17 Top Social Media Apps in 2016

It would not be an exaggeration to say that some of the top social media apps in 2016 have completely changed human life as we know it. A substantial amount of human interaction these days takes place through social media platforms that are ubiquitously available through a variety of digital platforms. Social media has become the dominant source of news for a majority of adults in the U.S. An average person has more than 5 social media accounts and spends more than 1 hour and 40 minutes on social media daily.

With more people using smartphones to access the internet, social media companies have also bolstered their mobile presence. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has successfully transitioned itself from a desktop player to a smartphone-focused company. So have other large social media companies. Though Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has been dominant in many countries, did you know that there are 10 countries where Twitter Inc (TWTR) is growing faster than Facebook (FB)?

The apps of major social media organizations have become the most downloaded apps on the Android and iOS app stores. Even in developing countries like India, social media apps have become highly popular, with Whatsapp becoming a “must have” app for every smartphone user. Even the government is delivering some of its key messages to users though these social media platforms.

These apps have hundreds of millions of active users and have been playing a major role in the personal lives of people. They have also radically changed the overall approach to business planning and brand promotion. Anything which has been published online can be shared across the world with the help of these social media apps. You hit the share button and voila, you are trending. Today the popularity of an online personality is measured by the number of Facebook or Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) followers he has, and many people make their living on platforms like Instagram now, where beautiful women can post nothing but shots of their buttocks or cleavage and get 8 million followers.

While Facebook and WhatsApp are the most popular social media apps, scores of new startups are trying to become the next big hit. Some of the successful ones have been bought by the bigger names in the industry. With their all-encompassing presence, some of these social media companies are starting to have a major impact on the social and political spheres. Recently, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) caused a major controversy after it was found that some people were using its platform to promote fake news content. Some governments have tried to block these apps, as they find the free flow of information increasingly difficult to handle. In Bangladesh, the government blocked Facebook, WhatsApp, Tango, Viber and many other sites and apps in November 2015.

In the article below we shall discuss 17 top social media apps in 2016, arranged alphabetically, apps that have touched our lives in a big way and kept us glued to our screens.

1. Facebook is the king of all social media apps today, with more than 1.70 billion active users. The app which taught us to unfriend so easily has been ruling the social media landscape for a decade now. Today, Facebook has become so popular that it seems that nearly everybody in the Western world has a Facebook account. As mentioned, the company recently faced heat over fake news stories following the U.S Presidential election. The company is now trying to redeem itself by using fact checkers.

2. Facebook Messenger is among the top social media apps in 2016, because provides an easier way to message either one-on-one or in a group. Currently there are 1 billion people on messenger every month. It has become much more than a way to chat with friends. It enables you to play games, make phone calls and even send money.

3. Flickr enables you to organize and share your photos from anywhere in the world. It is also widely used by photo researchers to host images that they embed on social media. One can access photos and videos from Flickr without even having an account. Flickr was acquired by Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ:YHOO) in March 2005. Yahoo is now itself in the process of being acquired by Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ). The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017.

4. Google+ was Alphabet’s Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) fourth foray into social networking after several failed attempts. The number of active users on Google+ grew quickly, as its signup was made compulsory for getting other Google services. The service is used to post photos and status updates to your Circles, Hangouts, and upload photos to private cloud-based albums. Google’s entry into the social media world made Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg wary, as he then asked employees to commit more time to aligning Facebook’s features with Google+’s.

5. Instagram, the photo sharing app found its place on our list of top social media apps in 2016. It was launched in 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger and later acquired by Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) in 2012. The app reported having 500 million active users as of September 2016.  Instagram has recently turned into a battle ground between Atlanta rapper Soulja Boy and Chris Brown.

6. Kik is another mobile chat app which was designed with youths as the primary focus. However, the app faced heat from online safety groups last year after a 13-year-old girl was kidnapped and murdered by an 18-year-old man who chatted her up on Kik. There was a similar case reported in December where a Hutchins man faced a child pornography charge through his use of Kik.

