Top 20 Social Media Apps and Sites In 2023
We all know that man is by nature a social animal. Engaging with people is an essential key to survival. In the modern mundane world, and its workings the ways of making friends, and connecting with people have taken to a new dimension of social media apps.
People are not only forming acquaintances, and relationships on social media but they are also promoting their business, and social media apps have become the hub of information in the present world which can have a lasting effect on the workings of the different countries all around the world. Though all social media apps have different things to offer, on a longer time scale it is upon us users how well to make this thing sure that we use these social media apps not that these social media apps use us.
Here is the list of top social media apps to look out for:
1. Facebook: 2. 23 billion MAU’s (#1 Social Media App)
Since it was founded in 2004 this is the app that has changed the dynamics around the world from forming relationships with your acquaintances, and strangers to promoting your business all in one place. It has a user base of more than 2 billion people that is almost a third of the world’s population. Facebook has more than 65 million pages for businesses, and more than 6 million advertisers actively promoting their business on Facebook which makes it for you to have a safe bet in your presence on social media. The algorithm on which Facebook works prioritizes content that sparks conversations, and meaningful interactions between people, especially those from family, and friends. Keep in mind to optimize your content for mobile as 94 % of the Facebook users access Facebook via the mobile app.
App features
- Share pictures, and videos
- Customize your newsfeed
- Have the option to a friend, and unfriend one at your discretion
- Find local or social events
- Promote your products, and services on your Facebook page
- Watch live videos of events happening all around the world
- Play games with your Facebook friends
Rating: 4. 2
Installs: 5,000,000,000+
Download options: Android, IOS
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2. WhatsApp: 1.5 billion MAU’S (#2 Social Media App)
This is a messaging app that is used by people in more than 180 countries, initially, the app was used only to communicate with their family, and friends, but gradually people started communicating with the business via WhatsApp. One of the wonderful things that this app provides is that it is not flooded by advertisements at all which is a big piss-off for the users these days. It has different versions for business purposes like for small businesses it has built the WhatsApp Business app while for medium, and large businesses there is WhatsApp business API. It also provides top privacy, and security to its users by keeping your communication encrypted so that users can only see the conversations in a way that not even WhatsApp has access to.
App features
- Share messages, photos, documents, and videos
- Share audios, location, contacts, voice messages
- Do video calls, group video calls
- Set custom wallpapers, and notification sounds
- Comes with a new option of WhatsApp pay which is as of now available to 25 million users
- Use a new feature where your conversations are erased after 7 days
- Hide last seen status, and your profile picture
- Get to know by the number of ticks, and blue sign that whether the recipient has seen the conversation or not
Rating: 4.3
Installs: 5,000,000,000+
Download: Android, IOS
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3. Instagram: 1 billion MAU’S (#3 Social Media App)
Instagram is a social media app where you can share photos, videos, short stories, and live videos. Recently it launched IGTV for longer format videos. You can also use your Instagram page to promote your products and business. It allows you to take a snap with your phone’s camera, and turn it into art by using different filter options. You can share your product’s images, and videos along with appropriate hashtags to reach out to the maximum number of audiences. Though the common narrative is that the network has developed a reputation for being superficial, and full of selfies. But if you search around you can find stunning photography, incredible artwork, and plenty more.
App features
- Let’s you post photos and videos
- You can message privately
- Lets you add hashtags filters, etc
- You can promote your business and products
- You can edit images, and tag location with this app
Rating: 4. 5
Installs: 1,000,000,000+
Download: Android, IOS
4. YouTube: 1. 9 billion MAU’s (#4 Social Media App)
YouTube is a video-sharing app where users watch billion hours of videos every day, the algorithm of youtube is designed in such a way that it will start showing you the video recommendations based on what you search. You can also create your own YouTube channel where you can upload videos for subscribers to like, comment, and share. After gaining a certain number of subscribers you can start generating revenue when YouTube starts placing ads before your videos. It is also known as the second largest search engine just after Google. If you want your brand, and to be on YouTube, you can use YouTube SEO. You can make videos that are liked by users, and their content can be wide-ranged, from entertainment, cooking, adventure, painting, academics, etc. To increase the followers on YouTube you can upload quality content gain subscribers, and then advertise on YouTube.
