particularly teenagers and young adults. Its focus on ephemeral messaging and augmented reality (AR) filters makes it a unique and creative platform for brands targeting this demographic. For businesses looking to connect with the next generation of consumers, our Snapchat marketing agency can help you build an effective strategy.

11. Douyin (755 Million MAUs)

Douyin is the original, mainland China version of TikTok, also owned by ByteDance. While they share the same core technology, Douyin is a separate app with its own content and a much deeper integration with e-commerce features, making it a powerhouse for social commerce within China.

12. Kuaishou (700 Million MAUs)

Kuaishou is the primary competitor to Douyin in China. It also focuses on short-form video but has a stronger presence in smaller, lower-tier cities. It has become a leader in “live commerce,” where hosts sell products in real-time during live video streams.

13. Weibo (586 Million MAUs)

Weibo is often described as the “Twitter of China.” It is a microblogging platform that is a major source of news, celebrity updates, and viral trends in the country. It is a key platform for public figures and brands to communicate with a broad audience.

14. Pinterest (570 Million MAUs)

Pinterest is a unique visual discovery engine where users find inspiration and ideas for their interests and hobbies, from recipes and home decor to fashion and travel. Users are in a “discovery” mindset, making it a powerful platform for e-commerce and retail brands to reach customers who are actively planning future purchases. Our Pinterest marketing services can help you tap into this high-intent audience.

15. QQ (554 Million MAUs)

Another platform from Tencent, QQ was one of China’s original and most dominant instant messaging platforms. While its user base has been surpassed by WeChat, it remains popular with a younger demographic and is still a significant player in the Chinese social landscape.

16. X (formerly Twitter) (550 Million MAUs)

X is the world’s real-time public conversation square. It is the go-to platform for breaking news, live events, and instant reactions. Its fast-paced, text-centric nature makes it a unique channel for brand communication, customer service, and public relations. Building a presence here requires a specific voice and strategy, which our Twitter marketing services can help you develop.

The Rising Stars and Community Hubs

This group of social media platforms highlights the importance of niche communities and specialized functions.

17. Qzone (517 Million MAUs)

Tied to the QQ messaging platform, Qzone is a more traditional social network that allows users to write blog posts, share photos, and listen to music. It functions similarly to the early versions of Facebook.

18. Reddit (500 Million MAUs)

Reddit is a massive collection of community forums, known as “subreddits,” dedicated to virtually every topic imaginable. It is a place for deep, niche conversations and is highly valued by its users for its authenticity. Marketing on Reddit is notoriously difficult and requires a community-first approach, but it can be incredibly rewarding for brands that are willing to engage genuinely. It’s a goldmine for understanding your audience, a topic we cover in our guide on how to find your target audience.

19. Quora (400 Million MAUs)

Quora is a question-and-answer platform where users can ask questions and get answers from experts and people with real-world experience. For businesses, it is an excellent platform to demonstrate expertise and build thought leadership by providing high-quality, helpful answers to questions related to their industry.

20. Threads (350 Million MAUs)

Launched by Meta as a direct competitor to X (Twitter), Threads is a text-centric conversational app that is deeply integrated with Instagram. This integration has allowed it to grow rapidly by leveraging Instagram’s massive user base. It offers a new and growing space for brands to engage in real-time conversations.

21. Xiaohongshu (300 Million MAUs)

Xiaohongshu, often called “Little Red Book,” is a unique blend of social media and e-commerce in China. It is a go-to platform for lifestyle inspiration, product reviews, and social commerce, particularly among young, affluent urban women.

How to Choose the Right Social Media Platforms for Your Business

Looking at this diverse list, it’s clear that the answer is not to simply join the platform with the most users. A successful strategy requires a thoughtful approach.

• Go Where Your Audience Is: The single most important factor is understanding which of these social media platforms your ideal customers use most frequently.
• Align with Your Goals: Are you looking for brand awareness, lead generation, or direct sales? Your goals will influence your choice. LinkedIn is for B2B leads; Pinterest is for e-commerce discovery.
• Match Your Content Style: Your ability to create certain types of content should guide your decision. If you have strong visual and video capabilities, Instagram and YouTube are a natural fit. This is the core of a good content marketing strategy.
• Consider Your Resources: It is far better to be a master of two relevant platforms than to be mediocre on five. Be realistic about the time and resources you can dedicate to managing your presence.

Our Approach: Building a Strategic Social Presence

Navigating the complex world of social media platforms can be overwhelming. Our process is built on a foundation of research and strategy. We don’t just recommend the biggest platforms; we identify the ones where your specific target audience is most active and receptive to your message. Our team of social media specialists then develops a custom strategy that is tailored to the unique culture of each platform. We create the content, manage the community, and analyze the data to ensure your social media presence is not just active, but is actively contributing to your business goals. For businesses ready to build a powerful and strategic presence, our social media marketing agency is ready to help.

Conclusion

The global landscape of social media platforms is a dynamic and ever-evolving ecosystem. While a few titans command the attention of billions, a rich diversity of platforms thrives by serving specific niches, regions, and functions. For businesses, the key to success is not to chase every new trend or join every platform. It is to make deliberate, strategic choices based on a deep understanding of your audience and your goals. By choosing the right platforms and committing to providing genuine value, you can build a powerful and engaged community that will drive your business forward for years to come.