facebook vs instagram essay

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Instagram vs. Facebook, Essay Example

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When it comes to the use of social media, I prefer to use applications like Instagram over Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus. I feel that my preference is directly related to the social media choices of my friends, the fact that Instagram is easy to use and mobile, and that it releases the least amount of private information to third parties compared to other social media platforms.

Instagram has a simpler concept than other social forms of media; you simply take a picture or quick video of something you like, post it, and wait for your friends to either like it or comment on it. It makes sharing photos of you and your friends easier and more meaningful; instead of posting thousands of photos on applications like Facebook, you are more likely to post only the best pictures to avoid flooding people’s newsfeed. In addition, I believe that Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms for my age group; since most of us have smart phones, it is easy to communicate instantly using our mobile devices rather than waiting to go home to upload pictures. Although other forms of social media take advantage of mobile applications, they usually don’t work that well and it takes a lot of effort to post things; I’d rather just use Instagram and be able to post pictures and messages instantly rather than waiting around and playing with the app to get it to work.

Lastly, I think that Instagram is the best because a lot of people are worried about social media applications selling private information to third party companies and posting it to various places on the internet. Since Instagram is only pictures, there is less information for the company to be able to use for these purposes. While the Instagram policy says that they may have the right to use our pictures without reimbursing us and many people are concerned, I don’t personally believe that Instagram thinks that the pictures of my lunch are worthwhile of this cause.

Although my personal opinion was stated above, I believe that many people agree with me on this subject. For example, a 2012 article written by Austin Carr and posted in the technology section of the “Fast Company” website stated that Instagram has the potential to become even bigger than Facebook. Currently, Facebook has 1.1 billion people who use the site, but this number has been relatively stagnant. In comparison, Instagram hit one million users in 2012. Although this seems like a small number compared to Facebook users, it’s important to consider that Instagram continues to grow. In fact, the number of users on Instagram is expected to exceed the number of users on Facebook because it is more popular around younger people who have iPhones.

Another way to prove that more people prefer Instagram over Facebook is to ask people in different age groups about what kinds of social media they prefer. Ultimately, the friends who I asked preferred Instagram because it is easier and quicker to use, while members of other age groups preferred to use other kinds of social media. Despite this, a greater number of young people use social media in general; therefore Instagram will remain prevalent.

In conclusion, Instagram will become more popular than Facebook and other forms of social media, which ultimately means that the majority of the public agrees with me that Instagram is the best form of social media available.

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What Is the Difference Between Facebook and Instagram?

• June 20, 2022

Content Writer

Have you ever wondered what is the difference between Facebook and Instagram ?

Instagram and Facebook are by far the most popular social media channels used by digital marketers. Not to mention that they’re also the biggest platforms used by internet users worldwide.

So, today we’ll look into the differences and similarities between these two platforms to help you figure out which one is the best fit for your business. 

Are you ready to make your choice between those two social media networks? Pick your fighter, and let’s see what happens.

Streamline your marketing with an efficient social media strategy template.

How Instagram and Facebook Work

Facebook and Instagram have been the topics of many social media debates in the past few years. Social media specialists, marketers and professionals from the online sphere have all wondered what’s the best social network out of the two . For example, should you base your digital marketing strategy on Facebook or Instagram? Or both?

You don’t have to replace Facebook with Instagram or vice-versa. You can use the information from this article to strengthen your strategy on both channels.

Some people say that Facebook is not that popular anymore and that Instagram has taken its place. Other people say exactly the opposite.  So, choosing the right social media platform can become quite a hassle. Even more so when the opinions are all different in regards to this subject.

It’s easy to think about Instagram vs Facebook as competitors, or anything else for that matter. However, knowing how they actually work will help you extract the most important details about these platforms.

Understanding how a social media platform works is vital for your business. Your digital marketing strategy should contain personalized aspects for each social network in order to increase your social media performance. 

SocialBee can actually help you with this. Create and customize posts for Facebook and Instagram and all your other social media platforms from one place by adding hashtags , changing image sizes , character count, and more.

From the SocialBee content editor users can create, edit, customize and share posts directly on Facebook, Instagram, and all their social media platforms.

Start your 14-day free trial to test it yourself!

In addition, with SocialBee, you can craft different variations of your evergreen posts and share them multiple times while keeping them looking fresh and new.

You can also find out how your posts will look on each channel with the content preview option.

But before scheduling your posts, make sure you first download the Best Times to Post on Social Media sheet (shown below) to discover when you should be posting on the most popular online platforms.

Learn when and how often to post various content types, from fun to educational and more.

Facebook vs Instagram: Similarities 

Before we focus on what makes the two social media platforms stand out, let’s find out their similarities.

1. Content Format

Both platforms allow image and video sharing. 

Moreover, you can also share posts and Stories , leave a comment, or like someone’s post on both platforms. Alongside that, the possibility of adding a location on both platforms is also available.

Last, but not least, you can also tag different people in your posts.

2. Online Interactions

Another similarity revolves around sending friend requests and follow requests. Or, even blocking someone, if the situation begs for it. 

Going back, friend or follow requests can be sent to anyone. From family and friends, up to celebrities. Once added to your network, you will be able to see their posts and communicate with them. 

You can also choose to follow shopping accounts, brands, or businesses.

3. Social Media Shopping Features

And this brings us to the shopping aspect: both platforms have incorporated this. On Facebook, you will find it under the name of  Marketplace .

As a user, you can create a listing for almost anything you can think about. Different items, vehicles, and properties. There is something on the Marketplace for everyone.

Instagram simply calls it Shop .

Under this category, you can find the shops you follow first. There is also a category that recommends shops that would be suitable for your needs. And there’s even a wishlist you can start filling, straight on the platform!

Similarities Between Instagram and Facebook

• Post video and images
• Share feed posts, Stories, Reels and multiple photos at once
• Leave comments and like someone’s post
• Add a location
• Tag people in your post
• Send friend requests and follow requests, or block someone
• Use the shopping feature to promote your products

Facebook vs Instagram Differences

We know the similarities between the two. However, we will not have an accurate understanding of the two without exploring the differences.

Let’s get into it!

1. Post Structure

Instagram is primarily a photo-sharing app that also branched out to video content through Reels . Facebook, on the other hand, combines visual content with text as well. 

You’ve just tried imagining how adding just a block of text to Instagram (without the picture) would be like, right? 

This can be considered the main difference between Instagram and Facebook. You can’t post text on Instagram if you don’t have a visual cue.

2. Social Media Games

Another difference is related to what you can do on Facebook: play. Again, this is a feature you might not think about straight away, but games are not available on Instagram.

3. Image Albums

Another aspect worth mentioning is the posting structure on both platforms.

On Facebook, you can create albums for your pictures.  On Instagram, however, your pictures aren’t placed in albums. Instagram Stories are the only ones that you can categorize as “ Story Highlights .”

4. Desktop and Mobile Optimization

Now we’ll talk about how desktop-friendly these platforms are. Facebook has the same features on all devices. You can share a Facebook post from a desktop, as well as a mobile phone.

Things tend to change a bit when it comes to Instagram. While you can log in and view posts, you can’t post from a desktop device. Instagram is more tied to the mobile phone, and you can only post from it.

5. Link Sharing

On Facebook, you can always post links and make them the main part of your social media posts.

Maybe you want to share some important industry news or promote one of your blog articles and have them appear on your followers’ news feed.

You will be able to share the link on your Facebook page, have a preview of it visible to your followers, and allow them to click on the link.

However, when it comes to Instagram posts, clickable links can’t be used in post descriptions. They are only allowed in your account’s bio.

So, in order for you to share an article on your Instagram account, you will have to create a visual for the content you want to promote (since there are no link previews on Instagram) and redirect your followers to click the link in bio.

Look at how we at SocialBee promote our articles on Instagram:

If you have more links you want to share with your audience, you can use Instagram tools like Linktree to include more of them in your bio.

6. Account Bio

Speaking of bio links, let’s expand on the topic of bios and what you can add to a Facebook bio compared to what you can include in an Instagram one.

Facebook provides business pages with much more options when it comes to creating their bio.

Here is what you can include in your Facebook bio with a business account:

• Business description
• Company’s business hours
• Address & contact information
• Links to your website and Instagram page
• Facebook Messenger button that automatically opens a conversation tab 

For an Instagram business account, the options are a bit more restrictive.

Besides having the ability to add your company’s industry, you are limited to 150 characters. It’s up to you to decide how will you use those characters and what is the most important information you need to add to your bio.

Also, on Instagram, you can only add one clickable link to your bio. As we mentioned before, to add more than one link, you can different tools to redirect your followers to multiple pages from your Instagram bio.

Facebook Versus Instagram: Differences

• Facebook allows you to post images, digital lookbooks , videos, and text together or individually, while Instagram only allows you to post visual content (images and videos) with written captions — text-only posts can’t be shared on Instagram.
• Facebook has a Games feature, while Instagram doesn’t.
• You can create photo albums on Facebook. On Instagram, you can only categorize your Stories.
• Facebook is both desktop and mobile-friendly, while Instagram is more mobile-friendly.
• Facebook users can add clickable links to their posts, while on Instagram, the only clickable links you can find are in the bio.
• On Facebook, you can build more comprehensive bios while on Instagram you are limited by the character count.

Now that we know both the similarities and differences between Facebook and Instagram, it’s time to go more in-depth about their audience information and the user engagement rate.

Facebook Versus Instagram: Demographics

Instagram vs Facebook continues the battle when it comes to the key audience they serve as well. 

And knowing how many active users and what age groups they’re a part of can take your social media marketing strategy to the next level. Moreover, demographics can give you a good idea of the direction you can take.

In the end, if you don’t target the right segment, you might waste important time and resources. 

By looking at different Instagram and Facebook statistics, we can see that their biggest demographic is made up of people aged between 25 – 34 years old .

However, while Facebook is famous for older people, Instagram is more popular among teenagers and young adults. The platform has more users under the age of 24 and fewer users above 34 than Facebook. And this is why the main content developed for Instagram marketing will be more oriented toward Instagram’s younger user base. 

And if we’re talking demographics, we can also talk numbers. How many people use a specific social network can also help you make a decision. 

Facebook is by far the leader of popularity, as it has 2.96 billion monthly active users. Instagram is not that far away from the race, though, as it’s experienced steady growth over the years. Nowadays, we’re talking about 2.4 billion Instagram users .