App features
- You can watch, and share the videos on social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter.
- You can create your own YouTube channel.
- You can promote your products or services on your channel.
- After gaining a certain number of subscribers you can start generating revenue by placing ads
- You can watch live events which are happening around the world
- You can have easy access to subscription feeds.
Rating: 4. 1
Installs: 5,000,000,000+
Download: Android, IOS
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5. Twitter: 335 MAU’S. (#5 Social Media App)
This is an app where you can share short messages in form of information which is called tweets. The information is usually real-time on politics, entertainment, news, sports, and more. One of the things that makes it different from other sites is that it allows only 280 characters in a tweet (140 for Japanese, Korean, and Chinese ). On Twitter you get information from experts on wide-ranging matters, you also get to know about the recent developments happening around the world because people from politicians to the heads of the countries, representatives of global organizations, sports fraternities, celebrities, and academicians can all be found on Twitter.
Businesses promote their services and products for heightened customer engagement using key terms in form of hashtags. Twitter is used by many companies for the digital marketing of an individual or a business. Moreover, if you find any product or service bought by you not up to the mark, you can tweet directly about the matter with the company’s hashtags, and your problem will be solved immediately reason being no brand, and or company wants to malign their image on a platform where the whole world is watching them.
App features
- Get real-time information on a wide range of matters.
- Share your views on matters of your interest.
- Get the information shared by authentic sources.
- You can like photos, videos, and GIF’S
- Communicate privately with friends, and followers by chat option.
- Create groups for conversations
- Shop directly via tweets without visiting the stores
Rating: 4. 4
Installs: 10,000,000+
Download: Android, IOS
6. LinkedIn: 299 million MAU’S (#6 Social Media App)
This app when started used to be an online resume updating website, and has now evolved into a social networking platform for all professionals around the world. At this platform you can search for jobs according to your abilities, talents, and interests, you can directly reach out to the professionals of your field, make connections, and be a part of the conversation, and groups of your interests. It is available in 20 languages. On LinkedIn, you can follow companies, eminent HRs, and influential executives, who often share their insights or industry trends via LinkedIn blogs.
LinkedIn is a place where industry experts share content, network with one another, and build their personal brands. It acts as a place for businesses to propagate their leadership, and authority in their respective industries, and attract talent to their company, it also offers advertising opportunities such as boosting your content, sending personalized ads to LinkedIn inboxes, and displaying ads by the side of the website.
App features
- You can apply for a job by creating a profile, and highlighting your skillsets
- Follow the companies of your interests, and their profiles
- Get to know the industry trends by interacting with the information shared by the executives
- Build your CV to attract interested recruiters
- Get to know about the different job openings by social networking
- Create your personal brands for business networking, and brand, and marketing
- Write articles on your field of specialization, and share it
Rating: 4. 4
Installs: 500,000,000+
Download: Android, IOS
7. Messenger: 1. 3 billion MAU’S (#7 Social Media App)
Messenger used to be a feature for messaging within Facebook, but after 2011 Facebook made it into an independent app, where you can instantly connect to your Facebook friends, one stand-alone feature of this messaging app is that even if you have deactivated your Facebook account you can still keep using the messenger. It also gives you the option of seeing the last active status of your friends so you can message them accordingly when they are free. Most socially active people use the messenger app to share their messages.
App features
- Share photos, and videos with your friends
- Do audio, and video calls
- Send location to guide someone
- Send text and audio messages
Rating: 4. 2
Installs: 1,000,000,000+
Download: Android, IOS
8. Snapchat: 255 million MAU’S (#8 Social Media App)
Snapchat is a social media app that came to attention for sharing photos, and videos with friends. The main feature of the app is the short videos that you can share with your friends. The photos and messages on Snapchat are usually only available for a short period before they become inaccessible to the recipients. On average more than 4 billion snaps are sent each day.
