Ranked: The Biggest Social Media Platforms in 2026

Key Takeaways

• Meta owns five of the world’s 15 largest social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
• Facebook remains the world’s biggest social network with 3.1 billion monthly active users.
• Chinese-owned platforms TikTok, WeChat, and Douyin collectively reach over 4 billion users worldwide.

When social media first originated in the 2000s, it was designed for young adults to stay connected. Facebook famously wanted to put the entire college experience online. However, since then social media has extended far beyond its initial purpose. 

Facebook remains the world’s biggest social media platform with more than 3.1 billion monthly users, reflecting roughly 40% of the global population.

YouTube (2.5 billion) is the largest video-sharing site in the world, while Reddit (850 million) has become a massive online forum for people to congregate around shared interests. 

Finally, there’s LinkedIn (310 million). The social networking platform was acquired by Microsoft for over $26 billion in 2016 and is today a central hub for working professionals in various sectors to connect, network, and find or advertise jobs.

See the full article on visualcapitalist.com