There are 4.8 billion social media users worldwide, which represents 59.9% of the global population and 92.7% of all internet users. Those that use social media use an average of 6.7 different networks each month, spending an average of 2 hours and 24 minutes on them per day.
Despite the popularity of social media, the apps can quickly fall in and out of favour with users. For example, in 2018 Kylie Jenner posted on Twitter (now X): ‘sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me… ugh this is so sad.’ This one, bored tweet wiped more than $1bn off Snap Inc’s market value in one of the company’s worst trading days.
On 5th July 2023, Meta – which owns Instagram and Facebook – announced the launch of ‘Threads’, describing it as ‘a new app…for sharing text updates and joining public conversations’ and was hailed as Mark Zuckerberg’s version of X/Twitter. In five days, it gained 100 million users. However, by August it was reported that there had already been an 80% drop in daily active users since launch. Time spent on the app also dropped, in July users were spending an average 21 minutes on it daily, as of November it has dropped to just three minutes.
It’s clearly hard for social media apps to remain relevant, so we decided to uncover which of the most popular have fallen out of favour this year. To do this we used the ‘most popular social networks worldwide’ (based on figures from Statista) and took the nine with the most users, only including those that are available in multiple countries worldwide. We then analysed how many times over the last 12 months ‘how to delete (my) Facebook account’ had been searched per month on average.
Which social media apps did people want to delete in 2023?
The social media networks we included in the research – in user order – were;
- Facebook: 3.03 billion
- YouTube: 2.49 billion
- WhatsApp: 2 billion
- Instagram: 2 billion
- WeChat: 1.33 billion
- TikTok: 1.22 billion
- Facebook Messenger: 1.04 billion
- Telegram: 800 million
- Snapchat: 750 million
- Twitter/X: 666 million
Based on the global population, we also equated the number of people searching the specific terms each month per 100,000.
| Social media app (searched phrase: ‘how to delete (my) “ account’) | Total global volume (Average searches per month) | Volume per 100,000 people worldwide | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,020,000 | 12,678 | |
| 2 | Snapchat | 128,500 | 1,597 |
| 3 | 123,000 | 1,529 | |
| 4 | Telegram | 71,700 | 891 |
| 5 | 49,000 | 609 | |
| 6 | TikTok | 24,900 | 309 |
| 7 | YouTube | 12,500 | 155 |
| 8 | 4,950 | 62 | |
| 9 | 2,090 | 26 |
According to our data, Instagram is the social media network users were most eager to delete, with over 1 million people worldwide searching ‘how to delete (my) instagram account’ every month in 2023. That’s over 12,500 people per every 100,000 people worldwide.
Instagram has always been at the top of the social media game after starting as a digital scrapbook. As Business Insider describes, “Instagram became a verb, an aesthetic, and a generational signifier”. So why does it seem people are looking to leave it in their droves?
Over time it has developed new features to keep up with consumers and competitors, including ‘Stories’ (to compete with Snapchat at the time it launched), video, live streaming and shopping. All of these additions have changed the original photo-sharing purpose of the app. It has also increasingly become a place for influencers to make a career, meaning many people’s feeds are include #ad’s which could be seen as affecting the user experience.
Despite this, the app still boasts 2 billion users worldwide. However, if a million people continue to seek deletion of their accounts every month, the ‘Instagrammable’ bubble could burst, potentially altering its landscape within a year.
This was followed by Snapchat, which first launched in 2011. Almost 130,000 people have looked to delete their Snapchat account per month this year. And whilst this is significantly less than Instagram, it’s still a large part of their 750 million users.
Snapchat is more commonly known as a space where young Gen Z social media users have fled in hopes of avoiding their parents, who are now more likely to be on Instagram and Facebook.
It appears that this generation is sticking with the app, as Snapchat has remained Gen Z’s most popular social platform throughout 2023.
This then raises the question: who are the people looking to leave Snapchat and why? According to Statista, those aged 13-17 make up 20% of the demographic but this peaks with those aged 18-24 at 38.8%. 25-34 year olds make up 22.8% and adults aged 35-49 make up 13.8%. However, Snapchat has experienced significant increases in audience size in recent years. In 2022, Snapchat users increased by over 123% when compared with the number of users in 2018.
Based on this it’s likely those in older demographics who are seeking and choosing to delete their accounts.
US: Which social media app did people want to delete in 2023?
In addition to the global research we conducted, we also looked at which social media app people in the US specifically no longer want to be part of.
| Social media app (searched phrase: ‘how to delete (my) “ account’) | Total US volume (Average searches per month) | Search volume per 1,000 people in the US | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 214,000 | 629 | |
| 2 | 127,100 | 374 | |
| 3 | 51,000 | 150 | |
| 4 | TikTok | 12,500 | 37 |
| 5 | Snapchat | 12,300 | 36 |
| 6 | Telegram | 9,400 | 28 |
| 7 | YouTube | 5,500 | 16 |
| 8 | 1,060 | 3 | |
| 9 | 210 | 1 |
Similarly to the global research, “How to delete (my) Instagram account” had the most average searches per month, with over 600 people in the US out of every 1,000 searching this every month. Overall this equated to 211,000 people per month over the year.
However, in contrast to the worldwide data, the second most deleted app in the US was Facebook. It is still the largest social media app, with more than two thirds (71%) of people in the US continuing to use it, however it seems to be finding itself in a battle for relevance as younger audiences are seemingly leaving it in favour of Snapchat and TikTok.
Social media networks and data centers
Based on these facts and figures, social media is always changing and as users increase, so does the need for storing, processing, and managing large amounts of data.
According to data from 2021, Twitter, Meta, and TikTok accounted for the 11 largest wholesale multi tenant data center leases signed that year. Further to this, TikTok’s first European data center in Dublin went live in late 2022, while Meta also announced a $1.1 billion project in Spain to complement existing facilities in Sweden and Ireland.
So, why are social media channels investing so heavily in data centers and how do they work in sync with each other?
1. Storing User Data
Social media platforms gather vast amounts of user-generated content like photos, videos, posts, and personal information. Data centers provide the infrastructure to store this information securely and reliably.
2. Handling Traffic
As our data shows, there are enormous amounts of traffic daily with millions, or even billions, of users accessing and interacting with the platforms simultaneously. Data centers contain servers and networking equipment that can manage and process these high volumes of requests and data.
3. Ensuring Availability
Data centers help ensure that the social media platform remains available and responsive 24/7. At TRG Datacenters, we employ redundancy and backup systems to prevent downtime and maintain service continuity.
4. Security
A data center will have robust security measures in place to safeguard user data against breaches, cyberattacks, and unauthorized access. This includes physical security, encryption, firewalls, and other necessary cybersecurity protocols.
5. Processing and Analysis
Social media platforms utilize data centers to process and analyze user data. This analysis helps in improving user experience, providing personalized content, and targeted advertising.
5. Compliance and Regulations
Many regions have specific data protection laws that social media companies must adhere to. Data centers play a crucial role in ensuring compliance with these regulations by securely managing and storing user data.
In essence, data centers act as the backbone of social media networks, providing the infrastructure necessary for storing, processing, securing, and managing the vast amounts of data generated and consumed by these platforms.
Methodology:
- Ahrefs was used to find the relevant average monthly search volume globally of each specific phrase.
- Data is correct as of December 2023.
