As the Internet gains another 225 million active users around the world, social media growth is set to continue in 2016. In this blog we take a look at the latest UK social media statistics. In We are Social’s latest figure report on digital, social and mobile media usage around the world, social has seen an 8.7%* increase in just over eight months. So which social media platforms are the most popular?  Facebook continues to take the lead with an influx of 1.5 billion monthly active users worldwide. The UK makes up 31 million of those users, with 60% of the population having a Facebook account. The most popular age group is 25-34 (26% of users) but Facebook is a great platform to speak to a mass market of ages and locations. Much younger audiences may be looking elsewhere at private messaging apps such as WhatsApp, WeChat, Facebook Messenger and Viber , but there are still 2.5 million 13-17 year olds using Facebook. Facebook’s messaging app making a steady pace, having recently reported 800 million monthly active users.  It will be interesting to see how many US brands take up Businesses on Messenger this year, enabling private, real-time conversations with your customers. They released this infographic below. messenger2016   In terms of users, Instagram revealed it had 14 million monthly active users in the UK back in July 2015. Instagram has a younger audience than Facebook, with 39% of its UK users aged 16-24. Also a slightly female skew, with 64% of Instagram users being female compared to 56% of Facebook’s.  (Stats from Social Media Week). 2016 is going to be huge for Instagram as they have just launched their self-serve ad platform allowing any business to run adverts on the platform through Facebook. We recently found out, you don’t even need to have an Instagram account to run ads – just a Facebook Page. Deliveroo-Ad   Back in 2013, Twitter reported 15 million monthly active users in the UK. Since then, we haven’t seen any specific UK data released from the network. It was reported that in September 2015, Instagram overtook Twitter in terms of users. Two rumours circling the social media world regarding the little blue bird include the algorithm changing to show most relevant content to you, rather than most recent. This will allow Twitter to charge to get your content seen, boosting their advertising revenues. If this fails, then Google is rumoured to be looking to buy Twitter. See Andy Crestodina‘s comments in Social Media Examiner.   Google Plus continues to receive mixed response – with the social network taking a loss in active users despite having a redesign. Unlike Facebook, the network has kept the youth on board with 41% of their users falling into the 18-24 year old demographic in the UK. 54% of Google+ users log into their account to stay in touch with friends whilst a further 42% use Google+ to interact with brand content. Are you at Google+ user? We’d love to hear from you! The latest social network of the moment, Snapchat has doubled their active users from 100 to 200 million globally. The video sharing platform has also dominated the youth, but there are no UK specific statistics to report on as yet. Take a look at this post for some ideas on how brands are using Snapchat. Snapchat   LinkedIn, the B2B professional network, now achieves over 60 million views in the UK every month. In 2014, LinkedIn reported passing the 15 million users mark in the UK.  75% of users are over the age of 35 and 79% of users are male. 1 million professionals have now written a post on LinkedIn. According to LinkedIn, they’ve used the platform to discuss the future of work, the state of their industries, what companies are getting it right and which aren’t and how the professional world can be a better place. So what about Pinterest? The bookmarking site reports 3 million pins a day in the UK alone. They do not reveal their UK user base, but research firm comScore estimates that in May 2015, Pinterest attracted 10.3 million unique visitors in the UK: 54% only visiting from a mobile device, 34% only from a computer, and 12% using both. Pinterest is 90% female, with DIY and Recipes being the most popular content. Buyable pins have recently been phased in to the US, and are expected later this year in the UK. Pinterest is also working with brands like Manchester United, Waitrose and Marks and Spencer so we’ll have to watch this space with what’s next for the network. Buyable-Pins   One platform that has welcomed an increase in unique users across all demographics is YouTube. The video sharing website is used by slightly older users than you might think. Around half of users are aged 35 and over, while 90 per cent are aged over 18. Just 10 per cent are between 13 – 17 years old. Take a look at this infographic from Google ’10 myths about YouTube users’. Last year rumours surfaced that the video site was planning to develop a version of its site designed specifically for children aged 10 and under, but there has been no news since. So, what could this mean for growth and audience behaviour in 2016? The smaller and more impactful your content is, the more likely it will lead to a view or purchase. Visual content will continue to rise and social overall looks to continue to expand not only in the UK but also all over the world. We’ll publish any news statistics that are published throughout 2016. Sources: We Are Social, Social Media London, eMarketer, Rose McGrory, Warren Knight, Andrew McCarthy, Pingdom, The Guardian, The Telegraph.