Internet users top 6 billion, with 2 in 3 people on social media and 1 billion using AI

Social media has officially hit supermajority status. New data shows there are now 5.66 billion social media user identities worldwide—equivalent to 68.7% of the global population. That means social media users now outnumber non-users two to one.

The milestone, released in Digital 2026 from Meltwater and We Are Social, comes as digital behaviors evolve rapidly, with more people spending their time online in new and changing ways. Over the past year alone, social media added more than 259 million new user identities, a 4.8% increase.

A Battle for Attention

While overall usage is growing, the way people spend time on social media is shifting. The average internet user now spends over 2.5 hours per day across social and video platforms, with "filling spare time" emerging as the second-biggest reason for use, just behind "keeping in touch with friends and family."

According to Similarweb data cited in Digital 2026, YouTube remains the most-used app globally, attracting nearly 50% more active users than fifth-placed TikTok. Yet TikTok continues to dominate engagement: its typical Android user spends 1 hour and 37 minutes per day on the app, more than any other social platform.

Social Media Becomes the Top Channel for Brand Discovery

The report underscores a fundamental generational shift in how consumers discover new brands, with 34.2% of 16 to 24-year-olds and 32.1% of 25 to 34-year-olds using them to learn about new products and services.

Even among older millennials (ages 35–44), social ads rank a strong second, just behind search engines, revealing a clear generational divide where traditional channels still dominate for older demographics.

AI Crosses the One-Billion-User Mark

The Digital 2026 data also points to a dramatic surge in AI adoption, finding that more than 1 billion people now use standalone generative AI tools each month, based on data from Similarweb. ChatGPT remains the top choice for AI mobile and web apps, dominating usage with more than four times as many users as its nearest rival in both environments.

Understanding what people are using AI for remains harder to quantify, with no comprehensive research across multiple countries and platforms to date. But Digital 2026 finds some valuable data to help make sense of evolving AI behaviours, with year-over-year growth in activities including therapy and companionship, enhanced learning, creativity and healthier living.

Digital Advertising Keeps Climbing

Marketers are responding to these shifts with record investment. Global ad spend is projected to reach $1.16 trillion in 2025, with digital channels capturing nearly three-quarters (74.4%) of that total. Social media ad spend is expected to grow 13.6% year-over-year, hitting $277 billion by the end of 2025.

Methodology

Digital 2026 is a 700-page report covering data from across the entire online ecosystem. The report pulls from a "wide variety of sources, including data published by market research companies, internet and social media platforms, governments and public bodies, and many more," and also includes extrapolations of this data, and proprietary analysis.

This story was produced by Meltwater and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.