The app is used presently for featuring users’ stories of 24 hours of chronological content along with discovering letting brands show ad-supported short-form content. The app provides various filters that you can use like bitmoji, friend emoji. The app offers you more features like news, entertainment, games, quizzes, photos, and video editing tools, etc. In all Snapchat provides the best way to interact socially while simultaneously giving them awesome looks.
App features
- Send snaps to your friends in a second
- Add filters to your videos, and pictures
- Use the live messaging feature to chat
- Follow your friends, and watch their stories
- Get to know where your friends are hanging out by sharing your location
- Also, get to know the breaking news, watch shows, and even community pages
Rating: 4. 3
Installs: 1,000,000,000+
Download: Android, IOS
9. Telegram: 200 million MAU’S (#9 Social Media App)
This app is similar to other social media apps and is best known for the security it provides as a messaging app. You can send messages, and exchange photos, videos, stickers, audio, and files of any type up to 2 GB each. It provides end-to-end encrypted calls, and optional end-to-end encrypted secret chats between two online users on smartphones, however, desktop clients do not feature end-to-end encryption, nor is it available for groups, subgroups, or channels. Telegram also provides one on one customer support, for example, brands can create chatbots for telegram or make use of the telegram channel feature to broadcast messages to an unlimited number of subscribers.
App features
- Provides you end to end encryption, and an option to remove your messages
- It is faster than any app and cloud-based
- No advertisements
- Exchange data up to 2GB
- Coordinate groups with almost 2 lakh users
Rating: 4. 5
Installs: 100,000,000+
Download: Android, IOS
10. Quora: 300 million MAU’S (#10 Social Media App)
This is a knowledge-based app where your feed will show you the questions, and answers on the topics that you have shown interest in. Here you can list your areas of expertise, and accordingly, you will be listed by Quora for answering questions that are there in your area of expertise. You can follow various genres of knowledge on Quora, and get answers to your questions from the industry, organization, institution, and business experts. One of the policies of Quora is that you can give the links only in your bio, if you insert images or links in your answers then your account will be blocked.
On Quora the experts from all around the world take sessions on the areas of their expertise, as well as there are individuals who provide one on one online coaching, you can communicate with them by messaging them on their profiles. Quora has such a wide reach that now if you ask anything on Google you will find one of the links referring it to Quora on the top searches. Overall this is an app where you can gain, and share knowledge, all that you have to keep in mind is that the knowledge you are consuming, and sharing is coming from authentic sources.
App features
- Ask questions, and get answers from experts
- Share knowledge on topics of your expertise
- Get approached by publishing houses who think you have writing potential
- Connect to life coaches, and other experts by messaging them
- Follow the content of your interests
Ratings: 3. 9
Installs: 10,000,000+
Download: Android, IOS
11. Medium: 60 million MAU’S (#11 Social Media App)
It is an online publishing platform where you can publish, and read most articles for free, whereas some articles are reserved for the paying members, companies make good use of the medium by republishing their blog posts from their company blog onto medium to extend their reach in the market. You can post information on this platform which is having a good presentation, and you will also get wider insight into information on this platform like Quora here also you can discover the topics which matter to you, global leaders like Barack Obama are also there on medium. Overall this platform provides a sea of information that too in a longer in-depth format.
App features
- Get emails about the content being shared
- Connect automatically to existing social media accounts
- Easy to edit your content
- Import your indigenous content anytime
Rating: 4. 6
Installs: 5000,000+
Download: Android, IOS
12. WeChat: 1. 06 billion MAU’S (#12 Social Media App)
Wechat is an app almost similar in working to WhatsApp, and Facebook messenger. It provides you with text messaging, hold-to-talk voice messaging, one-to-many messaging, video calls, and conferencing, video games, photographs, and video sharing as well as location sharing. You can contact people at random if people are open to it, and can also integrate with other social media sites like Facebook, you can use filters, and captions on photographs, and automatic translation service is also available, you can also share your location either individually or in a group chat.
