Facebook slips as Instagram rises

Our first post this week previews data from our brand new infographic on the UK’s top social networks (click here to download the full version on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr and LinkedIn).

During the last twelve months, Facebook saw a 7% drop in the UK in terms of active usage – hardly the dramatic decline that some headline-writers like to report, but still illustrative of the rise of smaller platforms like Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr. Indeed, Instagram grew its active user number by 18% over the same period, driven by the trends towards multi-networking across numerous social media services.

Compared to Facebook, Instagram can also boast a much younger audience: 39% of its UK users are aged 16-24, compared to just 16% on Facebook. Instagram’s users also spend longer per day on social networks, although have a much bigger skew towards women.

One place where Facebook still leads all other networks is in relation to usage frequency. Some 53% of its UK users log-in multiple times per day, versus just 29% on Instagram. This pattern is repeated globally too, underlining the key role that Facebook plays even as members use it more passively.

If our infographic on UK Social Networks has sparked an interest, we have the same data globally, regionally or for any of our 32 individual markets available to explore on the PRO Platform. Alternatively, if you’d like a bespoke infographic based on our data, get in touch with us at hello@globalwebindex.net.