Social media, without a doubt, has become somewhat of face of the Internet. Both businesses and individuals are using different social media platforms to connect with other people from around the world.
It amazes me how there are different types of social media platforms available out there, and each one of them has its own interesting features.
These features are useful for both individual users and businesses to connect with the world easily. If you’re looking for some popular social media platforms to try out, you’re at the right place.
In this article, I am going to discuss the top 12 most popular social media platforms that you can try out right now.
Top 12 Most Popular Social Media Platforms
There are different types of social media platforms available out there that are worth giving a try. Here is the list of most popular social media platforms:
| Platform | Launch Year | Founder(s) | Parent Company | Content Format Focus | Revenue Model |
| 2004 | Mark Zuckerberg | Meta Platforms Inc. | Text posts, photos, videos, reels, stories, live streaming | Advertising, marketplace fees, virtual reality hardware | |
| 2009 | Brian Acton, Jan Koum | Meta Platforms Inc. | Text messaging, voice/video calls, status updates, media sharing | Business messaging fees, WhatsApp Pay transactions | |
| YouTube | 2005 | Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, Jawed Karim | Google (Alphabet Inc.) | Long-form videos, shorts, live streaming | Advertising, YouTube Premium subscriptions, YouTube TV |
| 2010 | Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger | Meta Platforms Inc. | Photos, short videos, stories, reels, IGTV | Advertising, shopping/commerce fees | |
| TikTok | 2016 | Zhang Yiming (ByteDance) | ByteDance Ltd. | Short-form videos, live streaming | Advertising, in-app purchases, creator marketplace |
| Snapchat | 2011 | Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, Reggie Brown | Snap Inc. | Disappearing photos/videos, stories, spotlight | Advertising, Snapchat+ subscription, Spectacles hardware |
| X (Twitter) | 2006 | Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, Evan Williams | X Corp. (Elon Musk) | Short text posts, images, videos, spaces (audio) | Advertising, X Premium (Twitter Blue) subscription |
| 2005 | Steve Huffman, Alexis Ohanian | Reddit Inc. | Text posts, forums, images, videos, livestreams | Advertising, Reddit Premium, Reddit Coins, data licensing | |
| 2010 | Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra, Evan Sharp | Pinterest Inc. | Image pins, idea boards, video pins, shopping pins | Advertising, shopping partnerships | |
| Discord | 2015 | Jason Citron, Stan Vishnevskiy | Discord Inc. | Text/voice chat, video calls, server communities | Discord Nitro subscription, server boosting, game sales |
| Quora | 2009 | Adam D’Angelo, Charlie Cheever | Quora Inc. | Q&A text content, spaces, long-form articles | Advertising, Quora+ subscription, Quora for Business |
| Twitch | 2011 | Justin Kan, Emmett Shear | Amazon | Live video streaming, chat, clips | Advertising, subscriptions, bits (virtual currency), game sales |
1. Facebook
- Monthly users: 3.07 billion
Facebook is one of the most widely used social media platforms around the world. Launched in 2004 by a Howard student, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook gained one million users within just a year. Now, billions of people are using this social media platform on a monthly basis.
This social site has become a hub for both business advertising and entertainment. Features like reels, videos, and picture sharing, messaging, etc., have helped it become a popular platform among social media lovers.
Key Features:
- Built-in messaging
- Create and share event reminders.
- Personalized content on the newsfeed.
- Join or create communities and groups.
- Facebook Marketplace for e-commerce.
2. WhatsApp
- Monthly users: 3.2 billion
Another one of the most widely used social media platforms is WhatsApp. This messaging application was launched back in 2009, and now has become a primary communication channel for billions of people from around the world.
The app was launched by Brian Acton and Jan Koum, but later on, Meta bought it and introduced several new features. It’s an efficient application that can be used to send messages, make video and audio calls, create communities, etc.
Key Features:
- Direct text messaging
- Sharing media (videos, pictures, documents, etc.)
- Creating and joining communities and groups.
- Video and audio calling.
- Daily status sharing.
3. YouTube
- Monthly users: 2.53 billion
YouTube is one of my favorite social media platforms of all time. I love how it’s not just a social platform but also a proper learning hub where you can find educational content on different topics. It is now the hub of many creative people who share videos with the world on topics like daily routines, sports, news, entertainment, and gaming.
YouTube, in fact, has become a proper business hub. Not only are brands building authority via this site, but also attracting customers. Also, the platform allows individual users to monetize their channels and make money online from content sharing.
Key Features:
- Video sharing
- Online video streaming
- Monetization for making money
- YouTube Shorts for sharing short videos
4. Instagram
- Number of users: 2.4 billion
Instagram is an online platform that is primarily designed to allow people to share pictures and videos with other people from around the world. The platform has become one of the main online hubs for users to showcase their lives with appealing visuals.
Its huge user base and popularity have attracted a lot of brands to promote their content through people who have most followers on Instagram in their industry. The platform offers the feature of sharing reels, which is pretty useful for engaging with a large audience easily.
Key Features:
- Sharing reels (short-form videos)
- Built-in instant messaging.
- Engaging with people via comments.
- Posting high-quality videos and pictures.
- Detailed engagement analytics for business accounts.
5. TikTok
- Monthly users: 1.8 billion
TikTok is, perhaps, one of the most popular and equally controversial social media platforms of all time. It is a type of spin-off application inspired by Vine. The basic idea of this app is pretty simple, which is creating and sharing short-form videos.
