User number of social media in China 2023-2024

The alternative social media scene behind the “Great Firewall” of China, whose doors have remained shut to international internet heavyweights, has been thriving. As of 2024, the Asian giant housed about 1.08 billion active social media users. 

A global view of social networking

The number of social network users across the globe steadily rose to 5.17 billion people in 2024 and was expected to continue growing. Facebook topped the charts with 3.07 billion active social media users, with YouTube following behind. Meanwhile, instant messaging apps WeChat and QQ, short video pioneer Douyin, and blogging site Weibo have placed Chinese platforms on the radar as prominent social media players. 

Chinese fascination with microblogging

Apart from instant messaging, the trend of microblogging has swept across the multitudes of netizens in China. Comparable to sites like X (formerly Twitter), China has its term for microblogging - "weibo", and such networks have been used extensively as a space for news discussions. In China, Sina Corporation’s Weibo has emerged as the leading platform, with its number of monthly active users ranging around 580 million.