The most popular social media platforms in South Africa

Facebook is by far the most popular social media site in South Africa.

This is according to the latest data from GlobalStats Statcounter, with Facebook having a Market Share of 68.35% in South Africa.

Pinterest is in second place with a market share of 12.74%, whilst Facebook’s sister site Instagram is in third with 9.74%.

Despite being the second most popular site in March last year with 9.79%, Elon Musk-owned has dropped to fourth in the rankings with a market share of 5.13% (March 2023: 9.79%)

YouTube (2.69%), LinkedIn (0.56%) and Tumblr (0.34%) complete the rankings:

TikTok

One notable absence from the list is TikTok, which is quickly becoming one of the most used social media sites in the world.

According to the South African Social Media Landscape 2023 study by Ornico and World Wide Worx, TikTok is the second most used social media site in South Africa.

The study, which surveyed close to 25,000 respondents, said that Facebook was the most dominant social media site in South Africa, with 56.7% penetration among South Africans aged 15 or over in urban areas.

TikTok has, however, seen major growth and overtook Instagram into second place in the rankings with 30,6% penetration.

Although this proves that TikTok is making inroads in the 15+ market, its target market is under-15.

“The youth audience is key to social media in South Africa. When a platform like TikTok, which has deep reach among those aged under 15, breaks through to this extent in the older youth market, as well as among young adults, we can see the landscape undergoing a significant shift,” said Arthur Goldstuck, CEO of World Wide Worx.

Read: 4 major changes coming to WhatsApp – from verified badges to usernames