Top 20 Facebook Facts for Marketers

Facebook has been around for 12 years now and is one of the most well-known social media platforms there is. “Facebook remains the king of social networks, and the usage increases are coming primarily from people who are Generation X and older,” said eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson.

For some marketers, Facebook is the first thing we check in the morning, even before our emails. We check Facebook throughout the day and we even receive alerts and messages directly through our mobile devices. It’s a way to connect with family, friends, and coworkers, but it’s also for a way for brands to engage with their online community.

You may think you know everything there is to know about the “king of social networks,” however, we have some interesting user stats that might surprise you. Here are the top Facebook facts around usage and user demographics that all marketers should know.

• Facebook was founded in Cambridge, MA on February 4, 2004.

• 71% of all internet users are on Facebook.

• 38.6% of the global online population are using Facebook.

• 75% of Facebook users are outside of the United States.

• Facebook Messenger has over 1 Billion active monthly users.

• 66.1% of monthly Facebook users use Facebook on a daily basis.

• The average time spent on Facebook per visit is 18 minutes.

• The average number of Facebook friends per user is 130 friends.

• The average amount of Facebook friends for male users is 145 friends.

• The average number of pages, groups, and events a user is connected to is 80.

• The average number of photos uploaded per day is 205 photos.

• The best time to post on Facebook is between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM.

• 74% of Facebook users have at least a college degree or higher education.

• Facebook is currently testing video advertisements for Facebook Live broadcasts.

• 77.7% of smartphone users have the Facebook application.

• 61.7% of smartphone users have the Facebook Messenger application.

• Facebook posts with photos get 39% more interaction than ones that don’t.

• Posts with short text get 23% more interaction than ones with lots of content.

• Posts with questions get 100% more comments than ones that have no questions.

• The top kind of video content viewed on Facebook is content from friends and family.

Please note that these facts were pulled on October 18th, 2016 and are subject to change.

Enjoyed learning about the top 20 Facebook facts and looking to learn more about the history and stats of social media sites? Check out our 14 Must-Know Instagram Stats of 2016.