Social media has had one of the biggest impacts on both the Internet and our society. With social forums popping up like mushrooms after the rain, it’s sometimes hard to keep track of how many are out there. Nonetheless, amidst this plethora of social channels, some manage to stand out, mainly due to the number of users they attract each month.
Following, we would like to present you with a list we have compiled of the largest social media forums, based on a report released late 2013 by BI Intelligence. In order to rank the following social networks, we took into account only the number of active users. Other networks, others than the ones listed on our countdown may have a large number of users, but we consider the number of members who are actually active to be more relevant for the purposes of our list.
Curious to see how many of the following social forums you log on to? Let’s take a look at the countdown.
No. 5: Tumblr
Monthly active users: 300 million
Tumblr, the forum of choice for those wishing to create graphical blogs in a matter of seconds, is one of the largest social networks around, with 300 million active users a month. Tumblr is a unique forum that allows users to easily compile libraries of photos, quotes, videos, and songs, giving them their own URL address which they can easily share with others.
No. 4: Google+
Monthly active users: 327 million
Google+ differs from other social forums in that it connects members directly to content posted online, regardless of format. Though Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) had had previous attempt at penetrating the social media market, Google+ is its first successful attempt. In just three short years, this forum has gathered well over 300 million active users per month.
No. 3: WhatsApp
Monthly active users: 350 million
Though a far cry from our leading social forums, WhatsApp is undoubtedly the most popular messaging network for smartphone users. The network, which allows users to send each other text, images, or audio recordings has become the favorite channel of communication for 350 million people per month.
No. 2: YouTube
Monthly active users: 1 billion
Even though YouTube is nowadays owned by Google, most people still regard as a distinct and separate brand. Over the past few years, this social forum has undergone extensive transformation and while not all of the changes have been appreciated by members, YouTube remains the number one social forum in terms of video sharing and blogging. With over 1 billion active users per month it’s rather unlikely that any other video sharing forum will take its place.
No. 1: Facebook
Monthly active users: 1.15 billion
When first released to the public, Facebook was just another social network where users could post photos and connect with friends or complete strangers. But unlike other networks of its kind, such as MySpace or hi5, Facebook proved that it could stand the test of time. Through constant innovations and improvements, Facebook has managed to stay ahead of any other social forum and it is nowadays the most frequented network, with more than one billion active users per month.
