SOCIAL MEDIA

How many social networking sites are there on the Internet? 20? 50? 100? Well, there are certainly a lot! However, some are more popular and have more active users than others.

There were some 2 billion users of social networks worldwide in 2015, in comparison with almost one billion in 2010 and a projected estimate of 2.4 billion in 2018. Facebook remains the leader of social networks with almost 1.5 billion active users and its messaging app, Facebook Messenger, ranks fourth with 700 million active users, after WhatsApp with 800 million users, which comes third after QQ, which has 832 million users. There is Twitter in seventh place, with 316 million users, followed by Skype, Google+ and Instagram with 300 million users each. At the bottom of the list, we find LinkedIn with only 97 million active users. The number of mobile social network users is also growing at a quick pace. In the second quarter of 2015, the number of mobile-only active users of Facebook reached 655 million. This number was 314 million in the first quarter of 2014 and jumped to 526 million in the fourth quarter of the same year. In other words, 62% of worldwide social network users accessed Facebook on their devices. In 2015, 70.1% of Facebook users accessed the site via their mobiles.

These social media sites serve different types of users by targeting different needs and interests. WhatsApp is popular among instant messaging fans. It also offers other services like sharing pictures, videos and location, as well as voice calls. In this regard, WhatsApp is very similar to Viber, although the latter specializes in instant messaging and voice calls. Professionals who are interested in finding like-minded people with professional interests turn their heads towards LinkedIn. On this platform, they can find a business community to discuss their businesses and professional interests away from the general topics that are usually popular on other social networks.