With such a great online audience, it would be a shame if your content would get lost in the crowd. To make sure that doesn’t happen, you can download the free  Best Times to Post on Social Media sheet below and schedule your content to post according to professional recommendations.

This simple step can drastically improve your reach and engagement levels on all the most popular platforms. Use the 14-day SocialBee trial to create your optimized social media schedule and test it out for free!

Instagram vs Facebook User Engagement 

Facebook is usually the place to start for most businesses. 

We’ve mentioned that it has more than 2 billion monthly active users . And this will also help you get the best out of your social media marketing strategy. But then again, the same thing seems to happen on Instagram. 

The numbers are not that different in the case of monthly users. And this platform can bring a lot of visibility to your business as well. So, what gives?

There’s no perfect formula behind the user engagement equation. It’s all going to break down to the platform your users are most used to. And, of course, the type of content you are going to concentrate the mo st on.

If your business is more oriented towards the visual component, go for Instagram as a main social media channel. There is one difference that we can mention here between Facebook versus Instagram.

Instagram is considered more attractive in terms of how its content is presented.

Instagram users follow more visually pleasing accounts. They open the application, see the images or videos, and either tap on them to like them or move on. This is a reason why your audience is likely to engage more with your Instagram content. Be it Instagram Stories, Instagram Reels, or IGTV.

Talking about Facebook, the presentation is similar but still different. When you open the app, you can’t control the type of content you’ll see. The first post can be a piece of news, a video, an image, but it’s never one type of content only. 

If your audience is keener on reading a post, you will have to lean more toward Facebook.  How you will build and present your brand will also matter. 

If you’re targeting business owners, Facebook is your go-to for user engagement. That is because this free social media platform is more flexible. You can engage your audience with a good text, generally curated blog posts, as well as jaw-dropping pictures or videos.

If you say sales, you place yourself in the Facebook camp again. That is because you can also benefit from Facebook paid advertising to put together a great lead generation campaign.

While you can also invest in Instagram ads, the platform is more suitable if you want to dwell on influencer marketing. This social media platform allows you to be as visual as you want. And it also allows your audience to be there with you by using the Live feature.

So, if you want to give your audience a glimpse of your life, Instagram will become your go-to.

Keep in mind that how users engage with your brand depends on a lot of factors like who they are, what they’re interested in, and what your business wants to achieve.

Instagram vs Facebook Content

We know how the platforms work, who they’re addressing to, and how they provide user engagement. But then again, there’s a bit of a catch with the type of content both social media platforms promote. 

Think about the following scenario: you have an image that you want to promote.

You end up choosing to do that on both Facebook and Instagram. But then you realize that the image has more success on a platform and less on the other. And you might be wondering why this happens since it’s the same image.

It’s important to mention that you can have the same content on both social media platforms. What makes the difference is how posting content works on Instagram vs Facebook. 

You can post one to three times a day on Instagram, whereas, on Facebook, things change a bit. The recommendation is to post around three times a week. So, cross-sharing might not be the best approach in this situation.

What is suitable for a specific platform might not be as much for the other ones. And this applies in the case of Facebook vs Instagram as well.

There is no need to worry because with SocialBee you can create separate content schedules for both Facebook and Instagram. This will help you increase your reach and engagement by scheduling content at the best time .

Here is SocialBee’s schedule setup from where users can oversee and adjust their content strategy from a visual content calendar.

Start your 14-day free trial and have your content organized like this too!

Additionally, you can create content categories to diversify your content and publish posts that work best for each channel.  It doesn’t matter only when and how often you post, but also how you personalize your content.

With SocialBee, you can share the same post on multiple social media accounts, and, with the help of the variations feature, you can make small adjustments in terms of copy or visuals.

Which Is Better: Instagram or Facebook?

There is no universal answer, it depends on the nature of your business.

Each platform has its specific elements that make it more successful for a marketer. And the choice will depend entirely on the needs of the business in the cause.

If it were to be a discussion about Instagram vs Facebook: which one is better, it might lead to false hopes. Because what works for one business on Instagram will not work for the other business on the same platform.

Your business might even benefit more if it uses both platforms, for example. This is why understanding both platforms and always being in the loop will become key players for your digital marketing strategy.

Improve Your Social Media Presence with Facebook and Instagram

Social media is a great place for digital marketing strategies and efforts. But when you have to choose between Instagram vs Facebook, there are quite a few factors to take into consideration.

Even if both platforms are similar in what they offer and how they behave, they are still different from each other. And this uniqueness asks for different strategies adapted to the platform.  Another thing to consider is that both of them are ever-changing. Thus, strategies also have to adapt to any newly added features.

Regardless of what you chose, just remember that SocialBee can help you create and share content on both platforms. 

You don’t have to decide between the Facebook and Instagram app. In fact, you can actually customize your content for each channel and make the most out of both platforms.

Start your 14-day free trial today and start posting on Facebook and Instagram easier than ever before!

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Table of Contents

Instagram: growing audience, new opportunities, facebook: big audience, big changes, instagram: big audience & new opportunities, final thoughts, instagram vs. facebook: should you use one or both.

Facebook and Instagram are among the hottest social media platforms across the globe, with 2.32 billion and 1 billion monthly active users, respectively. While, Thirty-seven percent of U.S. adults now use Instagram, up from only 10 percent in 2012.

Given the immense popularity and audience size of these social networks , it can be tempting to spread resources across sites.  

But is this the best strategy for marketers to effectively reach their audience Let’s take a look at the data to determine whether Facebook or Instagram – or both – is the right decision for your brand?

Want to start with social media marketing, but not sure which social media platform to use? Check out the video below that will compare them based on some important stats, industries that can take advantage of these platforms, and how they help with marketing.

Now, let us look at the Instagram vs. Facebook differences, let's start with the audience part.

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At one time, Instagram was labeled as the photo-sharing app for youth, but its audience is growing and diversifying. Today, 67 percent of 18-29-year-olds say they use Instagram, so it remains the platform’s most sizeable audience.

( Source: pewresearch )

Next, let's look at the Facebook audience

Without a doubt, Facebook retains the most massive audience of all social media platforms worldwide. In the U.S. alone, more than two-thirds of adults say they use the site.

The social network also boasts the most advanced targeting options for marketers who want to advertise. For marketers, these facts are hard to ignore.

What brand doesn’t want to get in front of that many people? Not to mention, all the right people?

The numbers also show another side: Facebook u sage among U.S. teens has dropped , with the majority of the younger generation spending time on YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat.

Recently, a report suggested that  Facebook engagement is experiencing a gradual decline . While people are still using the platform, they are not spending as much time on it as they did previously.

( Source: socialmediatoday )

Then, there are the numerous scandals surrounding Facebook, from data breaches to privacy issues. (Regardless of these problems, users still seem to be logging on to their accounts.)

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So, now that we’ve seen how great a marketing opportunity Facebook is, let’s look at some of the ways we can make the best of it. First, let’s talk about Facebook Business Pages. 

For marketers, Instagram can be an especially appealing venue, as 80 percent of users follow at least one business. Even more attractive –  60 percent of users seek out and discover new products on Instagram.

In short, users are starting to expect brands to have a presence on Instagram, and they want to be able to find their products there, as well.

Another primary consideration: Instagram has the highest engagement rate of all social media platforms. This trend has its advantages.

When it comes to advertising on  Instagram , brands are voting with their dollars. By the end of 2019, Instagram will account for nearly a  quarter of Facebook’s advertising revenue (since Facebook owns Instagram).

And it’s expected to keep on growing.

Now that we’ve covered some of the most important stats related to Instagram, let’s look at how to take advantage of the advertising options offered by Instagram. 

Facebook Business Pages

These enable your brand to create an online presence for itself on the Facebook platform. All of this is for free. These pages help you:

• Give your customers and other interested users constant updates
• Connect people with the products or services that you offer
• Interact with your customer, increase engagement, get feedback, and offer customer service
• Share details on offers, deals, and other promotions
• Build a community of users loyal to your brand 
• Establish yourself as an authority within your niche

Now, let’s take a look at Facebook Groups. 

Instagram Business Accounts

A business profile for your brand would let it be recognized as a business. It also provides users with several benefits. Business accounts can help with: 

• Providing access to Instagram Insights
• Adding a contact button to your profile
• Showing the industry you belong to you
• Adding links to your profile

Facebook Groups

Facebook groups offer a space for brands to create a community of like-minded people loyal to your brand. 

Groups can help you with: 

• Attaining a highly targeted audience that can be advertised to 
• Enabling group members to learn new things from one another
• Getting honest feedback from your audience
• Increasing engagement with your audience
• Significantly increasing the number of conversions and potential leads

Next up, we have Facebook Events. 

Facebook Events

Facebook events help brands or other organizations mobilize their brand while giving them the option to perform online consumer marketing. 

They can also help with: 

• Giving you a platform for letting your audience know about essential announcements
• Providing you a free advertising opportunity
• Increasing brand awareness

Now, we’ll have a look at Facebook Stories. An option available for both Groups and Pages. 

Facebook Stories (Groups and Pages)

Facebook Stories enable you to represent your brand directly from a device like a smartphone or desktop of your choosing. Stories help with:

• Engaging with your audience with the help of relatable and personal content
• Humanizing your brand
• Reaching a large number of people frequently

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Instagram Stories 

These help you grow your brand’s engagement, build brand awareness, drive sales, and provide users with recent updates. Stories can help with: 

• Creating an audience for your brand
• Engaging with your audience regularly
• Driving traffic to your websites
• Offering you to post a variety of content

Next up, we have Facebook Messenger. 

Facebook Messenger

Facebook Messenger is a popular tool using which your brand can connect with people on a personal level. Messenger can help with: 

• Acquiring new customers
• Enabling transactions
• Driving awareness 

Next up, let’s take a look at Instagram DMs. 

Instagram DMs (Direct Messages)

Direct messages can enable your brand to use Instagram’s direct messaging feature to grow your business. It can help with: 

• Building connection within your industry
• Increasing the brand loyalty of your followers
• Easing lead generation and conversions

Another popular and available option is Facebook Live. 

Facebook Live

Facebook Live enables organizations to engage with their audience in real-time. Facebook Live helps with: 

• Repurposing live videos to be used on your business pages or groups as content. 
• Showing what goes on behind the scenes, and helping in humanizing your brand
• Allowing users to interact with your brand with Q&A sessions, and more

Next up, we’ll take a look at Instagram Live. 

