Most Downloaded Social Media App in 2022
With the global social media penetration rate expected at 64% in 2023, the number of consumers brands are able to reach on social networks is immense.
But what is the most downloaded social media app, and what social media platforms should businesses be marketing on? Here’s a list of the social apps with the most downloads, to give you a better idea.
Most downloaded social media app: 2022’s top five
According to a recent report, the most downloaded social media app in 2022 was Instagram. The photo- and video-sharing app was downloaded 547 million times last year, making it the only social media app to surpass half a million downloads.
The chat app, WhatsApp, is in second place. The world’s most popular messaging app (in terms of number of users) was downloaded 424 million times last year. Together, Instagram and WhatsApp, both Meta-owned entities, received 971 million downloads.
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Telegram ranks next, with 310 million downloads. This is followed by Facebook, which is close behind with 298 million. Facebook Messenger rounds out the five most downloaded social media apps in 2022. The messaging app was downloaded 210 million times last year.
Of these top five, the only one not owned by Meta is Telegram. This highlights Meta’s dominance in social media. All of these five also rank among the world’s most popular social media platforms in terms of user count and consumers’ list of favorite social networks.
Most downloaded social media app in 2022: others
Micro-blogging site Twitter is in sixth place. In 2022, it received 159 million downloads. Facebook Lite, a smaller version of the Facebook app that occupies less device space and consumes a lower amount of data, ranks next, with 151 million downloads.
Social messaging platforms Discord and WeChat follow, with 105 and 96 million downloads, respectively. BeReal, a relatively new network launched in 2020, was the 10th most downloaded app in 2022. The number of times BeReal was downloaded per month soared from 800,000 in January 2022 to 14.7 million by September 2022, rising month after month. Data shows that the app reached a total of 91 million downloads in 2022.
Half of the apps on this list are also commonly used as messaging channels—mainly WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger, Discord, and WeChat.