Pinoys top Facebook, YouTube users globally

MANILA, Philippines —  Facebook and YouTube remain the most popular social media platforms in the Philippines, with Filipinos emerging as the most frequent users of these sites globally, a report released yesterday showed.

The Digital 2026 report – released by media, social and consumer intelligence company Meltwater and creative agency We Are Social – found that 83.3 percent of the Philippine population are using the internet.

While this is far from almost universal access already achieved by some countries, the report showed that adoption of internet in the Philippines is above the global average of 73.2 percent.

At least 99.5 percent of internet users in the Philippines said they used at least one social media or messenger platform in the past month.

Based on the report, an average Filipino user spends 13 hours and two minutes per week browsing social media (excluding videos), second to Kenya that reported an average of 14 hours and 18 seconds.

The average for Filipino users increased to 33 hours and 50 minutes per week if social media use included online video content such as TikTok, Reels and vlogs, among others. It also ranked second to Kenya, with 36 hours and 16 seconds.

Filipinos ranked highest globally among those who use YouTube, with 85 percent of internet users saying they accessed the platform at least once in the past month. The global average is 55.4 percent.

Facebook remains the most popular platform in the country, with 94.9 percent of Filipino online users saying they used the platform at least once in the past month. The global average for Facebook use is 56.9 percent.

Messenger also remains the most popular messaging application in the Philippines, with 90.6 percent saying they used it at least once in the past month.

Short-form video platform TikTok is also emerging as a popular platform, with 82.2 percent of Filipino online users saying they accessed it in the past month. The country ranked fourth in terms of TikTok use, after Nigeria, Thailand and Vietnam.

Less popular platform but still with sizeable usage in the Philippines included Instagram (71.2 percent), X (41.2 percent), Telegram (55.7 percent), Pinterest (40.5 percent), WhatsApp (37.6 percent), Reddit (32.4. percent), LinkedIn (25 percent) and Threads (24.3 percent).

The data were based on the broad survey of internet users aged 16 and above conducted by London-based GWI in the second quarter of 2025.

Globally, the report found over six billion individuals already using the internet, representing 73.2 percent of the total population.