Social apps made up around 10% of all app downloads in 2024, making them one of the most popular app categories. TikTok, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook have consistently been among the top five most-installed apps over the past decade, with hundreds of millions of installs each year. These apps generated over $300 billion revenue in 2024 according to the Social App Report, primarily through advertising.

Our Social App Market Landscape shows the key players in each subsector of the social app industry.

Networks

Social networks connect family, friends and communities together and let them share content, such as messages, photos, videos and links. Facebook has been the dominant network for over a decade, with over three billion users. Apps like LinkedIn and Nextdoor have segmented networking to specific areas, professional contacts and neighbours, while apps like Howabout and BeReal have reduced the scope of networking to close friends only.

Messaging

Messaging is a key part of most social networks, but there are also many apps dedicated to messaging with broader functionality. Facebook famously made Messenger a separate app in 2014, recognizing the need for messaging to front and centre to the experience. Snapchat improved on this in the mid-2010s with disappearing photos, videos and location services. WhatsApp, Telegram and Viber were built to be SMS-alternatives, reducing the cost of sending a message especially to anyone overseas. Newer apps have had to offer a standout feature to reach any level of interest, Signal offered stronger encryption, NGL has “ask me anything” functionality and ten ten built walkie-talkie style messaging.

Short video

Short form video kicked off in the late 2010s with Musical.ly, a lip syncing and dancing app, merging with TikTok in 2018. TikTok’s ascendancy to the most downloaded app in 2020 led to several of the major social platforms – Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Snapchat – launching their own short form video features, which have become prominent services in their own right with Reels and Spotlight both having hundreds of millions of active users.

Microblogging

The acquisition of Twitter (now X) by Elon Musk sparked a renaissance in microblogging platforms, with Threads, Bluesky and to a lesser extent Mastodon gaining lots of new users following decisions made by the X team. At the same time, more traditional blogging services such as Medium and Substack have drawn in bloggers and journalists with the network effects enabling higher payouts and readership.

Forums

Forums have been popular since the earliest days of the internet, attracting people through common interests and questions rather than social ties. While thousands of these forums still exist in some capacity, Reddit and tumblr are two of the marketplace forums, with thousands of communities centred on a specific topic such as Game of Thrones, motorcycles and football.

Dating

Dating apps come in all shapes and sizes, from the conventional such as Tinder, Bumble and Hinge to the niche apps for specific types of relationships, as seen with feeld, PURE, BLK and Grindr.

Livestream

Broadcasting gameplay and events in real-time provides viewers with a way to interact and engage with the events as they happen. Twitch is the lead app in this market, with thousands of channels streaming content everyday to millions of viewers. Kick launched as a competitor service to Twitch. Bigo is less focused on gaming and more on personalities, similar to Instagram and TikTok’s own live features.

Photo sharing

There are many social apps focused primarily on photos. Instagram was once the premier app for this before it became a network for all forms of visual media. Pinterest and lemon8 let people share photos and create collections, which can then be reshared by other users. VSCO, Flickr and 500px are true photo sharing platforms, where that is the sole focus. Behance and DeviantArt are two of the most popular media portfolio sharing apps.

Reviews and recommendations

Reviewing products and media has also been a staple on the internet since the early days, and there are many forum-style apps dedicated to specifically reviewing one product category or media. Letterboxd is for movies, Goodreads for books, Yelp and Beli for restaurants, Vivino for wine, Discogs for music and Product Hunt for electronic products.

Virtual world

Meta Platforms investment into the “metaverse” shone new light on the virtual worlds sector, and while Meta has shifted to AI in 2024, the apps that have grown this genre for over a decade remain popular. ZEPETO and IMVU offer the ability to create your own avatar and explore thousands of worlds, Avakin Life is a Sims-like multiplayer roleplaying game.

Sports

Achieving goals in sport and health can be exhilarating and many want to share that with others in their friend group. Strava and AllTrails provide the technology to map routes, and the network to share with others. Nike Run Club, Runna and Peloton offer virtual classes, where users can interact with others in the same fitness group.

Location sharing

Some networks are built specifically as location sharing devices, either for families or friends. Life360, Glympse and Find My are all aimed at keeping family and friends notified of your location, while Bump functions similar to Snapchat’s Snapmaps showing where friends are in the world.