FactHub curated dataset

How big are the major social platforms? Users and US reach, 2026

Monthly users worldwide and the share of US adults using eleven social platforms, with each figure labeled as company-reported, third-party estimate, or proxy.

Coverage: Latest available figure per platform, January 2025 to October 2026; Pew survey February to June 2025

Node: dataset:social-platform-size-2026:1

What this dataset measures

Gives scale to a comparison of moderation rules across platforms: a policy at Facebook or YouTube reaches far more people than one at Bluesky or Mastodon. Covers the largest US platforms plus the alternatives promoted by politicians on the left and right.

Curated data tables

These related tables form this versioned dataset release. Each table has its own downloadable file and field definitions.

Social platform size

Latest available user figures for eleven social platforms, with the measure behind each.

Unit of observation: One platform

View this table

platform-size.csv text/csv · 3.1 KB (3,206 bytes)
11 field definitions
FieldTypeMeaningUnitsValue type
platform string Platform name. — observed
owner string Owning company or operator. — observed
users_monthly integer Monthly users as reported or estimated (see value_type and metric). Empty when no monthly figure exists. users observed
users_low integer A lower-bound or proxy figure: advertising reach, weekly users, or a mobile-only estimate. Empty when not needed. users observed
value_type string reported (company figure), estimated (third-party), or proxy (a related measure, not monthly users). — derived
metric string Exact measure behind the figures. — observed
as_of string Date or month the figure refers to. — observed
source_id string Id of the source entry for the user figure. — observed
registered_accounts integer Registered accounts, where the platform publishes them. accounts observed
pew_2025_us_adults_pct number Share of US adults who say they ever use the platform (Pew, 2025). Empty when Pew did not report it. percent observed
notes string Caveats and related figures. — observed

Supporting files

Source snapshots, manifests, quality reports, documentation, and other materials used to produce or review this release.

  • build-size-dataset.js Transformation manifest · text/javascript · 17.7 KB (18,117 bytes)

    Script holding the curated figures and building this dataset.

  • dataset-parts.json Documentation · application/json · 16.2 KB (16,581 bytes)

    Sources, table definition and saved analyses for this dataset, as JSON.

Saved analyses

Platforms ranked by best available user figure

Question: Roughly how many people use each platform worldwide?

Result: Facebook: 3,070 million; Instagram: 3,000 million; YouTube: 2,530 million; TikTok: 1,590 million; X: 550 million; Reddit: 514.6 million; Threads: 500 million; Rumble: 56 million; Bluesky: 10.4 million; Mastodon: 0.7 million

Operation: For each platform, take users_monthly if present, otherwise users_low; sort descending. Truth Social is omitted (no figure).

Scope: Ten platforms with a figure; dates and measures differ.

View this analysis

  • Not like-for-like: monthly users, weekly users, ad reach and mobile-only estimates are combined for a sense of scale only.
  • A log scale is needed to chart all platforms.

Share of US adults who use each platform (Pew, 2025)

Question: What share of US adults use each platform?

Result: YouTube: 84%; Facebook: 71%; Instagram: 50%; TikTok: 37%; Reddit: 26%; X: 21%; Threads: 8%; Bluesky: 4%; Truth Social: 3%

Operation: Copy the 2025 row of Pew's Social Media Fact Sheet; sort descending.

Scope: Nine platforms Pew reports; survey fielded Feb. 5 to June 18, 2025, 5,022 US adults.

View this analysis

  • Self-reported use; does not measure frequency.
  • Pew did not report Rumble or Mastodon.

Sources

  1. Pew Research Center: Social Media Fact Sheet (2025 survey, fielded Feb. 5 to June 18, 2025, 5,022 U.S. adults) Primary: share of U.S. adults who ever use each platform

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; figures reproduced as facts. Figures extracted; source not redistributed

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  2. Pew Research Center: Americans' Social Media Use 2025 (November 20, 2025) Primary: report accompanying the fact sheet

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; figures reproduced as facts. Figures extracted; source not redistributed

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  3. Meta Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Results Primary: Facebook monthly active users

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; figures reproduced as facts. Figures extracted; source not redistributed

    Archived copy captured October 3, 2026

  4. Neowin: Instagram joins the 3 billion monthly active club (September 2025) Secondary: report of Mark Zuckerberg's announcement

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; figures reproduced as facts. Figures extracted; source not redistributed

  5. DataReportal: Essential YouTube statistics Secondary: YouTube advertising reach from Google ad-planning data

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; figures reproduced as facts. Figures extracted; source not redistributed

  6. DataReportal: Essential TikTok statistics Secondary: TikTok advertising reach from ad-planning data

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; figures reproduced as facts. Figures extracted; source not redistributed

  7. SpaceX free writing prospectus filed with the SEC (May 2026) Primary: X and Grok monthly active users as of March 31, 2026

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; figures reproduced as facts. Figures extracted; source not redistributed

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  8. Reddit Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results (SEC Form 8-K exhibit) Primary: daily and weekly active uniques

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; figures reproduced as facts. Figures extracted; source not redistributed

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  9. Social Media Today: Threads reaches 500 million user milestone (June 2026) Secondary: report of Meta's announcement

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; figures reproduced as facts. Figures extracted; source not redistributed

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  10. Rumble first quarter 2026 results (SEC Form 8-K exhibit, May 14, 2026) Primary: average global monthly active users

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; figures reproduced as facts. Figures extracted; source not redistributed

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  11. TechCrunch: Bluesky's active user base is shrinking (August 11, 2026), citing Similarweb Secondary: Similarweb estimates for Bluesky, X and Threads

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; figures reproduced as facts. Figures extracted; source not redistributed

    Archived copy captured October 1, 2026

  12. GV Wire (New York Times): Traffic to Trump's Truth Social falls sharply this summer (August 10, 2026), citing Similarweb Secondary: Similarweb visit estimates for Truth Social

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; figures reproduced as facts. Figures extracted; source not redistributed

  13. Mastodon project statistics API Primary: daily server, account and active-user counts

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; figures reproduced as facts. Figures extracted; source not redistributed

Limitations and reproducibility

Reproducible from cited sources: Each figure is copied from the cited source; Pew percentages are the 2025 row of the Social Media Fact Sheet table, read on 2026-10-10. No calculations beyond sorting.

  • Figures are not comparable measures. They mix company-reported monthly users, a combined X-and-Grok figure, weekly users (Reddit), advertising reach (YouTube, TikTok), mobile-only third-party estimates (Bluesky) and web visits (Truth Social). value_type and metric say which is which.
  • Most company figures are self-reported and unaudited; announcements (Instagram, Threads) are not filings.
  • Monthly users are worldwide; Pew percentages are US adults only.
  • Dates differ by up to two years across platforms; Facebook's last per-app figure is from December 2023.
  • Truth Social publishes no user count, and no credible independent monthly-user estimate was found.
  • Mastodon's figure covers servers that report to the Mastodon project, not every server in the network.
  • Pew did not report figures for Rumble or Mastodon.

Publications using this dataset

Version details

The exact citing versions, and the version of this dataset each cites.

  • Article x-most-permissive-social-network — version 5 (published) cites version 1