Data Is Beautiful, a self-described data geek, has created a fascinating animated timeline that shows the most popular social media networks between the years 2003 and 2022 in monthly chronological order. The early aughts showed MySpace as the front runner. After that, however, Facebook and YouTube truly dominated the top spots after 2015. Instagram has remained in third place since 2017.
Timeline of most popular social networks from 2003 to 2022. Measured by monthly active users worldwide. Data source: press releases, 10-k sec filings, industry reports.
