How many big social media platforms do you know?
Let us guess – you immediately thought of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and, perhaps, Pinterest. And you’re absolutely right, those are some of the biggest social media sites.
But they’re definitely not the only major players out there! Read on to learn about the top 21 most popular social media sites by the number of active users.
Top 21 Most Popular Social Media Sites
1. Facebook
Founders: Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes
Year founded: 2004
Place of origin: Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Number of users: 2.4 billion
Key features: Users can browse through algorithmic News Feed, publish content on their own or other users’ walls, add friends, react and comment on posts, receive real-time notifications, create groups and events, use location tagging, share ephemeral content through Stories, and buy and sell items on Marketplace.
2. YouTube
Founders: Jawed Karim, Steve Chen, Chad Hurley
Year founded: 2005
Place of origin: San Mateo, California, United States
Number of users: 2 billion
Key features: Users can upload regular, 3D, 360, and live videos, add annotations (pop-up text messages and links) and cards (interactive clickable CTAs) to their videos, subscribe to channels, receive notifications, and react to and comment on videos.
3. WhatsApp
Founders: Jan Koum, Brian Acton
Year founded: 2009
Place of origin: California, United States
Number of users: 1.6 billion
Key features: Users can send messages, make voice and video calls, record voice messages, create group chats, send photos, GIFs, PDFs, slideshows, and more.
4. Facebook Messenger
Founder: Facebook
Year founded: 2011
Place of origin: California, United States
Number of users: 1.3 billion
Key features: Users can send messages, send GIFs, stickers, and emojis, send pictures with doodles and videos with filters, create group chats and polls, have video calls with multiple users at the same time, send voice messages, transfer money, share location, connect with businesses to make reservations, get customer support or find deals, and play games with friends.
5. WeChat
Founder: Zhang Xiaolong
Year founded: 2011
Place of origin: Guangzhou, China
Number of users: 1.1 billion
Key features: Users can send text and voice messages, organize video calls and conferences, share videos and photos embellished with filters and captions, play games, share location, set up official accounts and amass subscribers, share messages, photos, and videos via Moments, transfer money, and book appointments.
6. Instagram
Founders: Kevin Systrom, Mark Krieger, Facebook
Year founded: 2010
Place of origin: San Francisco, California, United States
Number of users: 1 billion
Key features: Users can upload photos and videos and edit them using filters, create post captions using hashtags to improve discoverability, geotag posts, follow other users’ feeds, upload photos and videos into Stories, discover content in the “Explore” section, upload vertical video content to IGTV, and send private messages to other users.
7. QQ
Founder: Shenzhen Tencent Computer System Co., Ltd.
Year founded: 1999
Place of origin: Shenzhen, China
Number of users: 823 million
Key features: Users can send instant messages, photos, and stickers, join chat rooms, have HD video calls, personalize their avatars, chat bubbles, and profile photo widgets, use mobile payment including mobile top-up, online shopping, and bank transfers.
8. Baidu Tieba
Founder: Robin Li
Year founded: 2003
Place of origin: Beijing, China
Number of users: 665 million
Key features: Users can create forums (known as “bars”) dedicated to different topics where they interact using written messages, photos, and videos, they can discover bars using keyword search, interact with other users’ content, organize polls and Q&As, and gain activity-based seniority levels.
9. QZone
Founder: Tencent
Year founded: 2005
Place of origin: China
Number of users: 572 million
Key features: Users can write blogs, keep diaries, send photos, create photo albums, listen to music, watch videos, download and play games with other users, follow brands, media, and celebrities, personalize their profile by setting a custom background, music, and selecting accessories (paid feature).
10. Douyin/Tik Tok
Founder: ByteDance
Year founded: 2016
Place of origin: Beijing, China
Number of users: 500 million
Key features: Users can create and share short videos, edit videos by adding background music and filters as well as speeding up or slowing down the footage, film and post reactions to video content posted by other users, add comments, create “duets” by filming a video alongside another video, send private messages, save favorite videos, and discover new content in the “for you” section.
11. Tumblr
Founder: David Karp
Year founded: 2007
Place of origin: New York, USA
Number of users: 472 million active blog accounts
Key features: On Tumblr users can create blogs (known as Tumblelogs) where they can share posts containing text, images, video, and audio, collaborate with other users on a single blog, schedule content, add tags to posts to make them easily discoverable, view and engage with content from blogs they follow in dashboard and send messages to other users.
