Insta, FB, or Snap? More downloads than TikTok.
Instagram, owned by Meta, took the top spot for most downloaded app worldwide in 2023, overtaking TikTok, according to data from Sensor Tower Corporation reported by The New York Post. Instagram saw a 20% increase in downloads, reaching 768 million, while TikTok only saw a 4% change, totaling 733 million downloads. This shift reflects the growing pressure TikTok faces from US regulators over national security concerns.
Abraham Yousef, Senior Insights Manager at Sensor Tower, attributes Instagram’s popularity to its Reels feature, introduced in 2020 to attract the Gen Z audience, alongside its traditional social media functions.
In the battle for supremacy between Instagram and TikTok in 2021 and 2022, Instagram emerged victorious in 2023, becoming the number one social media platform. By September 2023, Instagram had 1.47 billion monthly active users, with 13 million new users joining in the last quarter. TikTok experienced a drop, losing 12 million users, ending the year with 1.12 billion active users.
Despite TikTok having a smaller user base, its users spend an intense 95 minutes on the platform in the fourth quarter of 2023, surpassing engagement times of other platforms like Instagram, X, and Snapchat.