Instagram Live

IG Live can help you communicate with your audience in real-time, improving discoverability and your connection with your users. It can help with: 

• Getting great visibility
• Getting immediate notifications for a live stream
• Interacting with your followers in real-time

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Next, let’s take a look at the Facebook Shop option. 

Facebook Shop

Facebook Shop is a business page tab application through which customers can purchase products directly from your store. It can help with: 

• Driving new conversions
• Engaging with potential customers
• Providing details regarding new deals and promotions
• Rewarding brand advocates for their loyalty
• Building brand awareness and recognition

Instagram Shop 

Instagram Shop can help you incorporate your product catalog with your product profile. It can also help with: 

• Easy product discoverability 
• More sales opportunities, conversions, and much more

Now, let’s take a look at Facebook Ads. 

Facebook Ads

Facebook Ads would help spread product/ brand awareness in the News Feed of a specific, targeted audience on Facebook. It can help you with: 

• Finding the right audience for your brand
• Spending lesser for greater reach
• Retargeting existing audiences
• Increasing revenue, sales, and leads

Instagram Ads

The different kinds of Instagram Ads that can be run are: 

• Carousel Ads
• Slideshow Ads
• Stories Ads

And finally, let’s take a look at Facebook Insights. 

Facebook Insights

It can help provide information that can help track and measure results to refine your marketing campaign . Insights can help determine:

• Reach and engagement
• Posts, and much more.

Other additional details you can obtain are:

• When your fans are online
• The post types that are most successful for you
• The top posts from pages you watch, and much more.

And finally, we have Instagram Insights.

Instagram Insights

Instagram Insights is an analytical tool that can give you data on follower demographics, actions, and brand content. Insights can help determine: 

• Impressions and reach
• The ratio of engagement to reach
• Best to worst performing content
• Profile visits
• Website clicks and much more

The Takeaway

Considering all this, should marketers use Facebook as part of their social marketing strategy?

While fewer teens are spending time on the platform than before, and overall engagement is down, Facebook continues to have the largest audience of all social media networks. Decreasing engagement is not considerable enough to abandon the site altogether.

Brands should have a presence on Facebook to legitimize their organization and reach their audience – whether organically, paid, or both.

Now that you have an overall view of where Instagram is heading, should you use it as part of your social media strategy?

While I think there are plenty of opportunities on this particular platform for some brands, I don’t see it as ubiquitous as Facebook (not yet, at least).

Before tapping into this newer social media network, I think it wise to understand your audience fully and whether or not they spend their time there.

If they do, it could be a precious space to reach your audience with the appropriate messaging. If not, it could be a waste of your resources.

For brands with a diversified audience (older and younger generations), I can see Facebook and Instagram being a winning combination. Marketers can reach both audiences where they spend their time, with content that is relevant and effective.

If your brand’s audience is more focused (older or younger), then it may be best served with one platform or the other.

Lastly, if you still feel unsure, try out both platforms and do some testing. After all, the last thing you want to do is leave anything to chance. To learn more about other Digital marketing strategies and best practices, do check out our Digital Marketing Certification Course and Post Graduate Program in Digital Marketing.

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Facebook vs. Instagram: Each generation has its social network

Boomers connected with their lost friends on facebook. millennials did it themselves through an instagram filter. but one generation dominates the networks: gen z.

“Facebook is the geriatric ward,” argues the British newspaper The Economist . “It’s the cemetery: you go in to see who has died,” says Felipe Romero, a partner at The Cocktail consulting firm. Its current mission is equivalent to that of the yellow pages at the end of the 20th century: to prove that you exist, or that you have at some time existed. It was the first social network and it brought boomers, generation Xers and millennials together in a happy conjunction where people reconnected with ex-boyfriends and schoolmates. There was human dialogue — that is, one person spoke and another answered — and no one on the platform was an artificial intelligence . There was laughter, tears, arguments, and reconciliations. That was engagement, but no one knew it: marketing jargon had not yet contaminated everything.

By 2012, leaving Facebook had become the ethical and moral posturing of millennials who stopped logging in but did not delete their accounts. Between active users and lost souls, there are 3.049 billion Facebook accounts. “Engagement time is low, but we are still there,” says Romero. In 2023, Facebook’s profits soared by 69%, thanks, among other things, to the millions invested by political parties and their candidates. In the “geriatric ward,” it gets messy from time to time. Nobody beats Facebook in emotional manipulation to create a sense of community against a common enemy. That is why it is still the field where the most delirious conspiracies play out.

Well into the second decade of the last century, between 1981 and 1996, a narcissistic and dramatic generation was born: millennials. They invented the selfie and a whole anthropological and esthetic category: the instagrammable. Instagram was filled with self-portraits, first amateurish and poorly lit, then quasi-professional. Facial recognition algorithms had a field day while a whole generation was pouting and trying out every available filter. The marketing experts who sublimated this generation at the time now say it is “the most stereotyped and vilified” generation on the internet. “People aged between 25 and 38 live the Instagram boom to the fullest, and many display a huge resistance to changing platform even when they consume content on Instagram bounced from Tik¬Tok,” says content creator and author Álvaro L. Pajares.

Pajares set up a TikTok account for his grandmother because he found it the easiest and most intuitive ecosystem for the elderly. She was delighted. “A lot of people over 50 are very happy there,” he says. Pew Research Center data show that 56% of U.S. adults aged 18-34 have a TikTok account, but only half have ever posted a video. This behavior is identical to that of users between 35 and 49 years of age on the same social network. On TikTok, most of us are voyeurs of what a highly professionalized minority creates. For Pew Research Center, the ultimate proof of how unimportant it is to socialize there is that 70% of users do not fill in their biography field and have never received a like.

Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012, is the most sophisticated generation in the use of social networks and has no need to socialize, at least not like their predecessors did. They post and they don’t care what their followers think. They are the true digital natives and they surf the web with their own rules. A Gallup survey from 2023 claims that the late Generation Z spends about five hours online every day, but hopping between seven different platforms. They are in the majority on Instagram (Gallup estimates that 80% of gen-zedders will be there by 2027, compared to 79.1% who will have TikTok accounts), but they spend more time on the Chinese platform. Struck by confinement during the pandemic, Generation Z saw their school schedules and leisure time contaminated on screens. That’s why they are passionate about routines. The longer and neater, the better: 1,000-step skincare , rules for taking a eucalyptus bath, hierarchies for organizing the closet by range of whites. Order, control and an Anglo-Saxon word for everything: esthetic.

Curiously, a generation that doesn’t seem eager to cultivate anarchy is iconoclastic with its networks: Generation Z spends two-thirds of its day on TikTok but goes to Instagram to send direct messages; it swaps Google for TikTok for searches, and has a good time on X, the former Twitter. The gen-zedders have turned X into a huge streaming forum for commenting on reality television. According to the Gallup survey, while other generations gave Elon Musk the cold shoulder (almost 10% abandoned Twitter after the tech magnate’s purchase of the platform ), only 2% of Gen-Z users left. For them, X is not a confrontational space. Another surprising statistic: Andrew McCaskill, career expert at LinkedIn, an adult-focused and bland network, told The Cut that 41% of content on the platform between 2021 and 2023 had been created by gen-zedders.

The latest demographic pirouette heralds the advent of the Alpha generation, described as the mini-millennials in some quarters. These are currently aged under 14 and 2.8 million are born every week in the world. The UK newspaper The Times profiles them thus: “They know how to edit a video but not how to tie a shoelace. They eat sushi and think spam is a type of email. They will learn to drive in an electric car and have never seen a landline telephone.” We could add: they lock themselves in the bathroom with their parents’ phone and TikTok account, and take retinol before the age of 12... It will be the largest generation in history. Perhaps they will no longer be amused by social networks. A fast-paced, intelligent, and artificial world awaits them.

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Difference Between Facebook and Instagram

• Categorized under internet | Difference Between Facebook and Instagram

Social media dominance has increased dramatically over the past few years with popular social networking sites like Facebook , Instagram, Twitter , Snapchat, etc. leading the race. Social media usage has witnessed an unprecedented growth over the past decade, thanks to Facebook and Instagram which dominate the social media ecosystem. Social media has seen a significant surge in active monthly users in the last two years and looking at the numbers, it’s only increasing with no signs of going back. It’s almost surprising to see how social media has evolved over the past decade. Today, social media dominance has reached such an extent even the remotest parts of the world have knew about Facebook and Instagram, and they are most likely using it every day. Facebook undoubtedly dominates the social media scene in terms of audience reach and engagement, but Instagram is good at making noise too. This article looks at the two popular social media sites and explains how they differ from each other.

What is Facebook?

Facebook has been at the forefront of social networking scene for the past couple of years. Facebook is a California-based social media giant that has evolved from a simple online networking site to a social networking powerhouse. What started out just as a plain website for Harvard students has now become the internet sensation with billions of users worldwide. It has come a long way since its debut in 2004. The first major design overhaul to Facebook was the “News Feed” being added to a user’s homepage along with the “Mini Feed” that started appearing on individual profile pages. In 2011, Facebook ditched the “wall” to introduce its infamous “Timeline”. It was the brainchild of Mark Zuckerberg which has now become the most popular buzzword among the social media community. Facebook took the social media world by storm when it bought the popular photo-sharing application, Instagram in 2012. The acquisition was a game changer for the social media giant who squashed a potential threat to its dominance.

What is Instagram?

Instagram is a popular photo-sharing application which allows users to share pictures onto their profiles. It was an idea to create a one-stop photo-sharing platform that has now become the second-most popular social media platform out there, with over 300 million active users. It was initially launched in 2010 exclusively for the iOS as an image-centric social media platform. The big change happened when Instagram removed its restriction to go non-square. The decision has not only given a major boost to the app but also inspired it to go an extra mile. Today Instagram is a multifaceted platform that has established itself as a popular buzzword among the youths. Instagram has also spurred a revolution in branding and advertising by providing a platform for the most prominent brands to endorse their products. Instagram has moved beyond photography and its biggest upgrade so far came last year with the worldwide availability of Instagram Live – a feature that allows you to broadcast video to your followers in real-time.

Difference between Facebook and Instagram

Introduction to facebook and instagram.

Facebook is a general social networking website that allows users to create online profiles, share pictures and videos, send messages, and keep in touch with friends, family or colleagues over a common platform. Instagram, on the other hand, is almost like Facebook but it’s more photo-centric with emphasis on photos and videos. It’s more like a photo-sharing application.