Besides messaging, and calling you can also use it for shopping online making payments offline, transfer money make reservations, book taxis, and more. Due to ongoing spat going on between china –The USA, and china- India this app was banned in India with other apps due to the security measures, but if you are doing business in areas where social media sites like Facebook are banned, Wechat can be a sustainable option.
App features
- Messaging, voice messaging, voice, and video calls
- Share real-time location with friends
- Find random people nearby through the shake, and look around features
- Use it for broadcasting, conferencing, photograph, and videos sharing
- Use it for wiring money, making reservations, shopping, etc
Rating: 4. 2
Installs: 1,000,000,000+
Download: Android, IOS
13. Hike: 30 million MAU’S (#13 Social Media App)
Hike messenger also called hike sticker chat is a cross-platform instant messaging app where you can work offline through SMS and has multi-platform support. It uses numerous hikemoji stickers which can be customized accordingly. From version 5. 0 it became the first social messaging app to start a mobile payment service in India. On this app, you can have a personalized digital envelope called blue packets for sending monetary gifts through a built-in wallet. With the help of machine learning, hike sticker chat can recommend, suggest, and smartly predict custom stickers for different situations, and moods. On this app, you can use chat with stickers instead of long text messages.
App features
- Last seen privacy, and localized sticker packs
- See live cricket scores, news, casual games
- Do, recharge shopping, and ticket booking with hike wallet
- Share 100 MB files of all formats
Rating: 3. 7
Installs: 100,000,000+
Download: Android, IOS
14. Viber: 260 million MAU’S (#14 Social Media App)
In its work, this app is similar to the apps like WhatsApp, and messenger, it allows you to send messages, do audio, and video calls, share stickers, If’s, and more. But it stands different from other apps as it provides wider opportunities for the business as you can buy ads, and promote your brand s through stickers, engage users in your community, sell your products in the shopping section, and provide customer service, for privacy measures any message that you send makes its way from your device to the recipient’s in the form of an encrypted code that only their device can translate to plain text using an encryption key, and that encryption key exists only on user devices so not even Viber has access to your messages.
Also, it has the feature of secret chat where you can self-erase every message after it is read. You can interact with an unlimited number of people about topics of similar interests, giving you new conversation features in a unique chat space where you have sole control. Viber also gives you subscriptions which are minutes given to call a specific destination that is purchased on the app and renewed weekly or monthly according to your subscription.
App features
- You can easily switch between chats
- Privacy to your last seen, and online status
- You can save your battery by features like dark mode
- You can initiate group calls up to five people
- Self destruct option in secret chats
Rating: 4. 3
Installs: 500,000,000+
Download: Android, IOS
15. Pinterest: 250 million MAU’S (#15 Social Media App)
Pinterest is an app that runs on pins that you can use to pin your creative ideas and interesting stories on your personal boards. It is used to share photos, visual bookmarking where you can save costs, and also upload your ideas. Like other sites, engagement is not the main focus of Pinterest, which makes the content on Pinterest from brands useful, the users which come on Pinterest are looking for inspiration to buy new things, by having your presence on Pinterest you can build a brand image in their minds.
Whether you are planning for your next big adventure, searching for home design concepts, looking for fashion, and fitness tips, or checking out new recipes, your search, and inspiration for all good ideas start over here. It keeps all of your lifestyle inspiration in one place. On this app, you can save your ideas, organize them by topic, and share them with others all from your cell phone.