7. LinkedIn, which was recently acquired by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), is one of the fastest-growing professional networking websites today. The site, which is available in more than 20 international languages, recently reported having 467 million accounts, out of which more than 106 million are active.

8. Periscope is a live video streaming app for iOS and Android, which was acquired by Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) before its launch in 2015. You can broadcast live video and interact with people through emotes and comments. Periscope enables you to go live via your mobile device anytime and anywhere. It can thus be a bit intimidating for some people.

9. At number nine of our list of top social media apps in 2016 is Pinterest. It was termed as a “catalog of ideas” by CEO Ben Silbermann. The app has been designed in a way to find your inspiration when you need it the most, as users can pin images that most interest them. The site, which is most popular with women globally, is also being used by retail companies for advertising and style trending. The app could play an integral role in brand promotion, as 72% of users say they have found a new brand using Pinterest.

10. Reddit is a collection of interest communities, ranging from cats to politics, and everything in between. The term Reddit implies “I read it on Reddit.” Users can also post discussion-based questions to the community at large. One community on Reddit (sub-reddit “Stop Drinking”) is helping 50,000 people worldwide fight their alcohol addiction. Reddit was the 11^th-most visited website in the U.S with 542 million monthly visitors in 2016.

11. Snapchat started with just 25 images being shared per second in May 2012 to 20 million photos being shared per day by November 2012. The App is being used worldwide by people to share their multimedia messages. These messages are ephemeral in nature, but instead of being used largely for privacy-sensitive data exchanges like sexting, today Snapchat is finding popularity for its “stupid faces” feature. Being one of the top social media apps in 2016 has made Snapchat’s management confident of going for a multi-billion dollar IPO in 2017.

12. Tinder is a dating service app which uses Facebook and location-based search features to find mutually interested people. Launched in 2012, it changed the whole online dating game, allowing people to quickly swipe their way to a suitable match and instantly find connections. The dating app also recently unveiled a “Virtual Reality” headset to impart real experiences to users. Today, Tinder users in 196 countries swipe a total of 1.4 billion times a day.

13. Tumblr is a microblogging website with over 330 million blogs. The service had gained 75,000 users within two weeks of its launch in February 2007 and was later acquired by Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ:YHOO) in 2013. Many of Tumblr’s users were unhappy with the acquisition. As of January 1, 2017, over 38 million posts are being created on the site each day. Half of Tumblr’s visitor base is under the age of 25.

14. Twitter is more of a news service provider, wherein people tweet their opinions and news, while being constrained to 140 characters. The app provides a great way for short and sharp communication to followers and reported having more than 300 million active users by the end of September 2016. Twitter proved to be the largest source of breaking news during the 2016 U.S Presidential election, with 40 million tweets sent that day.

15. Next in line of our top social media apps in 2016 is Viber, a voice over IP (VoIP) app, but also enables users to share images, videos and audio messages. Initially launched for iPhone by an Israeli company, the app was later available on Blackberry, Windows and Android devices. Last April, the messaging app maker also announced encrypting all communication and the ability to hide chats in its latest version.

16. WeChat is another cross-platform instant messaging service which was developed in China and is very popular there. As of September 2016, WeChat had more than 800 million active users. The app can also be used to pay bills and make online purchases, amongst other things. According to a report released by Chinese Company Tencent in December, more calls were being made over WeChat than through telecom carriers.

17. WhatsApp has grown to become the most popular messaging app in the world. Acquired by Facebook in 2014, WhatsApp reported having more than 1 billion users at the end of the third quarter of last year. WhatsApp users in India alone sent a record 14 billion New Year’s messages at the start of 2017. The app also enables group chatting, and voice and video calls. From humble origins, WhatsApp has risen to be among the top social media apps in 2016.

Which app is your favorite? Are there any up-and-coming apps you think will make some noise in 2017? Which app is likely to fall off this list of top social media apps in 2016? Let us know in the comments.

Disclosure: None