Community in Facebook and Instagram

Despite the common goal, they are two separate social media platforms with different approaches to networking. Facebook is mostly a closed-knit community of people who know each other. For example, you can be group with your graduation buddies, you can be group with your workplace colleagues, you can join your family group, etc. Instagram lets you build and join communities of people who share your common interest such as pets, photography, fashion, movies, technology, travel, etc.

Consumer Reach for Facebook and Instagram

Facebook has been around much longer than mostly every social networking platform out there, including Instagram. This makes Facebook clearly a dominant player among the social networking community with a much larger consumer reach and active users. Instagram , although rapidly growing, has relatively lesser user database in terms of consumer reach but it’s quite popular among youths. Facebook is generally targeted at all age groups.

Mobility for Facebook and Instagram

Unlike Facebook, Instagram relies heavily on mobility meaning the landing pages should be hundred percent optimized for mobile users so that advertisers would make the best of their online presence on Instagram. Although roughly a third of Facebook users log in with their phones, still a majority of users prefer mobile websites or web versions of Facebook. However, it’s perfectly optimized for mobile users.

Targeting Consumer for Facebook and Instagram

Brand awareness is the key to every business which requires you to understand your target audience based on age, gender, interests, etc. Instagram is ideal for business targeting younger demographic, whereas Facebook is great for businesses targeting older generation users who have relatively higher spending.

Brand Awareness of Facebook and Instagram

Studies suggest brand awareness with Instagram is much more effective than it does with Facebook. Average engagement per post is higher than Facebook, thanks to all the visually appealing posts. Instagram is surely better at creating brand awareness than Facebook.

Facebook vs. Instagram: Comparison Chart

Summary of Facebook Vs.  Instagram

While both are the two most popular social media platforms out there, they have their fair share of differences on various fronts. Instagram is all about photos and videos; it’s a photo-sharing application. Facebook, on the other hand, is multifaceted which lets you do anything; you can create and join groups, shop, share photos and videos , create an event, and more with Facebook. Instagram is a neat app without much clutter which makes it easy to navigate and work your way around, whereas Facebook, on the other hand, is a multi-purpose application with lots of features which makes it a little hard to process everything that’s going on around Facebook.

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Cite APA 7 Khillar, S. (2019, April 5). Difference Between Facebook and Instagram. Difference Between Similar Terms and Objects. http://www.differencebetween.net/technology/internet/difference-between-facebook-and-instagram/. MLA 8 Khillar, Sagar. "Difference Between Facebook and Instagram." Difference Between Similar Terms and Objects, 5 April, 2019, http://www.differencebetween.net/technology/internet/difference-between-facebook-and-instagram/.

What if – HAL was introduced to the world? Your probably asking what the hell is that. H20 Hollogramatic Assimilation Light technology. Maybe one day someone will figure it out and invent it. I’ll give you a clue to get you started. (((electronics will become fossilised))). Have a good day.

Very nice article with clarity

Thank you for sharing this info. A great help for my study

It was a pleasure reading your articles. Also, I agree that Instagram creates better brand awareness than Facebook

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Facebook vs. Instagram: Which Channel Is Best For You?

Written by Michael Keenan

@upmostmike

March 22, 2022

Social media is a numbers game, right? Like most marketers, you probably closely monitor how many followers you have, likes you get, impressions you make, and orders you receive. And from a numbers perspective, it’s easy to view Facebook as the top social media channel to focus on. 

After all, Facebook is the biggest social network worldwide, with roughly 2.91 billion monthly active users. Instagram, on the other hand, has around one billion monthly active users . So why wouldn’t you just pour all your social media efforts into Facebook? 

Well, the answer depends on other important factors, like who you’re targeting, the platform’s algorithm, and your campaign goals. This article will show the key differences between Facebook and Instagram so you can decide where to run your future social media marketing campaigns. 

What’s the difference between Facebook and Instagram?

The key difference between Facebook and Instagram is that Instagram only enables posting photos and videos. Facebook allows you to post photos and videos as well other types of media, like articles, quizzes, website links, and long videos. 

Instagram is a free online photo and short video social media platform, while Facebook is a free social media platform where users can share different post types with other users. 

Facebook has web and mobile app versions, both of which are popular with users. Although Instagram is also accessible from a web browser, it’s mobile app version is more user-friendly and widely used. 

It’s also worth noting that while Facebook has a much larger global base of users than Instagram, Instagram’s audience is younger.

Facebook versus Instagram by the numbers

Upon digging deeper into the data, you’ll find that both Instagram and Facebook have specific divergences that make them better-suited to particular marketing campaigns. 

Audience demographics

Both social media platforms have different audience demographics. Instagram targets a younger demographic mostly comprised of people under 30. 

As of Q4 2021, 31 percent of global active Instagram users were between the ages of 18 and 24. More than half of the global Instagram population is 34 or younger.

It’s popular among users seeking style inspiration, creative ideas, new trends, and learning about what influencers are up to. If your brand wants to reach a younger, visually-aware millennial audience, visibility on Instagram is essential. 

Facebook has a broader base of different age groups. Though platform targets young people, adults, and the elderly, it appeals more to a slightly older age group. (Currently, around 32 percent of Facebook’s users are between 25-34 and 18 percent are 35-44.) 

Its extensive audience demographics can be useful for brands with a more widespread appeal looking to target varied audience segments in multiple locations. 

One of Facebook’s biggest benefits is that brands can easily target specific user demographics (like age) and then further segment this group by location, profession, and interests.

If you’re running an ad campaign on Faceook, you can easily customize it to reach people in your target age range or other segments (more on this later). 

Although many people believe Facebook’s popularity faded during Q3 2021, Facebook still reported approximately 1.93 billion daily active users (66% of monthly active users). And in the U.S alone, the daily time spent on social media is just over two hours. 

In comparison, 63 percent of Instagram users in the United States accessed the photo-sharing app on a daily basis.

The majority of users on both social media platforms are active on a daily basis. But the key is to think about the intention behind users’ interactions with the platform. 

Generally, Instagram emphasizes inspiration, discovery, and observation. 

Instagram is often seen as a resource for learning about new brands, places, and trends. People use it to get new ideas and be visually inspired. 

Facebook, on the other hand, prioritizes personal connections and interacting with content shared by friends and family.  In fact, 88 percent of users say that they use Facebook to stay in contact with friends and family; only 17 percent say they use it to follow brands/companies.

For that reason, it’s not always best for building brand visibility since most people use it to interact with people they know. 

Functionality

Facebook and Instagram cater to different use cases. Instagram is set up for sharing videos and images while Facebook enables more varied post types. 

Facebook provides audiences with substantial information and caters to diverse demographics with different expectations. People log on to view videos, read posts, see Stories, read the news, play games, and learn about new events. Users can even find personal information about individuals, business history and contact information, and events businesses hold. 

Instagram users expect clear and visual information when they log onto the platform. It’s easy to quickly scan an image and a couple of lines of accompanying text in the caption. 

Thinking about each platform’s functionality will help you create a marketing campaign that plays to your chosen channel’s strengths. 

According to recent studies, clicking on Facebook ads is the most popular activity its users engage in. In any given month, the average Facebook user clicks on 12 ads ; in the U.S., this number rises to 18 ad clicks per month. 

Users trust Facebook to show relevant ads. For that reason, it’s worth leveraging this trust to launch your own ad campaigns. 

If you’re running ads on either Facebook or Instagram, you’ll want to pay attention to the cost of running the campaign and how it will impact your revenue. Facebook ads are generally better valued than Instagram ads (as measured by a per-click basis). 

On average, the CPC value works out at  $0.49 for Facebook ads and $1.09 for Instagram. Seeing as Instagram’s cost per click is more than double that of Facebook, you’ll need to make a clear budget and stick to it so you don’t risk running over it when you a run a campaign on the platform. 

Facebook also has a much higher CTR for its ad campaigns. In fact, Facebook has the highest CTR overall—3.06% on average—compared to Instagram’s, which is 0.68%.  

Having a low CPC and high CTR isn’t the be-all and end-all, however. You need those clicks to be high value too. 

While each industry will have different CPCs and CTRs on each platform, Facebook is the clear winner. This is likely due to its highly customizable ad campaigns. While Instagram enables some customization, its filters aren’t as strong as Facebook’s. 

Algorithm 

Algorithms have the power to get your content in front of the right people. Ultimately it’s not about the quantity of views you get or impressions you make but their quality . 

Social media feed algorithms decide which posts are seen by particular users and in what order they appear. 

In the past, you might remember chronological news feeds that simply displayed all posts in order. While this timeline style was handy for making sure you didn’t miss any posts, it was messy if you were following hundreds of accounts. After all, how could you be sure you were going to see your favorite accounts’ most recent posts?

There was no way of getting them to the top. Algorithms are designed to give the end-user more of what they want –– relevant posts that they’ll engage with. This is great news as a marketer. Once you understand how both channels’ algorithms work, you can use them to your advantage and make better choices around your campaign planning. 

While the exact science behind Facebook and Instagram algorithms remain a closely guarded secret, some key ingredients separate them from one another.

Instagram’s algorithm looks at: 

• Relevancy : How relevant is the post’s genre to the user? 
• Timeliness: The most recently published posts are ranked higher.
• Time spent looking at the post: The time spent viewing a post and not scrolling past it. 
• Engagement: The number of likes and comments on the post.
• Relationships : Posts from accounts that the users interact with more frequently appear higher.
• Profile searches: Posts from accounts that users search for often rank higher. 
• Shares: Posts from accounts the user has shared with others rank higher.

Notice how Facebook’s algorithm prioritizes other factors,. 

Facebook’s algorithm values: 

• Family and friends: Posts from personal accounts from people like friends and family appear higher. In other words, business accounts and brands are pushed down in ranking importance. 
• Promotional posts are downgraded: Posts that push people into making purchases or taking part in competitions are demoted. 
• Bait is deprioritized: Posts that aggressively push for likes, comments, shares, tags, or votes rank lower. 
• Engagement: Posts that receive comments, likes, and shares in a short amount of time rank higher.
• Images and videos: Visual posts rank higher, while text-only posts are demoted. 

With a better understanding of how both algorithms work, you can see which types of posts are more likely to perform best on each channel. While Facebook might seem like the obvious choice for brands that want to reach a massive global audience, its algorithms aren’t always the most friendly towards promotional content. 