App features
- Get inspiration according to your lifestyle by exploring articles, and recommended topics, and ideas in your feed
- Collaborate with your friends on your next group trip, party, or DIY project
- Discover the sea of ideas all in one place
- More than 100 billion possibilities for you to choose from
- Construct your feed according to the pins, people, and the brands that you love
Rating: 4. 6
Installs: 100,000,000+
Download: Android, IOS
16. Line: 203 million MAU’S
The line is a social media app, that allows you to send messages, make voice, and video calls, share stickers, play games, make ticket bookings, payment transfers, and online shopping. It is one of the most popular social media apps in Japan. It also helps you in promoting business. Brand celebrities can create official accounts where they can share the latest news, promotions, and pictures, that appear on follower’s timelines.
App features
- Free texts, voice, and video calls
- You can set your texts to disappear automatically after a fixed time
- Multiple stickers for every emotion
- Can request taxis, and shop online
Rating: 4. 1
Installs: 500,000,000+
Download: Android, IOS
17. Tumblr: 642 million MAU’s
Tumblr is social networking and micro-blogging site used for, sharing text photos, videos, links audio, and more. People share a wide range of things on Tumblr from art, fashion, and food to animal photos. Though it looks like just another website, most of the blogs that you come across online are using Tumblr.
App features
- Post photos, videos, text, live videos, audio, and GIFs
- Customize your own GIFs with stickers, and text
- Helps you provide social media integration
- Use a wide range of 250 text blocks
Rating: 4. 4
Installs: 100,000,000+
Download: Android, IOS
18. Planoly: 335 million MAU’S
If you want to, plan edit, and schedule your social media content from now on so that later you don’t have to then play is the app where you ought to be. This app would let you see how individual posts will look as a grid before you post it along with data, and engagement rates for each post. On this app, you can manage your various hashtags on Instagram, and save them in real-time. It allows you to work in a team, and edit for Instagram posting requirements, as a result, you get a more homogeneous Instagram feed and a clear visual style for your brand.
App features
- Provides you analysis of Instagram, and Pinterest
- Manage, and track Instagram comments
- Share your posts with automatic pinning
- Get quality visual planning and management
Rating: 4. 3
Installs: 1,000,000+
Download: Android, IOS
19. Tiktok: 500 million MAU’S
It was the most downloaded app in the first quarter of 2018. You can use it to create short music, lip-sync, dance, comedy, and talent videos of 3 to 15 seconds. It can be compared to the reels version of Instagram. The feed of the videos is recommended to the users based on their activity on the app. On TikTok, you can add videos, hashtags, filters, and sounds to their saved section.
This app is widely used by celebrities around the world, it provided a platform for normal people to showcase their talents to the world, and earn revenue for whom otherwise getting visible to the global audience would have been difficult. Recently the app was banned in India, and the USA due to security measures. In February 2020 it came out with a feature for parents to control their children’s digital well-being.
App features
- Send videos, emojis, to your friends via the option of direct messaging
- Create video based on user’s comments
- Parents can get the inappropriate content for their children blocked, and reported
- Use the live feature after having 1000 followers, and attaining an age above 16
- Addiction reduction feature to take a break every 90 minutes
Rating: 4. 4
Installs: 738,000,000+
Download: Android, IOS
20. Reddit: 330 million MAU’S
On this app, you can submit questions, links, and images, have a discussion on them, and vote them up or down. Here you can submit your content, and vote for the same. Based on voting volume, the content moves up or down subject to subreddits that represent your areas of interest. Besides submitting your content to Reddit, and taking part in discussions you can also find content ideas, and do advertising on Reddit.
App features
- Lets users post share, and discuss
- Chat with communities
- Interact with blogs, get insights, and rich updates
- Discover news, viral videos, jokes, and hot memes
Rating: 4. 5
Installs: 10,000,000+
Download: Android, IOS
The impact of these social media apps solely depends on you, that how you use, either you can be the person who is using it for free and is being the product being sold, or you can be the one who is promoting your business, and selling products. So make a wise decision, and see the role do you want these social media apps on which the whole world is working out to play in your life