12. Sina Weibo
Founder: Sina Corporation
Year founded: 2009
Place of origin: China
Number of users: 465 million
Key features: Users can post statuses, attach images, music, videos, and emojis to their posts, tag other users, add hashtags and comments, follow other users to see their posts in a timeline, repost other users’ content, add posts to one’s favorite lists, browse trending topics, and request verification if they’re a business or celebrity.
13. Reddit
Founders: Steve Huffman, Aaron Swartz, Alexis Ohanian
Year founded: 2005
Place of origin: San Francisco, California, USA
Number of users: 330 million
Key features: Users can submit content such as links, text posts, and images to the site, rate content by upvoting or downvoting posts, contribute to ongoing conversations by adding comments, earn “karma” that reflects their position within the Reddit community, and start conversations by creating topical threads also known as “subreddits.”
14. Twitter
Founders: Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Evan Williams, Biz Stone
Year founded: 2006
Place of origin: San Francisco, California, USA
Number of users: 330 million
Key features: Users can post statuses called “tweets” containing images, videos, and hashtags, like, retweet, bookmark, and comment on tweets, follow other users, create or subscribe to a list of accounts, send private messages, and discover trending topics in the “Explore” section.
15. Douban
Founder: Bo Yang
Year founded: 2005
Place of origin: China
Number of users: 320 million
Key features: Users can create and share content about films, books, music, recent events, and activities in Chinese cities.
16. LinkedIn
Founders: Konstantin Guericke, Jean-Luc Vaillant, Reid Hoffman, Allen Blue, Eric Ly
Year founded: 2002
Place of origin: Mountain View, California, USA
Number of users: 310 million
Key features: Users can create CV-like profiles containing their education, work experience, and skills, post statuses including photos and videos, publish articles and live videos, connect with other users, browse and apply for job postings, follow influencers and companies, send private messages, and join groups.
17. Snapchat
Founders: Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, Reggie Brown
Year founded: 2011
Place of origin: California, USA
Number of users: 294 million
Key features: Users can create multimedia messages containing photos and videos (known as “snaps”), edit them using filters, captions, drawings, stickers, geofilters, and lenses, send messages to contacts or share them in self-deleting Stories, save Story posts to Memories, discover content in the “Discover” section, follow other users, play games, add friends, and transfer money.
18. Pinterest
Founders: Paul Sciarra, Ben Silbermann, Evan Sharp
Year founded: 2010
Place of origin: California, USA
Number of users: 265 million
Key features: Users can upload images from websites (known as “Pins”) and add them to thematic boards, create idea-based sections within individual boards, save Pins from other users’ boards, follow users, topics, or boards, discover content with Guided Search offering keyword suggestions, find content inspired by saved Pins in the “more ideas” tab, and receive content recommendations based on recent activity.
19. Viber
Founders: Talmon Marco, Igor Magazinnik
Year founded: 2010
Place of origin: Tel Aviv, Israel
Number of users: 260 million
Key features: Users can send texts, photos, videos, stickers, and GIFs, make voice and HD video calls, create group chats, send instant voice and video messages, and use chat extensions to search, find, and share music, videos, restaurants, events, and more without having to leave the app.
20. Discord
Founder: Jason Citron
Year founded: 2015
Place of origin: California, USA
Number of users: 250 million
Key features: Users (mostly gamers) can create chat rooms (known as “servers”) where they can communicate with other users using text and voice messages, GIFs, and emojis – all while playing games together, invite friends to join their servers, discover and join servers for popular games, and moderate their own servers – for example by adding thematic channels.
21. Line
Founder: Line Corporation
Year founded: 2012
Place of origin: Japan
Number of users: 217 million
Key features: Users can exchange messages containing text, images, stickers, emojis, video, and audio, take and edit photos, share updates through Timeline, organize video conferences and group chats, make in-app payments, and make paid calls to mobile devices and landline users.
The Takeaway
Social media is surely a busy environment with platforms constantly striving to grow their user bases. When choosing a platform for your business, you shouldn’t just look at the audience size, though, and instead, think of where your target audience is. Focusing all your efforts on billions large Facebook might be tempting, but if the group you want to reach is mostly on much smaller Snapchat, your time, money, and energy might go to waste.
Which of the biggest social media sites are you leveraging for your business? And are you planning on building a presence on social networks you haven’t previously used? Let us know in the comments!
See also: What are the most visited websites in the world?