How to choose which channel is best for your brand

Whether you run a local business selling organic groceries or a drop-shipping brand selling dog collars, a strong social media presence is vital for building brand visibility and trust. In all likelihood, you should and probably already have an active business account on both Facebook and Instagram. 

By having active profiles on both social media platforms, you can choose the best platform to run each of your campaigns on. 

For example, if you want to target New York-based millennial dog owners for your latest dog treat product, you might find that Instagram is best for engaging with potential customers and sharing engaging organic posts. 

But if you run a green grocer and want to run a hyper-targeted campaign aimed at a local market of working professionals in their forties living in downtown Seattle, Facebook is probably the better social media platform. It enables you to run a highly targeted campaign without burning through your ad budget quite so fast. 

The key is to think about the goals of each of your marketing campaigns. Are you trying to build authenticity and engage with more of your target audience? Or are you trying to advertise a specific product or service to a smaller, highly defined audience in a specific location? 

Answering these questions will help you choose between Facebook and Instagram when it’s time to launch your next social media marketing campaign.  

Final thoughts: Instagram versus Facebook

Facebook and Instagram are powerful tools for building your brand’s online visibility. Instead of focusing on just one, it’s best to use both Facebook and Instagram in tandem and take advantage of their unique strengths. 

Facebook is a great entrance to online stores or other media sources because you can post links anywhere. The platform’s paid ads are also cost-effective and well-suited for reaching diverse age groups and demographics. 

But if you’re looking to directly interact with younger customers and create a stronger brand identity, Instagram is your best bet. 

Both platforms have their pros and cons –– the important thing is to know how to tie them to your goals and use them to your advantage..

Grow your Instagram following and make sales with Instagram Automation by ManyChat. Start free today.

Home » Business » Management » Marketing » Digital Marketing » What is the Difference Between Instagram and Facebook

What is the Difference Between Instagram and Facebook

The main difference between Instagram and Facebook is that Instagram allows posting photos and short videos, whereas Facebook allows sharing various types of media, including photos, short and long videos, articles, website links, and quizzes.

Instagram and Facebook are two of the most popular social media platforms around the globe. Facebook was founded in 2004 and currently has over 2 billion users, whereas Instagram was founded in 2010. In 2012, Facebook acquired Instagram, and today, Instagram is a part of the Facebook family.

Key Areas Covered

1.  What is Instagram       – Definition, Features 2.  What is Facebook      – Definition, Features 3. Difference Between Instagram and Facebook      – Comparison of Key Differences

Instagram, Facebook

What is Instagram

Instagram is a free, online photo-sharing social media platform and application popular all over the world. It allows users to upload photos and short videos using a mobile app, add captions and hashtags to them and share with other users. Each post by a user appears on their followers’ feeds. If the user has added hashtags or geotags, they can also be viewed by the public. More importantly, Instagram users can also make their profiles private so that only their followers can view their posts. In addition, like any other social media network, Instagram users can like, comment on others’ posts and share private messages with their friends.

When considering the origin of Instagram, the word Instagram itself is an amalgam of “instant camera” and “telegram. Instagram’s iOS app version was released on October 6, 2010, while the Android app was released on April 3, 2012. Originally, Instagram only allowed sharing photos. Within two years of its inception, Instagram has millions of active users and caught the attention of Facebook, which officially purchased it.

What is Facebook

Facebook is the most popular social media platform in the world today, with over 1 billion users. It was created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg. Anyone over 13 years of age with a valid email address can join Facebook. It allows users to create free profiles, which give them the opportunity to connect with their friends, relatives, colleagues, and even people they do not. Facebook is a platform where users can share their pictures, videos, music, articles, as well as their thoughts and opinions, with others.  

When you have created a free account, you can send ‘friend requests’ to people you know (or don’t know). Once they have accepted your request, you become ‘friends’ on Facebook, and the two profiles are connected, which allows the two users to see whatever the other is sharing. Facebook users can also list their information on their profile – for example, what are they studying, where they are working, their birthday, and other details. This information is easily accessible to their friends. Facebook users can also chat privately with others online. Facebook also allows more interaction among users since they have many features like pages and groups.

Difference Between Instagram and Facebook

Instagram is a free, online photo-sharing social media platform and application, whereas Facebook is a free social media platform where users can share different types of information and posts with other users.

Type of Posts

Instagram allows posting photos and short videos, whereas Facebook allows sharing various types of media, including photos, short and long videos, articles, website links, and quizzes.

Facebook has a larger audience than Instagram. Facebook has 2.85 billion active monthly users, whereas Instagram has 1.074 billion monthly users.

Age Category

Instagram is more popular among youngsters than Facebook.

Facebook has both app and web versions, whereas Instagram is mostly used as an app.

The main difference between Instagram and Facebook is that Instagram allows posting photos and short videos, whereas Facebook allows sharing various types of media, including photos, short and long videos, articles, website links, and quizzes. In addition, Facebook has a larger audience than Instagram, but Instagram is more popular with young people.

1. “ Facebook: What Is Facebook? ” GCFGlobal.org. 2. Holak, Brian, and Emily McLaughlin. “ What Is Instagram? – Definition from WhatIs.com .” SearchCIO.

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Hasanthi is a seasoned content writer and editor with over 8 years of experience. Armed with a BA degree in English and a knack for digital marketing, she explores her passions for literature, history, culture, and food through her engaging and informative writing.

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Facebook vs. Instagram: What’s Better for Organic Brand Building?

Table of contents

Enjoy reading this blog post written by our experts or partners.

If you want to see what Databox can do for you, click here .

If you are wondering “Should I use Facebook or Instagram” or “How do I know which social media platform is right for my business?”, this blog post is for you .

If you are one of the people who say, “Oh, nobody uses Facebook anymore. The only people there are my parents and their friends, so logically Instagram is the way to go.” or “All the millennials are on Instagram, so I should choose this platform for our business.” – yes, this blog post is for you too .

Given the immense popularity and audience size of both platforms, it can be rather tempting to spread your resources across both social media networks.  

But is this really the best strategy to effectively reach your audience?

In order to determine whether Facebook or Instagram – or both – is the right decision for your brand, we’ll take a look at some crucial data and thoroughly explore the strengths and weaknesses of both platforms.

So let’s dive in.

• Instagram vs. Facebook by the numbers

Instagram vs. Facebook – Which Social Media Network is Better for Your Brand’s Strategy?

Facebook and instagram are both strong contenders for organic brand building.

Instagram vs. Facebook by the Numbers

When we take a look at the numbers, we can immediately notice that both platforms are super strong.

Facebook had a head start though, so it’s no wonder they have a bit larger user base and popularity. However, Instagram’s growth has been strong and steady, and we are expecting explosive growth over the next few years.

Considering the facts, it’s no wonder many brands try to leverage both Facebook and Instagram to build their brand.

Thomas Dalkins of OnBuy confirms this, “Here at OnBuy, we’re seeing success with both our Facebook and Instagram strategies. When it comes to organic follower increase, we find it easier to build our Instagram follower base.

In the last quarter of 2020, our organic page likes on Facebook have increased by 261% and our organic Instagram following has shot up by a whopping 487%.

Although both channels are growing, Facebook still takes the crown as the most effective social media site in terms of organic brand building. In this quarter, OnBuy’s Instagram engagement has shot up by 1002%, but this has been pipped to the post by Facebook, which boasts a huge surge of 1301%.” Further explains Dalkins.

Let’s look at the numbers and key stats now.

Total number of users

With over 2.7 billion monthly active users, Facebook leads the most users race. It is the biggest social platform with respect to the number of users. 

However, Instagram isn’t far behind with over 1 billion users. Considering how it only had 30 million users in 2012, it’s come a long way. 

Audience demographics

Audience demographics are one of the key factors in deciding which social platform to use for building your brand. SproutSocial has done an excellent job in outlining Facebook’s and Instagram’s usage among key demographics. 

So, when comparing age, Facebook is more popular among older generations, and Instagram is popular among the young, especially 13 years old to 17 years old.

Instagram see’s better engagement levels amongst the two platforms. According to a recent study, brands see 10x higher engagement rates of Instagram than Facebook.

On average, 95 million photos are uploaded daily on Instagram, and posts get approximately 4.2 billion likes per day. And that’s not all, 63% of Instagram users check the app at least once per day, and 42% open it multiple times within the same day.

We saw similar results in our recent survey too.

If you compare the visual aptitude of both these platforms,  Instagram images get an average o f 23% more engagement than their Facebook counterparts. And videos do even better. Videos on Instagram receive about 38% more engagement than images.

Let’s talk about Instagram Stories now.

Instagram stories are gaining more and more popularity with each passing day.

• Instagram stories are used by 500 million users every day .
• 60% of millennials either post or watch Instagram stories.
• Instagram Stories are used by 36% of businesses to promote their products.
• 50% of businesses on Instagram globally created at least one story during a typical month.
• 96% of US marketers plan to continue using Stories ads in the next 6 months.

So, Instagram Stories have become a critical marketing and brand building tool for marketers and brands.

On Facebook, users spend an average of 20 minutes per day on the site.

What kind of content performs best on Facebook?

Live streams. They do a lot better than recorded videos and picture posts. Users are 4x more likely to watch live streams than recorded videos. 

When we asked marketing professionals which social platform yields the most engagement, 65.4% said Instagram.

Editor’s Note: Want to track all your social media KPIs in one place? Download this HubSpot Social Media template dashboard to identify how many customers originated from each social media source. It monitors day-by-day visits from social media networks as well.

“From an organic brand-building standpoint, both Facebook and Instagram have served pivotal roles in growing our following”, explains Jeff Dundas of Talk Central . “However, in terms of viewership and follows, Instagram has proven to be superior to Facebook. But, in regards to users sharing our content and sending us inquiries via the platform’s chat function, Facebook has been more effective.”

Facebook and Instagram have their pros and cons, and yield different results for different brands. While some businesses see insane results via Instagram, others see equally amazing conversions through Facebook.

As Bilawal Gul of Essay River aptly says, “The thing to understand is both platforms provide different user experiences hence it is not appropriate to compare the two. Rather use the platforms according to your requirement to produce the desired results.” 

So, we asked 34 marketing pros what is their favorite social media platform for brand-building, and here’s what they said.

