The World’s Biggest Social Media Platforms

Andrew Weinrich published the world’s first social media platform, Six Degrees. Since then, numerous similar online platforms have emerged with the goal of connecting people globally. Today, a larger number of individuals are using social media than ever before. Let’s explore the world’s largest social media platforms and discover the services they offer.

Facebook

Facebook, despite its political stance and handling of offenders, reigns as the king of all social media platforms. Founded in 2004 by American entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook has evolved to become a dominant force in the social media landscape. Zuckerberg expanded his portfolio by acquiring other platforms and uniting them under the parent company Meta. His most recent communication platform, Threads, is already attracting millions of daily users.

Facebook enables users to create both business profiles and personal accounts, and facilitates the sharing of written posts, photos, and videos both publicly and privately. With over 3 billion users worldwide, the platform stands as a prominent hub for social networking.

YouTube

In 2006, Google acquired YouTube from the American, Bangladeshi, and German software engineer Javed Karim for $1.65 billion. This social media platform was established in 2005 and is currently one of the biggest social media platforms in the world.

YouTube enables users to share recorded videos or stream live content on a wide range of topics. It is safe to say that one can learn how to do almost anything by watching videos on YouTube. With an estimated 2.5 billion users globally, the platform has become a go-to destination for video content consumption.

Instagram

Instagram offers users the opportunity to share photos and videos with the global community or specific groups of people. The platform was first made available to the world in 2010 by its original owner, Kevin Systrom, before being acquired by Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook Inc. (now Meta) in 2012.

Instagram boasts more than 2.4 billion users worldwide and is a platform where many people go to follow their favorite celebrities.

TikTok

TikTok, owned by the Chinese parent company ByteDance, which is backed by investors worldwide, was founded in 2016. The app had been downloaded over 3 billion times by 2022. Zhang Yimin, a Chinese entrepreneur, founded ByteDance in 2012.

TikTok is a platform for sharing various types of videos. In China, Douyin, another version of TikTok, is used because the government rejected the Western version for its citizens. Both apps are among the world’s biggest social media platforms.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp was founded in 2009 by Jan Koum and Brian Acton, a Ukrainian and an American, respectively. The platform was acquired by Facebook Inc. (now Meta) in 2014 for $19.3 billion.

Users of WhatsApp can share pictures, videos, audio, and written posts publicly and privately. The platform has approximately 2 billion users worldwide.

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Messenger

Messenger, formerly called Facebook Chat, Messenger, formerly called Facebook Chat, was initially only used by users of Facebook for private messaging. It was launched in 2008. However, the company created an independent version of the chat tool in 2011. Messenger, used for sharing text, videos, and pictures, has approximately 1.01 billion users worldwide.

X (formerly Twitter)

X, formerly known as Twitter, was launched in 2006, acquired by American businessman Elon Musk in 2022, and renamed in 2023. It is a microblogging platform where users can share videos, written posts, and pictures. The platform, often regarded as the “political debate center of the world,” boasts more than 600 million monthly users (as stated by Elon Musk).