In 2020 the world reached a staggering 3.6 billion social media users. Of those 3.6 billion users, one of the fastest-growing social media populations is in mainland China, despite the fact that the country routinely bans foreign networks such as Facebook.
According to a report by TradingPlatforms.com, mainland China is projected to reach 1.1 billion social media users by 2025 — an increase of 19% from 2020.
Social Media and Chinese Censorship
While Facebook is the most used social network with 2.8B active users around the world, it has been banned from operating in China due to strict censorship laws. This includes Facebook-owned Instagram and Whatsapp. Although many individuals have found workarounds to access these sites, the more important development is of China’s own domestic social networks.
According to the report, as of 2020, there are an estimated 934M social media users in China.
China’s Own Thriving Social Media Scene
Despite the ban on foreign internet companies, the social network scene in Mainland China is thriving with a number of domestically produced platforms available for users. In China, 74% of survey respondents indicated that they regularly used messaging apps such as WeChat.
WeChat is used by the Chinese for chatting, bill payments, food delivery, and transportation. The app is the leading social media site in China with 73% of internet users utilizing the app.
According to the report, the social networks are the second most popular type of social media in China with 44% of survey respondents indicating that they used apps such Douyin and Kuaishou regularly. Douyin’s is the predecessor to, TikTok which is Douyin’s international version of its platform.
The video-sharing app is the fourth leading social media site in China, used by 41.1% of those online.
Microblogging sites like Sina Weibo are the third most popular in China. 39% of survey respondents indicated that they used such sites regularly. As of Q3 2020, Sina Weibo is the second leading social media site in China.
You can read more about the story with more statistics and information here.
