Why Do People Use Facebook?
As the king of social media, Facebook boasts more than 3 billion monthly active users. With such a massive user base, it is one of the best social media platforms for businesses to use for marketing.
But before you do that, you need to first understand Facebook users’ activities on the platform. In other words, you must answer the questions: What is Facebook used for and why do people use Facebook?
Top uses of Facebook
|
Activity |
Percentage of active Facebook users who do the following on the platform |
|---|---|
|
Message friends and family |
72.6% |
|
Post or share photos or videos |
63.2% |
|
Keep up to date with news and current events |
59.1% |
|
Look for funny or entertaining content |
54.2% |
|
Follow or research brands and products |
53.8% |
According to the latest data on the top uses of Facebook, the two most popular activities on the platform are messaging friends and family and posting or sharing photos or videos. As many as 72.6% of users on Facebook say they use the platform to chat with their loved ones. This is nearly three out of every four users and is the highest across the most popular social media platforms. For instance, just 59.3% of Instagram users and 39% of Snapchat users say they message friends and family through the respective apps.
Around two-thirds (63.2%) of Facebook users also share media on the platform, whether that’s on their own profiles or elsewhere. This is followed by keeping informed. 59.1% of active Facebook users are on the platform to stay up to date with the latest news and events. Being entertained is also why people use Facebook. 54.2% of Facebook users say they use the platform to look for amusing content.
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If you’re thinking about starting an online business, you’d be interested to know that following or researching brands and products rounds out the list of the top five uses of Facebook, with more than half (53.8%) of active Facebook users doing so. It should come as no surprise, then, that Facebook is the most popular social media marketing platform for brands. As many as 21.5% of marketers use Facebook to market their business. In comparison, 18.2% use Instagram and 16.6% use WhatsApp—both are owned by the same parent company as Facebook, Meta.
With this in mind, being present and running ads on Facebook should be part of any brand’s social media marketing strategy. This is especially since recent data also shows that ad clicking is one of the top uses of Facebook. The average Facebook user clicks on 12 Facebook ads every month.
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