X (Twitter) ranks low in terms of user base compared to major social media platforms

Social media platforms are continuing to break records in terms of the number of users they have and some of the platforms already have over billions of active users. X, formerly known as Twitter, remains one of the few major social media platforms that has not reached the 1 billion mark in terms of user base.

X/Twitter vs social media with over 1 billion users

As of October 2025, X (Twitter) has around 557 million monthly active users worldwide, which is too low compared to major social media platforms with the most users, such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, TikTok, and WeChat, with each having over 1 billion monthly active users (see chart 1 below).

Reality behind X/Twitter statistics

According to Dixon (2025) global report published on Statista about leading social media usage worldwide, Facebook has 3.07 billion active users, making it the platform with the most number of users worldwide. Other Meta platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp follow closely, each with about 3 billion active users who are active on the platforms monthly.

With other major platforms recording billions of users as seen in chart 2 above, X user base growth has reduced, with the platform recording around 557 million active users as of October 2025, a reduction from 611 million users as reported in January 2025. For more X/Twitter user statistics in the previous years I have added a summary in the table below.

X (Twitter) user base trend

Data Source:- Our world data, Statista, X/Twitter, Analyzify, X Business

This figure may still look impressive to you despite the reduction in the number of active monthly users, but to note that it positions X (Twitter) at number 15 globally, making it one of the smaller players among major social networks.

The statistical report about X comes as a surprise given that this is a platform with so much impact globally due to its communication power.

With the ranking and user base, the interesting part is that X(Twitter) keeps showing that influence in this digital age is not always about numbers but all about the conversations, culture, and real time engagement it has.

X/Twitter usage for news

An example is that X (formerly known as Twitter) is the social media platform that is majorly used for news and updates, with 57% of its users focus on getting news from it (see chart 3).

X/Twitter operates in a different lane, it may not compete in numbers of users but it dominates when it comes to some valuable conversations.

Without actually praising the platform, we have seen that most of the news is first communicated through the platform before it spreads anywhere else making it a place of real time information, where trends begin. This shows why having one billion users is not actually a measure of global dominance.

How useful is X/Twitter number of users

If you are planning to use X as a marketer, content creator or just a business person what should bother you is not about the platform number of users but the perfect people to communicate with. Do some market research for your objective and strategies with the smaller number you have gained from a particular platform.