The fight for social media users’ attention continues. It is not surprising that social network usage has increased yearly in the United Kingdom and that social media juggernauts have kept up their high user counts. However, newcomers to the market have claimed niches and started new trends, establishing themselves as fierce competition.

Who takes the top spot?

For now, the usual suspects of the social media market are still holding on to the top spots in the United Kingdom. WhatsApp was the most used social media service in the UK as of the third quarter of 2023, with almost eight percent of the country using the instant messaging app. Facebook ranked closely in second position, followed by Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter), respectively. In 2024, the total number of social media users in the United Kingdom stood at 52.7 million.

The generational gap

In the UK, social media is most popular among Gen Z and Millennials. Social media has a 97 to 98 percent reach with both generations, and usage decreases with age, with 86 percent of Baby boomers being present on social networks. In terms of education, 29 percent of social media users had achieved a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, and one in five users were of secondary level education. Additionally, 12 percent of social media users in the UK reported having a household income of less than 15,600 British pounds.

Hold the front page!

The UK population’s overall usage of social media reveals just how integrated it has become into the lives of most people. A survey found that as of December 2023, 70 percent of respondents used social media every day, whilst just three percent said that they never used it. Additionally, as of early 2024, 17 percent of social media users used Facebook as a source of news every week, whilst 14 percent used X. In fact, Facebook was the third most used source of news in the UK in 2024, above Sky News Channel, Channel 4, and The Daily Mail.

TikTok – the app of a generation

Gen Z’s social app of choice is TikTok, and the ByteDance service has experienced steady growth in user numbers throughout the past few years. The platform has taken its place among the likes of YouTube and Facebook and was the most used social media app in the country in 2023, with users spending on average 49 hours per month on the service. TikTok’s design, usability, and entertainment style – focusing mainly on short videos – have filled gaps in the market which are highly appealing to younger audiences. The most popular videos on TikTok in the UK have amassed hundreds of millions of views. In 2023, the most popular TikTok video in the UK was Staple creations posted by the user @tool_tips, reaching approximately 545.5 million views in total.

Big name brands

In 2023, video platform YouTube ranked first in terms of being the most well-known social network in the UK, followed by Facebook and Instagram. Although X’s awareness rate among social media users in 2024 was 84 percent, just 34 percent of respondents reported using the microblogging service. Since CEO Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company in October 2022, X has spent a considerable amount of time in the media spotlight. Overall, Facebook’s awareness, popularity, and usage remain high among UK audiences.

While social media usage continues to increase in the UK, and big names maintain substantial audiences, players such as TikTok can prove themselves as competitors by appealing specifically to younger generations.

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