• Facebook yields better conversions
• Facebook helps reach a qualified audience
• Link building is easier with Facebook
• Facebook works better for local audiences
• Connecting via Facebook groups is an excellent brand building tactic
• Instagram wins in visual marketing
• Instagram sees higher engagement levels
• Organic reach is also higher on Instagram
• Easier to connect with followers on Instagram
• Instagram’s target audience is younger people

1. Facebook yields better conversions

“We find almost without exception that Instagram outperforms Facebook by 3-6x when it comes to engagement, but once we turn to conversions, Facebook almost always outperforms Instagram.

Sure, there are industries where this would be different, but for us (and our client accounts) we generally build that engagement and visibility on IG, then make the sale on FB.” Shares Adam Inglis of Digital Chimp .

Editor’s Note: Download this Facebook Pages dashboard template to better understand how people learn about your brand on Facebook. It also showcases your top-performing posts on Facebook.

2. Facebook helps reach qualified traffic

“I believe that Facebook is a much more powerful medium for building your brand, especially if your target is business owners.” Explains Francois-Louis Mommens of Linkody .

“The demographic of Facebook users shows that they’re much older than Instagram’s. Because of that, I’m able to reach more qualified traffic that might, in turn, buy my product. Going by logic, it’s evident that adults make more money than teenagers and require services for their businesses. Having an active business Facebook profile lets me approach more people and, perhaps, convince them to visit my website.”

Patrick Garde of ExaWeb Corporation and the Facebook ad experts we polled in this study on Facebook ads also share the same opinion. As Garde said “For our company, Facebook has been more effective when it comes to organic brand-building as compared to Instagram. 

One factor has been due to market share as 92.73% of social media users in the Philippines use Facebook vs. Instagram’s 0.63% market share. We can reach more people on Facebook, hence, we are able to receive more engagements on the platform.”

3. Link building is easier with Facebook

For bloggers and brands that use blogs as a primary content marketing tool, Facebook can be an excellent way to drive qualified audiences back to their website.

Dhruvir Zala of Scale Blogging says, “There’s no doubt Facebook qualifies in generating a targeted and huge amount of traffic for your blog.”

Why Facebook and not Instagram?

Zala explains, “Instagram does not allow users to post any URLs in the posts. Also, you can only post your URL (swipe up button) in the Instagram story once you cross 10k followers.

But here’s a trick. After the launch of the Instagram Reels, many bloggers and Affiliate Marketers have to start creating small clips. The results are amazing. This is because not many people are currently using reels.

On the other hand, Facebook has always been a traffic hub for bloggers. On Facebook, you can paste unlimited links. However, its policies are stricter in terms of links.

You can join as many groups as you like and start promoting your blog in a legit way.”

Jared Zabaldo of USAMM agrees and adds, “With Facebook still being the popular choice for posting articles and company news, it provides us with a better opportunity to share new blog posts, how-to guides and other user-friendly content to drive traffic to our website. Then, the magic happens.” Track how many links you generate on Facebook using this social media dashboard software .

4. Facebook works great for local audiences

A lot of it comes down to the audience you’re targeting as well. 

“If you’re looking more local, a combination of Facebook organic and paid targeted advertising is definitely key.” Shares Tiffany Lewis of More Meaningful Marketing .

Editor’s note: This Facebook dashboard template provides you with insights about page views, likes post reach which will help you to know more about page followers.

5. Connecting via Facebook groups is an excellent brand building tactic

“ Facebook Groups are a great way to build brand warmth and connect with users, emotionally. Groups allow you to facilitate and leverage community conversation, so not a sales tactic but a great way to learn about a customer’s passion, want or need.” Explains Kineta Kelsall of Jellyfish Training .

“There is a Facebook Group for everyone. Whether you’re an experimental interior designer or a digital marketing guru, groups are a place where people feel safe to express themselves, without judgement or without being sold to. Also, Facebook prioritises Groups in a person’s Newsfeed. Why? The platform has identified the experience a user gets in a Group as authentic and more relevant because they’ve chosen to be there, rather than being targeted.

Some great examples of Groups are Healthspan’s ‘CBD Support’, Pizza Hut’s ‘Cheesey Bites Appreciate Society’, and ‘The Social Media Geek Out’. All built for one reason, to add value to people’s lives.” Adds Kelsall.

Laura Peters of Mike & Laura Travel is of the same mind. 

Peters says, “An active and engaged Facebook group can help you build a community and, in turn, grow your brand to great lengths.

Instagram, on the other hand, doesn’t have the same community aspects that Facebook does. It’s far less intimate and therefore much more difficult to build your brand.”

6. Instagram wins in visual marketing

We all know that Instagram is a visual content haven. 

As Dakota Lowe of Khoros says, “Instagram has become the new homepage. Instagram prioritizes strong imagery, which helps convey and solidify your brand to others.”

DUNK Basketball ’s Ben Arndt says, “For our business, Instagram has been a far more effective platform in terms of consistently growing our brand.

The success of our main product (custom basketball jerseys) is based on aesthetics – smart designs with eye-catching appeal. This fits perfectly with utilizing Instagram, a highly visual platform that puts an emphasis on photos.

We share business updates on Facebook and still find this platform valuable, but we ensure primary attention is given to producing high quality photo content for our Instagram account.”

Dan Bailey of WikiLawn agrees with the two and adds, “Instagram has definitely been more effective for us. We can post photos and videos there that fit well on the platform, and we can also coordinate with influencers to help market as well.”

Johan Hajji of Upperkey shares his experience and says, “Because we’re a property management company and Instagram is a great place to share content in a multimedia form, we’re keen on using that. It has proven to be quite a bit more effective than Facebook for our marketing endeavors. 

I feel like Instagram users are more likely to like your content, whereas on Facebook, people seem just to be scrolling mindlessly, and they don’t even pay much attention. Even though we’ve got more likes on Facebook than follows on Instagram, we get plenty more engagement on the latter. Instagram is perfect for posting eye-candy photos of our real estate and makes for a great marketing platform.”

“When your company relies on visuals to attract potential new customers, Instagram is definitely the way to go.”Shares Sundae ’s Joey Campbell. “With the potential to reach consumers within a demographic that responds best to quick, effective information, Instagram offers that opportunity. Plus, when your content is highly shareable, this social platform also performs quite well.”

Travis Killian of Everlasting Comfort is a big fan of Instagram for this very reason and says, “When showing off an assortment of products, Instagram really does the trick! Always known for their visual integrity this social platform performs best for us as a place for consumers to shop around and get gifts or product ideas on a regular basis. For this reason, we also design graphics that are both eye-appealing and worthy of shares.”

Editor’s note: This Instagram Business (post performance) dashboard template looks at the actions and performance of your posts. It will help you or your team focus on what matters – engaging more followers.

7. Instagram sees higher engagement levels

While some brands see better engagement on Facebook, most still believe that Instagram trumps Facebook when engagement is concerned.

Stephanie Riel of RielDeal Marketing says, “Instagram is more effective than Facebook from an organic brand-building standpoint because of the ability for in-depth engagement. With Instagram, there is an intuitive design for engagement with features such as comments, likes, and hashtags for users to dig further for ongoing research, exploration, and connection. 

Brands that leverage the inherent tools that Instagram provides to engage with the audience consistently see a boost in the brand awareness and brand building organically, over time.”

Jessica Bishop of The Budget Savvy Bride agrees and shares, “Instagram has definitely been more effective for building my brand and engaging with our audience. The addition of Instagram Stories, IGTV, and Reels have been great ways to engage and interact with our audience, receive real time feedback and more!”

Alex Cascio of Vibrant Media Productions believes most of Instagram’s success is because of hashtags and its explore page. 

“Instagram has shown to be a more effective and stronger way for organic brand building due to the outreach potential it has through hashtags/explore pages. We’ve had posts that have gotten engagement through a few pages when we directly target them with tags (for products/services) that can easily repost them.

Overall, Instagram has truly proven itself to be the best platform for organic brand-building and is constantly evolving with the new ‘shop’ edition for companies that are in the e-commerce industry.” Explains Cascio.

Editor’s note: Use this Instagram dashboard template to gain better insight into your overall account health and performance that will ultimately help you to learn more about your Instagram followers.

Related : 16 Ways To Measure Social Media Engagement Using Only Google Analytics

8. Organic reach is also higher on Instagram

“For me, Instagram definitely outperforms Facebook when it comes to organic reach . That’s both due to the variety of features and the way algorithms work.” Shares Aida Grigoryan of Incredo .

“Hashtags are undoubtedly more powerful than Facebook hashtags, adding location tags to posts and stories really makes sense on Instagram. They do help increase organic reach as Instagram is a search engine as well and users look for products and tips. And how would they search if not via hashtags?

There’s an Explore section on Instagram and carousel posts are allowed. Explore is a top tool that helps increase organic reach and carousel posts again help as they are more engaging, and consequently, Instagram shows them to more people.

Even when comparing the two platforms in terms of features, Instagram rules!” Adds Grigoryan.

Isabella Mello of Hearst Bay Area agrees and adds, “From an organic perspective, Instagram has worked really well for us, especially considering Facebook’s declining organic reach. Instagram is a wonderful platform to establish both a visual and written identity. While Facebook requires more paid efforts to generate engagement and reach, Instagram is a naturally engaging platform.”

Dog with Blog ’s Abhishek Joshi says, “Of late it has been Instagram as Facebook’s organic reach has literally been nonexistent.” 

We completely agree.

“With hashtags, timely curated editorial content – Instagram offers a better opportunity to drive engagement. We also experiment with reels and stories to spread awareness around pet adoptions and have seen that the organic engagement on Instagram is far better as compared to Facebook.” Explains Joshi.

Karolina Cala of Calla Shoes shares her experience with both platforms and says, “Instagram has been far more effective. I believe that this is thanks to the power of hashtags, the discovery page, and the ease of user-to-user sharing on the platform. Calla has also had great success tapping into the audiences of other brands, as well as influencers, on Instagram. We have found that this was not a strategy that works on Facebook.

Additionally, while time-consuming, simply leaving a meaningful comment, or a like, on a user’s photo, still yields results in terms of organic brand building on Instagram. This just isn’t a thing on Facebook, really.”

“Because of the Instagram ‘Discovery’ feature, your content can be found by new audiences, depending on the hashtags you use.” Shares Christina Strickland of Crackerjack Marketing .

9. Easier to connect with followers on Instagram

Instagram allows you to connect with your followers on a personal, human level. This is why a lot of brands have been showing bloopers, taking followers behind the scenes, conducting regular FAQ and AMA sessions, and so on. 

