Facebook still leads among platforms for social networking adults, with close to four-fifths using it, according to the latest MTM report.
Facebook leads the list of the most popular social networks with 78% of adult anglophone users, followed by Instagram at 55%, WhatsApp with 37%, TikTok 31%, LinkedIn 30%, X (formerly known as Twitter) 27%, Reddit 27%, Pinterest 24%, Snapchat 24% and Discord with 13%. Half of social networkers use four or more platforms, while one in six use just one platform. Of the Canadians who stick with just one platform, Facebook is the primary choice for 66% of them.
Social media usage declined to 71% in Fall 2023, when the latest numbers were taken. This was after several years of stability ranging from 74% to 76% usage. Many social media platforms are trying to stem the decline through the addition of AI or VR, but the decision to lower the amount of news content in users’ feeds (on X, formerly known as Twitter) or to remove it entirely (on Facebook and Instagram) may have pushed away some users. During the same time period, WhatsApp and Reddit saw growth, while TikTok’s usage has spiked from 4% in 2019 to 31% last year.
Not surprisingly, platform preferences differ across demographic groups. Younger adults are the biggest users of most platforms except Facebook, WhatsApp and LinkedIn. Adults aged 18 to 34 are more interested in TikTok, Snapchat and Reddit although racialized Canadians are more likely to use Instagram, WhatsApp and LinkedIn.
Instagram and Pinterest skew higher in households with children under 12, while households with children under seven post much higher numbers for TikTok, Snapchat and Discord.
Facebook is popular among all adults, but it seems that usage increases with age. Those aged 50 to 64 (83%) are the biggest users, followed closely by 35 to 49 (81%), 65-plus (77%) and 18 to 34 (71%). Other platforms for which top users are not the youngest segment include WhatsApp, LinkedIn and Threads, which are most popular among 35- to 49-year-olds. Pinterest use is consistent across all age groups, as is use of X among those 18 to 64. Use of Reddit, Snapchat, and Discord sharply declines among those above 34 years of age.
Women (73%) are more likely to use social media than men (69%). Gender differences are evident for platforms such as Pinterest, where women are more than four times more likely to be a user than men. Women are also bigger users of Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, while men are more likely to use networks like X, LinkedIn, Reddit, Discord and Threads. WhatsApp is the only platform that sees similar usage from both groups.
For advertisers, this means that social networkers are more than twice as likely as non-social networkers to click on ads or to buy something from an ad. Redditors are more likely to click on ads than users on any other platform (55%) and those who use Pinterest are more likely than others to buy something from an ad (28%). In addition, those with children in their homes are more likely to purchase items from online ads than those without. Almost half of men and women (47%) report clicking on online ads although when it comes to purchasing items in the ads women 22% are more likely to pull the trigger than men (20%).
