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Based on 2026 data from Salesforce, an infographic ranks social platforms by monthly active users (MAU). The scale of these platforms now matches the populations of many countries, with some apps surpassing 1 billion MAU. Facebook leads with more than 3.1 billion MAU, roughly 40% of the global population.
Founded in 2004, Facebook is owned by Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook Inc.). With more than 3.1 billion MAU, it remains a pillar in Meta’s ecosystem.
Meta’s influence extends beyond Facebook. The group also owns WhatsApp and Instagram, each with about 3 billion MAU. Meta acquired Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 and WhatsApp two years later for nearly $20 billion.
Within Meta’s portfolio, Facebook spans many age groups. Instagram is particularly popular with young adults and Millennials—those born in the early 1980s to the mid-1990s. WhatsApp plays a different role, functioning as the world’s most widely used messaging app and a key communication tool in countries such as Brazil and India.
Meta also owns Messenger, the messaging app tied to Facebook, with about 1 billion MAU. The company operates Threads as well, a platform spun off from Instagram to compete with X (formerly Twitter), which has about 650 million users.
Beyond Meta and other US tech companies, Chinese firms are increasingly influential in social networks and digital platforms.
In China, Tencent’s WeChat has become a major part of daily digital life, with about 1.4 billion MAU. The app is used not only for messaging but also integrates services including payments, shopping, and online gaming.
ByteDance is another major player. It develops Douyin for the Chinese market, with about 755 million users, and TikTok for the international market, with about 2 billion users. The platform’s rapid growth and strong appeal among younger users have helped make TikTok one of the most influential global social media services.
TikTok’s popularity has also drawn closer scrutiny from regulators in multiple countries, including India and the United States. Under pressure from Washington, at the end of 2025 ByteDance agreed to form a US joint venture. By January 2026, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC was announced to manage data, algorithms, and content moderation for TikTok in the US.
When social networks first appeared in the 2000s, they primarily served connection needs, especially among younger users. Over more than two decades, these platforms have expanded beyond their original role, becoming digital infrastructure for entertainment, information sharing, commerce, work, and online communities.
YouTube, with about 2.5 billion users, is now the world’s largest video-sharing platform. Reddit, with about 850 million users, has evolved into a large online forum where users discuss and connect around shared interests.
LinkedIn represents a different trajectory for social networks: professional networking. The platform currently has about 310 million MAU. In 2016, LinkedIn was acquired by Microsoft for more than $26 billion, and it remains a channel for workers across sectors to connect, expand professional networks, find jobs, and for companies to recruit.
Premium gym chains are entering a “golden era” that is ending or already in decline, as rising operating costs collide with shifting consumer preferences toward more flexible, community-based ways to exercise. Long-term memberships are shrinking, margins are pressured by higher rents and facility expenses, and competition from smaller, more personalized…
