In 2023, we saw a significant increase in the time spent on social media apps. According to Data.ai, users spent 2.3 trillion hours on social media through their Android phones, which is a 9% increase from the previous year. This shows that our love for social apps is stronger than ever, as we just can’t get enough of scrolling and swiping.
Consumer spending on social apps also saw a substantial increase in 2023, reaching nearly $9 billion, which is a 13% jump from the year before. Notably, TikTok broke records by becoming the first app to hit $10 billion in total consumer spending. This is largely due to users buying coins to tip creators during live streams.
We also witnessed a rise in in-app purchases as a source of revenue for leading social platforms. TikTok’s success with tipping has paved the way for other platforms to explore new revenue streams beyond traditional advertising. This has led to a nearly doubling of consumer spending on social apps between 2020 and 2023.
Despite a slight drop in global downloads of social apps by about 4%, the numbers were still higher than before 2022, indicating a resilient social app world. Different types of social apps had mixed results in various countries, with some experiencing dips while others saw growth.
TikTok continues to dominate the social media landscape, leading in both downloads and user spending worldwide. However, with its rapid growth has come concerns about privacy and misinformation, leading to discussions of potential bans in some US states.