Since the app has a huge user base, you can quickly attract a large fan following by sharing engaging and attractive content. That’s precisely why you’ll find millions of social media influencers for influencer marketing on this platform.
Key Features:
- Built-in messaging.
- Creating and sharing short-form videos.
- AI personalized content by users.
- Live streaming and analytical reports.
6. Snapchat
- Monthly users: 900 million
The basic idea behind Snapchat is one of the most unique and interesting ideas I’ve ever seen in the world of social media. It’s basically an application that allows you to share pictures and videos with friends. What makes it interesting is that the content you share disappears after being viewed.
However, that’s not a definite feature. In other words, users can choose how long the content will stay in the inbox before disappearing. Also, the app notifies the user if someone saves or takes a screenshot of the content or the chat. This feature makes the app very private and secure.
Key Features:
- Share pictures and videos with friends.
- Built-in messages.
- The messages and media disappear after the set time limit.
- Lenses and filters to take creative pictures and videos.
- Privacy alerts.
7. X (Formerly Known As Twitter)
- Monthly users: 600 million
The world is still getting used to the rebranded name “X” after the billionaire sensation, Elon Musk, renamed it from Twitter back in 2023. On this application, users can share social media posts on different topics with the rest of the users.
These posts are known as tweets and contain both written and visual content. What I find interesting about “X” is that many big personalities use it as an official channel for sharing their thoughts and views about different topics.
Key Features:
- Sharing tweets.
- Built-in messaging.
- Retweeting or quoting other people’s posts.
- Host a live audio stream to engage with people in real-time.
8. Reddit
- Monthly users: 500+ million
Reddit is another one of the most popular social media platforms 2025 that you should take a look at right now. The platform calls itself “the heart of the Internet”, and it’s a very valid claim. That is because some of the authentic news and popular trends originate from Reddit.
It has specific communities called subreddits that allow people to share content on certain topics. For example, a subreddit about soccer will contain content that is shared by soccer fans. People use the platform to engage with personal and (usually) authentic views and experiences of people on different topics.
Key Features:
- Special Q&A threads.
- Messaging option available
- Dedicated communities for different topics.
- An upvoting and downvoting system that determines the post’s popularity.
9. Pinterest
- Monthly users: 570 million
I always used to wonder if there was a platform where people could share attractive content and not really focus on connecting with people. That’s when I found out about Pinterest. It is a very sophisticated application where people share pictures and short videos of different types.
You can find content related to almost everything here, including nature, buildings, cars, sports, etc. People mostly use it to showcase their taste in different things, such as fashion, by creating boards and pins.
Key Features:
- Discover attracting visuals of different types.
- Share your thoughts on content via comments.
- Organize the shared or saved posts in the form of pins and boards.
10. Discord
- Monthly users: 154 million
Discord is a popular social platform used for communicating and sharing interesting content with people from around the world. Users can create servers (communities/groups) on this website and allow others to join and engage with each other easily.
In most cases, these servers are dedicated to specific topics such as education, gaming, or entertainment in general. The platform offers tons of features to allow users to engage with each other in an interesting and fun way.
Key Features:
- Chat with users directly.
- Share media with each other.
- Make voice and video calls.
- Create and join dedicated servers on different topics.
11. Quora
- Monthly users: 350 million
Quora is one of those social media platforms that are inclined towards the intellectual side of the Internet. It is based on a Q&A model where people ask questions and others answer them. Users can join different spaces (topics) on the platform and browse relevant questions and answers.
Users can publish their own questions in these communities as well and get answers from other users. It is one of the best ways to get different (and usually detailed) views of people on different topics.
Key Features:
- Q&A working model.
- Upvoting and downvoting system.
- Browse spaces dedicated to different topics.
- Share long-form articles on different topics.
12. Twitch
- Monthly users: 240 million
Twitch is a live-streaming application that mainly revolves around gaming. Here, people can create channels and share their real-time streams with other users. The app has been around for more than a decade and is a popular platform among gamers.
It has also become an earning hub for people as well. Users can monetize their channels by running advertisements and making money through them. Another way that Twitch allows streamers to make money is by allowing them to take donations from viewers.
Key Features:
- Mainly gaming-related.
- Live stream broadcasting.
- Earn money via ads and donations.
- Chat with streamers in real-time on streams.
Final Verdicts
Social media has become the face of the Internet, and there are dozens of platforms that rule it well. These applications are based on unique ideas and allow people to interact with each other in different ways.
The discussed platforms are some of the top picks in this regard. They all offer some great features that make online social interactions easier and fun. Pick any of these platforms and start engaging with people from around the world.
People Also Ask
1. What is a social media platform?
It is an online platform where people from around the world engage socially to share thoughts and experiences in the form of written and visual content.
2. Why is social media popular?
There are different reasons why social media is popular. It allows people the freedom of speech and they can give honest views on different topics.
3. What are the top 5 social media platforms?
The top 5 social media platforms are Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. All of these apps are designed to bring people together in a fun way.
4. Which is the most used social media platform?
Facebook is the most used social site with over 3.07 billion monthly active users.
5. What are the three most Popular social media platforms for all ages around the globe?
Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram are the three most popular platforms for socializing for all ages around the globe.
