While people of all ages use social media, it is interesting that different generations have their preferences. For example, the youngest generation (Generation Z) will predominantly use TikTok and Facebook more than any other platform.

There are so many apps at our disposal these days and they have greatly influenced the way we communicate with each other globally and how we spend our time daily.

An interactive webpage that can be seen at gravitee.io/app-downloads-around-the-world has highlighted the current most used app downloads from around the world, and it might not come as a surprise to hear that TikTok, Facebook and Instagram are the top 3 most frequently used apps worldwide.

Nevertheless, what purpose do these social media apps serve and how are they being used? Let’s explore.

What Do People Mainly Use Social Media Apps For?

TikTok, Facebook & Instagram: While these social media apps are used by many people around the world, they are predominantly used by generation Z. The obsession with these apps is that they allow users to interact and connect with other people and see what their friends or followers are up to.

Nevertheless, businesses are now understanding the value of social media and how important it is to market their brand across these channels in the best way. As consumers use these popular social media apps daily, businesses know they can capitalise on this by building authority and establishing a certified online presence to make a positive impression.

When it comes to consumer decision making, consumers are extremely discerning about which brand they’ll progress ahead with using and to aid them with their final decision, consumers will actively search online for a brand’s online presence to gather as much information as possible so that they can assess whether they are trustworthy and approachable.

YouTube: No generation can live without YouTube these days but that’s the beauty of it because whether it’s watching videos of cute cats or learning how to fix your car engine, it caters for everyone’s needs and preferences! You can pretty much learn anything you want from YouTube.

Not only is YouTube great from an entertainment viewpoint, but it is also a great pathway to establish a career too as well as advertise to consumers. While YouTubers will begin to make videos about a certain topic that they like because it’s one of their hobbies and interests, they’ll then see that over time they’ve started to develop a rapport with their followers.

With influencer marketing on the rise, businesses will then seek to capitalise on a social media star’s online fanbase and seek to place ads on their videos to help promote their products or services.

Zoom: As a video conferencing and video call app, Zoom is used by many business professionals and generations for purposes such as business meetings and opportunities to connect and talk with friends or family from across the world. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic that brought Zoom to the attention of the world.

At the height of the pandemic, it enforced lockdown restrictions across the world. People were unable to leave their homes or go about and participate in their favourite hobbies and interests, so that would then leave people to have to find ways to keep themselves occupied. Friends and family couldn’t see each other, so people would then have to communicate online.

Zoom well and truly took over the world in April 2020 as at one point, it had peaked at over 300 million daily participants in meetings – this was an improvement of 10 million in December 2019!