The top three social media sites in terms of traffic in 2020 are listed in order TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat according to forbes.com
Here is a brief summary of how each social media site works and why people use it.
TikTok is a quick and short video sharing platform. This has led to shorts on YouTube and reels on Instagram as these quick videos gain a lot of engagement and views. People use this to share and create fun or entertaining videos for followers.
Instagram is a platform to share photos and short videos called reels. People use this to share and find photos and short videos they find funny, beautiful, entertaining, and at times use those photos and videos to tell a story.
Snapchat is a platform to share photos and videos that last 24 hours before disappearing and is the start of ephemeral content that we now see on Facebook and Instagram. People use this to share in the moment content with friends and followers.
Demographics are specific information about users such as age, gender, ethnicity, income, education, and more. These are important as it helps to direct content to likeminded users and get more views and engagement on content.
Demographics that tend to stand out per these three social media platforms are as follows.
On TikTok about 43% of the global audience is between 18 and 24 years old and 57% of users are female according to omnicoreagency.com
On Instagram 31.2% of Instagram users are 25-34-year-olds and 51.6% of all Instagram users are male. omnicoreagency.com
On Snapchat nearly six in ten or 59% percent of internet users aged 13-24 years old use Snapchat according to oberlo.com
On average users spend 52 minutes a day on TikTok according to wallaroomedia.com, 29 minutes a day on Instagram according to BroadbandSearch, and 28 minutes per day on Snapchat according to BroadbandSearch
The fastest growing social media platform is currently TikTok according to Oberlo. This is because of the popularity of the short quick videos that we now see on other social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and even Pinterest.
The majority of users are visiting these social media sites via mobile access. About 83% of social media access is mobile while 15% comes from desktops or laptops according to BroadbandSearch.