Dr. Robert Applebaum of Applebaum Beverly Hills reveals that, “Instagram has been the most effective at building our brand.” 

Applebaum explains why and says, “Instagram lets me take people behind the scenes into my world. This gives people a sense of comfort knowing that I do everything in my power to secure their safety.”

Derin Oyekan of Reel Paper explains,”The reason why Instagram is great for brand building is that you create and share stories just like everyone else. Every post and story has the opportunity to make you more relatable to users and be one of them instead of someone that sells them products.”

10. Instagram’s target audience is younger people

Who is your target audience?

Are you targeting millennials, baby boomers, or gen z? 

Jason Wong of DoeLashes shares, “Right now the platform that has been driving most of our brand-building awareness is Instagram. The difference between Facebook and Instagram is the type of audience that you are trying to resonate with. For example, Facebook has a lot of boomers and a bit of millennials because it’s one of the oldest social media platforms but if you want to target a younger audience Instagram works perfectly. 

Our brand leverages better off Instagram because we want to appeal to the younger beauty community and they reside mainly on Instagram.”

Now that we’ve discussed the strengths and weaknesses of both platforms, which one takes the cake for organic brand building? 

Short answer, both.

Let’s discuss which businesses prefer Instagram for organic brand building and which ones opt for Facebook.

When asked which platform they saw maximum traction from, Matt Rostosky of Cashofferky says, “Definitely Facebook! We’ve gained so much traction in this platform in terms of generating organic leads.”

Jaqueline Tristan of ThoughtLab shares, “In our experience, Facebook has been the biggest driver when it comes to organic brand building on social media. 

As a family owned and operated business, we want to give our employees a family atmosphere they can count on. Our goal with Pride’s Facebook page was to help facilitate that feeling by creating a space where drivers can share their opinions on industry topics, photos from the road, and their advice or experiences. Doing so has created a strong sense of community and another avenue for us to connect with our drivers – all while reinforcing one of our brand’s core values.”

Deepak Kumar of Einsstark is of the same opinion and says, “I believe Facebook is still far more effective for building organic as well as social brand awareness. I can easily find the targeted audience on Facebook and drive them to my website. Whereas on Instagram, I have to put some work to expose my brand to others, for example running Instagram Ad campaigns. 

Also, statistically, the Google search algorithm favors Facebook over Instagram for organic brand building.”

“Facebook has been more effective from an organic brand-building standpoint. Facebook is more suited to our industry.” Shares Gregory Golinski of YourParkingSpace .

“If you’re not part of an industry that’s based on visual stimuli (beautiful clothes, exotic countries, cute pets), it’s not the best place to really build a brand name.”

A lot of people prefer Instagram over Facebook because they believe that to generate quality leads on Facebook you need to spend money. 

Jonathan Aufray of Growth Hackers Company explains, “Facebook is a ‘pay-to-play’ kind of platform. If you don’t pay for ads, your reach, impressions, and engagement will be very low. 

On another hand, with Instagram, you can build your brand, community, and engagement organically, without paying for ads. Therefore, to build your brand organically, definitely opt for Instagram over Facebook.”

Janice Wald of Mostly Blogging agrees with Aufray and says, “As much as I use Facebook groups for blog promotion, Instagram has been far better for brand building. By boosting my Instagram following, I boost my brand. As a result, I am often contacted by brands who want to collaborate with me. Today, I was offered a 4-figure deal to collaborate, an easy gig too.

Instagram is ideal for brand building through stories, networking, and feed posting. Growing your following grows your brand as more people hear about you and share your work. Some brands host contests. Their followers share their content to gain contest entry. The result: The following grows, the brand grows, and the brand’s income grows.”

Steve Yanor of Sky Alphabet Social Media explains why Instagram is by far and away the best platform for organic brand-building. 

“Only 2% of posts on Facebook are open to the outside world; the vast and overwhelming majority of organic views on Facebook occur in private groups which are not much use unless the brand is already inside the group. This makes Instagram not only more viable but also effective when appropriate hashtags and direct messaging are used.”

Andrew Witts of Studio 36 Digital believes that although organic reach can be tough on both Facebook and Instagram today, “The algorithms favor content from friends & family before businesses, we do find Instagram to be more beneficial for organic brand building.”

“The reason I believe comes down to the far simpler interface and feed from Instagram. The Facebook feed is extremely weighty with posts, comments, shares from contacts, and nowhere near enough room to display all of these, and businesses are bottom of the list.

Instagram, while still extremely busy, has a much simpler feed. Photos & pictures are key, shares aren’t possible unless added to a story. We find this to create a much more business-friendly platform.

Yes, the organic reach is low, but developing a strategy of posting times, a variation of content and good use of researched hashtags can help to build a brand with relative ease.” Explains Witts.

If you don’t have a lot of marketing budget, Instagram works best for you.

Sarah Turpin of Wyatt International shares her experience and says, “For one of my clients, Instagram has been instrumental in helping to build the brand organically. As a relatively small brand they don’t necessarily have the budget for paid ads, so we have had to curate an organic feed that is engaging.

Instagram gives us the opportunity to be more creative as we have a whole grid aesthetic to play with and several interactive features on stories.

We have managed to create a visually impressive flowing feed of content while utilizing stories to really connect with our audience by asking for their opinions and allowing them to be part of our brand and have their say through polls, quizzes, and Q&A’s.

By investing time in our Instagram strategy we have managed to increase engagement rate as well as our followers in a short space of time.”

Wrapping up

As Lee W. Johnson of Old Bull Lee aptly says.“Social media is not the destination, it is the conduit. Social media is a tool that increases brand awareness and serves to funnel people to a site where a cookie is dropped onto their browser, from which a brand can later efficiently remarket to them or build lookalike audiences off of their profile.”  

So choose wisely. It’s always best to use both the platforms simultaneously together to yield maximum benefit and build a strong online presence. Leverage the insights these free social media dashboards provide to get the most out of your efforts.

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Instagram vs Facebook: 5 Factors to Consider

Written by Nicholas Grizzell

Last modified Sep. 15 2015

Table of Contents

If you work in social marketing, you know Facebook.

Odds are, you have a Facebook business page. You probably update it regularly, too. And if you’re like most social advertisers, you’re spending more on Facebook ads this year than you did the last .

But is the world’s most popular social network really the best value out there? Could you do better on another social network – like Instagram?

Selfstartr thinks you can.

They created an infographic recently that compared the rising photo-sharing network against Facebook, taking a close look at the metrics that really matter – growth, adoption rates, engagement, reach, and more.

We’ll break down the Instagram vs Facebook debate even further for you.

Here are the 5 points you should think about the next time you allocate your social media budget, because it might just change the color of your bottom line.

1.  More Room for Growth

Although 2004 might not seem like that long ago, Facebook is the oldest major player in social marketing today. And that means a few things.

Unfortunately, not all of them are good.

Just like a rising economic power can only post dramatic growth for so long, Facebook’s running out of new users to sign up. And more to the point for you, the social marketer: organic reach just isn’t yielding what it did even a few years ago. In fact, Facebook   organic reach has gone down by   60% since 2012 .

That’s a lot of fans who won’t see you content unless you pay to promote it.

Luckily, Instagram is still enjoying a lot of forward momentum. Getting organic reach – impressive organic reach – isn’t a problem yet. In fact, it comes easily.

Since 2012, Instagram organic reach has gone up by a full 200%.

That’s a number you just can’t ignore.

[Tweet “Instagram organic reach is up 200% since 2012. What’s your excuse for not being on it?”]

2. Higher Engagement

Let’s be honest. Reach is good; engagement is better. You don’t want your users to just see what you’re posting; you want them to interact with it too. You want them to re-post and like your content.

So, it makes sense to look at engagement rates when you’re thinking about which network to use. Instagram doesn’t disappoint here either.

According to the data in this infographic, you get 58 times more engagement on Instagram than Facebook, for every follower you have.

58 times more.

And you know, like we all do, that engagement matters .

[Tweet “Instagram users engage with brands twice as much as Facebook ones.”]

3. Less Competition

It pays to be an early adopter .

• Faster revenue growth
• Stronger market position
• A role in defining the technology

And luckily, those advantages are still available to advertisers bold enough to run their ads on Instagram.

Because right now – in late 2015 – just 36% of marketers are active on it. That’s well under half.

Facebook, on the other hand, is almost at full capacity. 93% of marketers have a presence there.

Frankly, you should too. Just remember it’s not an innovative new platform. It’s an established older one – something we’ve all seen and heard before. There’s no room for a lightning ascent there.

Small and nimble start-ups can really benefit from this. When you don’t have to reorganize an entire marketing department around a new platform – the burden of the bigger orgs – it’s easy to be an early adopter.

[Tweet “Get on Instagram before your rivals do. Just 36% of marketers are there now.”]

4. Greater Reach

Because Facebook is the world’s largest social network, it has a lot of brands on it. And because it has a lot of brands on it, there are ways to filter their posts.

If there weren’t, users would quickly be overwhelmed.

Instagram doesn’t have this problem. Not yet, at least.

Whereas brands on Facebook reach a paltry 6% of their followers – not even one in ten of them – brands on Instagram reach them all with every piece of content they publish.

100% of your Instagram posts reach 100% of your Instagram followers – 100% of the time.

And that’s not bad.

[Tweet “Reach 100% of your followers with Instagram — or 6% with Facebook.”]

5. More Valuable Users

Now we come to what all this really means.

You want to make as much of it as you can, naturally. You’re running a business after all.

And that’s why you should pay attention here. The average order value of an engaged Instagram follower is a full $10 higher than a Facebook one.

• Instagram – $65
• Facebook – $55

But don’t forget, we’re talking about engaged followers. Idle ones don’t deliver this kind of value. Thankfully, however, Instagram followers engage at a much higher rate than Facebook fans, which makes your job easier.

[Tweet “Engaged followers are worth $10 more on Instagram than Facebook.”]

Now, it might seem like we’re advocating Instagram – and we are – but we’re not putting down Facebook to do it. It’s still the most important social network to be active on for good reason. And if you don’t have a business page there yet, make one yesterday.

But you shouldn’t ignore Instagram either. And while overtaking Facebook may take a very long time – if it ever happens at all – diversifying your social networks makes just as much sense as diversifying your stocks.

That said, be sure to read over the original post at Selfstartr  before you get started yourself.

