Over 43% of the global population, or 3.17 billion people, are connected to the internet. Nearly half (47%) of all internet users, or 1.49 billion people, have a Facebook profile and use it monthly, demonstrating Facebook's ubiquitous reach globally. In Australia alone, the number of active social media accounts across platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram exceeds the country's total population, indicating that at least three out of five Australians are active on social media.

1. Social-Media-Roadmap, Yoel
Ben-Avraham (2013).
Licenced under CC BY-ND 2.0

2. Social Media: A Statistical Snapshot
Internet Users as Percentage of Global
Population
Internet users Non-Internet Users
3.17 Billion people are connected to the
internet. That’s 43% of the Global
Population.1
That’s two in every five
people world wide!

3. Social Media: A Statistical Snapshot
Then consider…
Percentage of Internet users on Facebook
Facebook Users Non-Facebook Users
47% of all internet users
are connected to
Facebook, and use it
MONTHLY.2
Facebook is an incredibly ubiquitous
platform, accessed by almost half of all
internet-enabled citizens world-wide. With
such a large user base, Facebook has
become a normalised medium in modern
society.

4. Social Media: A Statistical Snapshot
Incredibly, Facebook is just the tip of the social
media iceberg, the following illustrates the
number of social media profiles in Australia alone.
0
2000000
4000000
6000000
8000000
10000000
12000000
14000000
16000000
Facebook Twitter Youtube Tumblr WhatsApp SnapChat Instagram Blogspot Wordpress
Number of active Social Media Accounts3
Assuming that users often hold
multiple accounts across social media,
comparing number of accounts with
the current Australian Population4, at
least three out of every five people
you meet will be active online in
regards to social media.

5. Social Media: A Statistical Snapshot
Sources:
Cover Image:
Yoel Ben-Avraham 2013, Social-Media-Roadmap, graphic, retrieved 9 August 2015, <
https://www.flickr.com/photos/epublicist/9733278939/in/photostream/>,
(1)
Worldometers 2015, Current World Population, Worldometers, Retrieved 9 August 2015,
<http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/>,
Statista 2015, Number of worldwide internet users from 2000 to 2015 (in millions), Statista, Retrieved 9 August 2015,
<http://www.statista.com/statistics/273018/number-of-internet-users-worldwide/>,
(2)
Statista 2015, Number of worldwide internet users from 2000 to 2015 (in millions), Statista, Retrieved 9 August 2015,
<http://www.statista.com/statistics/273018/number-of-internet-users-worldwide/>,
Facebook 2015, Stats, Facebook Newsroom, Retrieved 9 August 2015, <http://newsroom.fb.com/company-info/>,
(3)
Vivid Social Research Division 2015, Social Media Statistics Australia – July 2015, SocialMediaNews.com.au, Retrieved 9
August 2015, <http://www.socialmedianews.com.au/social-media-statistics-australia-july-2015/>,
(4)
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2015, Australian Demographic Statistics Dec 2014, cat. no. 3101.0, Australian Bureau of
Statistics, retrieved 9 August 2015, <http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3101.0>.