Social media encompasses all the platforms and apps that allow people, creators, and businesses to communicate with one another, create online communities, exchange ideas, and share content.
Social media encompasses all the platforms and apps that allow people, creators, and businesses to communicate with one another, create online communities, exchange ideas, and share content.
From Instagram and TikTok to YouTube and WhatsApp, the social media platforms that users have at their disposal are endless. While social media is mainly used by individual people, brands and creators can also use social media marketing to connect with their audience, build their brand, and sell their products or services.
Social media has completely revolutionized the way modern-day society communicates and shares ideas, information, and content. What really separates social media from other types of media is that it’s a two-way style of communication rather than a one-way communication style built to deliver information with no way to reply back, such as newspapers, radio, and television.
Every social media platform works differently and has its own unique set of features, however there are a few commonalities. Here are some of the most common features social media platforms share:
The major social media platforms (at the moment) are Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and Snapchat, with Facebook being the largest social media platform at nearly 3 billion people using it monthly.
To make things easier, we researched the top social media platforms in 2023. Some will be familiar to you, while others might sound new. We recommend reading through that list to see what social media apps might work best for you and your brand. And remember, you don’t have to be on every social media platform to have a successful brand.
For many, social media is woven into the fabrics of every day life. With 59% of the world’s population using social media, it makes it an incredibly powerful tool for spreading ideas and communicating with one another; and it offers many benefits for social media users. Some of the benefits of social media use for personal purposes are:
With 77 percent of people using social media to learn more about a product or brand, it’s crucial for businesses and creators to have an active social media presence where they publish content regularly and consistently. Some of the benefits of social media use for business and creators are:
There are also a range of social media management tools that help businesses and creators to make social media work for them. For example, Buffer is a social media management tool that can help you achieve success with your social media marketing. Whether you want to build a brand or grow your business, we want to help you succeed. Sign up for our free plan or get started with a free trial.
As of January 2023, there are 4.76 billion active social media users around the globe, which means about 59% of the total global population uses social media. This number increased by 3% compared to the previous year.
Here are the top 6 social networking platforms of 2023, ranked by Monthly Active Users (MAUs):
Whether you are a seasoned or novice marketer or a business owner looking to leverage on social media, knowing the most popular social media sites around will allow you to maximize your brand reach on social media, engage with the right people, and achieve your social media goals.
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