And whether you choose Facebook or Instagram, we have a platform for you to keep your management easy and your engagement high. To give Agorapulse a try, start your free trial today!

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Facebook vs. X vs. Instagram: What's the Difference?

Getty Images, NurPhoto / Contributor

Facebook vs. X vs. Instagram: An Overview

Social media helps billions of people worldwide stay connected. Facebook, X Corp (formerly Twitter), and Instagram (which is owned by Meta) are among the most successful social media brands. The three sites appeal to different demographics . Facebook has broad appeal across ages. Instagram users tend to be younger, and X is favored by affluent college graduates.

Key Takeaways

• Facebook, X, and Instagram are all popular social media platforms used by people around the globe.
• Each appeals to slightly different types of users and offers unique services or features.
• Facebook has a broad appeal across ethnicity and age.
• X users are more likely to be college graduates, affluent, and live in a city.
• Instagram users tend to be young and affluent.

There are nearly eight billion people on the planet, and 2.9 billion of them use Facebook at least once per month as of April 2024. With nearly a third of the world's population connected over a single social network, it's worth asking: who isn't Facebook's target market ?

To say that everyone is its target market is not an understatement. Facebook had 193.8 million monthly active users in the United States as of April 2024. There are some slight differences when digging into the demographics.

For example, 76% of Facebook users were women compared with 59% of men. And the platform, as is with all social media, is more popular with younger adults. About 75% of users were between 30 and 49. Facebook is not as popular with the youngest age bracket, 18 to 29, where about 67% use Facebook. A larger percentage (58%) of those 65 and over use Facebook when compared to X and Instagram.

More than one-third of the world's population is now connected over Facebook.

Facebook users are not distinguished by their ethnic background; however, those making $30,000 and $100,000 are its most prominent users.

This popularity is perhaps why Meta's initial public offering (IPO) was one of the most anticipated in financial history. It went public in May 2012 at a valuation of $104 billion, which was the third-largest IPO in the U.S. at the time.

Facebook made two significant acquisitions following its public debut. It bought Instagram in 2012, paying roughly $1 billion in cash and stock. Facebook acquired messaging service WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014, which appreciated to $22 billion in value thanks to a rise in Facebook's shares.

About 22% of adult Americans use X. More men than women use X: 26% to 19%. Like with Facebook, users skew younger, especially among 18- to 29-year-olds. In this age group, 42% report they use X compared to 6% in the 65 and over age bracket.

Adults with higher household incomes use X more. For example, 29% of adults with an annual income of $100,000 or more confirm they use the platform compared with one in five who have incomes between $70,000 and $99,000. One in five with incomes of less than $30,000 claim to use X as well.

The company went public in November 2013 and achieved a valuation of $25 billion on its first trading day.

On Oct. 27, 2022, after months of back and forth with the company's board, billionaire Elon Musk  completed his $44 billion deal  to take it private. The parent company changed its name in April 2023.

Young people cannot seem to survive without Instagram. The social network for photo and video sharing is especially popular among 18- to 29-year-olds. In this age group, 78% say they use Instagram. Usage drops off significantly for older Americans. In the 30 to 49 age group, approximately 58% use the platform. For those 65 and over, approximately 15% use Instagram; a much higher number than the same age bracket for X.

The number of U.S. adults that say they use Instagram as of 2023.

More women than men say they use Instagram: 54% to 39%. More users are typically college-educated.

Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion. The purchase was met with skepticism because the photo-sharing site was just two years old and didn't have any significant revenue at the time.

But that changed. In 2018, Bloomberg analysts estimated the platform was worth $100 billion. Because Instagram is an app, it has helped Meta shift from web browsers to mobile devices.

Not only are the demographics different for these social media platforms but so are the style, goals, and point of them. For example, Instagram is primarily a visual social media platform. It is used to share photos and videos. X, on the other, is primarily a text-based platform.

Facebook is an amalgamation of the two but also contains many other features, such as messaging, marketplaces, and groups. While all three overlap in their function to a degree, they all have very distinct purposes that cater to different individuals in terms of what these individuals are seeking from social media.

What Is the Biggest Social Media Platform in 2024?

Facebook is the biggest social media platform in 2024 with 3.05 billion monthly active users. The next up is WhatsApp with 2.78 billion monthly active users, then YouTube with 2.49 billion monthly active users.

What Is Bigger, Instagram or Facebook?

Facebook is by far a more popular social media platform than Instagram. As of 2024, it has approximately 3.05 billion monthly active users compared to 2.04 billion for Instagram.

Do Millennials Use Instagram More Than Facebook?

No, millennials use Facebook more than Instagram, approximately 87% versus 71%.

Facebook, X, and Instagram are three of the most popular social media platforms in the world. All of them serve different purposes and cater to different interests and people; however, generally, younger people use social media than older people.

U.S. Census Bureau. " World Population Estimated at 8 Billion ."

Statista. " Leading Countries Based on Facebook Audience Size as of April 2024 ."

Pew Research Center. " Americans' Social Media Use ."

Reuters. " Historic Facebook debut falls flat ."

Facebook. " Form 10-Q: September 30, 2012 ."

Facebook. " Form 8-K: February 19, 2014 ."

Reuters. " Facebook's WhatsApp acquisition now has price tag of $22 billion ."

Reuters. " Twitter shares soar in frenzied NYSE debut ."

CBS News. " Twitter Is Now X. Here's What That Means ."

The New York Times. " Elon Musk Completes $44 Billion Deal to Own Twitter ."

Reuters. " Facebook to buy Instagram for $1 billion ."

Bloomberg. " Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More than $100 Billion ."

Buffer. " 23 Top Social Media Sites to Consider for Your Brand in 2024 ."

Target Internet. " How Different Age Groups Are Using Social Media 2024 ."

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Look, the 2024 Presidential Polls Don’t Really Make That Much Sense

So what if we just decided to enjoy the weather for a few weeks.

Welcome to  How Bad Is This, Really? , a recurring feature in which we take the temperature on how things are looking in the presidential election and what seems likely to happen in November.

Eric Levitz had a good piece in Vox Tuesday about why Donald Trump is polling so well . Trump, as he explains, is doing much better than he did four years ago among younger voters, including Black and Hispanic voters, particularly those who tell pollsters that they are generally suspicious of U.S. institutions (government, business, etc.).

This doesn’t intuitively make a lot of sense. Biden and Trump are the same people that they were four years ago, and the Democratic and Republican parties are mostly the same. The president is old, sure, but he was old in 2020 too. Trump is also the same guy that he was then, perhaps more so; heck, just yesterday he was in the news for having inadvertently compared himself with Hitler during a meeting with Jewish donors.

The economy is also looking good for Biden these days, or should be. Inflation has slowed down—and, in any case, high prices don’t seem to have caused him to lose significant support in other age groups. Unemployment is historically low.

U.S. support for the war in Gaza may be morally abhorrent to many people, but a very small percentage of younger voters say it’s an important issue for them. And when polltakers ask these younger, distrustful voters who they plan to vote for in local elections, they say the same thing they used to—which is generally that they support Democrats .

Something perplexing is also going on with Trump’s criminal trial in New York, where closing arguments are getting underway. The trial has certainly highlighted what you might call the ex-president’s lack of trustworthiness—as Mother Jones notes , even the people who were working with Trump at the time to suppress Stormy Daniels’ story assumed he’d had a sexual relationship with Daniels shortly after his wife had given birth. (He denies it.) But it hasn’t had any noticeable effect on whether voters think he should be the next president of the U.S.

Levitz has a decent theory about all of this: Trump is such a singularly compelling and unpredictable figure that he’s formed a new coalition of voters who just want to “burn it all down.” Polling expert Kristen Soltis Anderson, writing in the New York Times , ventured that Trump, like Oprah Winfrey, is the kind of person whom some TV-watching Americans have simply and permanently decided that they trust—regardless of whether elite smart alecks believe that that trust is justified on the merits. Levitz suggests that this reputation might be helping Trump in particular at the moment because COVID vaccine mandates and TikTok conspiracy personalities have widened the cohort of Americans who are distrustful. And he suggests that as an incumbent old guy president, Biden has become an equally and oppositely singular totem of the institutions and social rules that some Americans want to burn down.

Now, look—two weeks ago, when I issued an anxiety rating of three shovels , presidential polls were basically the same as they are now. But two things have changed since then.

For one, I’ve noticed that when writers like Levitz and Anderson try to explain what’s happening in politics, they have to pull together several disparate ideas—the decline of the Black church, federal COVID mandates, the 1986 debut of a Chicago-based talk show —to make guesses about why we might end up with a result in November (i.e., Trump winning) that would be a significant outlier from a number of historic patterns. A Trump victory would be an anomaly, considering the typical advantages of incumbency and the success of presidents running for reelection during periods of economic growth; it would also diverge from the very recent trend of underperformance by candidates associated with Donald Trump .

As Levitz notes, it would also depart from current trends, identified elsewhere in the same polls, regarding relative preferences for Democrats and Republicans. Simply put, there’s a difference between refusing to acknowledge the presidential polls or claiming Biden is actually ahead—that’s not what I’m suggesting, Isaac Chotiner, please don’t interview me !—and treating their predictive significance with some skepticism, given how early in the race it is and how unusual they are relative to fundamentals. (John Kerry and Mitt Romney led George W. Bush and Barack Obama in several polls taken in May 2004 and May 2012 , respectively.) Even numbers people know that you need to run a sanity test sometimes, or so I’ve read .

The other thing that has happened in the past two weeks is that the weather finally became “nice” where I live. (Which is New Jersey—sometimes you can barely smell the Superfund sites!) The sun is aiming itself through climbing branches and viridescent leaves, leaving spotted kaleidoscopic patterns on children as they run back and forth. With every tranquil rush of a dusty breeze, time somehow seems as if it is both infinitely still and slipping painfully away. Summers, dear reader! We will experience only so many of them in a lifetime, especially if Donald Trump wins reelection and puts bloggers in a gulag. (The blog gulag’s location? New Jersey.) In sum, the hour that is upon us is one for walking in the friscalating dusklight, not for worrying about polls; there will be colder months ahead for that.

Thus we conclude with our patented Shovel Meter —a measure of exactly how sedated you might want to be at the moment, on a scale of one to five shovel blows to the head, if you’re concerned about the reelection of Donald Trump—set at a mere one shovel. Let’s all go fly kites! (I have no idea how to fly a kite.)