Technology
The Rise and Fall of Social Media Platforms
The Rise and Fall of Social Media Platforms
Since its inception, the internet has played a pivotal role in connecting people across the globe, including in remote locations.
While the foundational need for human connection hasn’t changed, platforms and technology continue to evolve, even today. Faster internet connections and mobile devices have made social networks a ubiquitous part of our lives, with the time spent on social media each day creeping ever upward.
The Scoreboard Today
Over the last 15 years, billions of people around the world have jumped onto the social media bandwagon – and platforms have battled for our attention spans by inventing (and sometimes flat-out stealing) features to keep people engaged.
Here’s a snapshot of where things stand today:
Global Rank | Social Platform | Parent Company | Monthly Active Users |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 2.2 billion | ||
2 | 1.1 billion | ||
3 | Qzone | 🇨🇳 Tencent | 528 million |
4 | 🇨🇳 Sina Corp | 528 million | |
5 | TikTok | 🇨🇳 ByteDance | 524 million |
6 | 340 million | ||
7 | 329 million | ||
8 | Snapchat | 🇺🇸 Snap Inc | 302 million |
9 | 🇺🇸 Microsoft | 260 million |
Today’s entertaining video, from the Data is Beautiful YouTube channel, is a look back at the rise and fall of social media platforms – and possibly a glimpse at the future of social media as well.
Below we respond to some key questions and observations raised by this video overview.
Points of Interest
1. What is QZone?
Qzone is China’s largest social network. The platform originally evolved as a sort of blogging service that sprang from QQ, China’s seminal instant messaging service. While Qzone is still one of the world’s largest social media sites – it still attracts around half a billion users per month – WeChat is now the service of choice for almost everyone in China with a smartphone.
2. LinkedIn has been around for a long time.
It’s true. LinkedIn, which hasn’t left the top 10 list since 2003, is a textbook example of a slow and steady growth strategy paying off.
While some networks experience swings in their user base or show a boom and bust growth pattern, LinkedIn has grown every single year since it was launched. Surprisingly, that growth is still clocking in at impressive rates. In 2019, for example, LinkedIn reported a 24% increase in sessions on their platform.
3. Will Facebook ever lose its top spot?
Never say never, but not anytime soon. Since 2008, Facebook has been far and away the most popular social network on the planet. If you include Facebook’s bundled services, over 2 billion people use their network each day. The company has used acquisitions and aggressive feature implementation to keep the company at the forefront of the battle for attention. Facebook itself is under a lot of scrutiny due to growing privacy concerns, but Instagram and WhatsApp are more popular than ever.
4. What Happened to Snapchat?
In 2016, Snapchat had thoroughly conquered the Gen Z demographic and was on a trajectory to becoming one of the top social networks. Facebook, sensing their position being challenged by this upstart company, took the bold step of cloning Snapchat’s features and integrating them into Instagram (even lifting the name “stories” in the process). The move paid off for Facebook and the video above shows Instagram’s user base taking off in 2016, fueled by these new features.
Even though Facebook took some of the wind out of Snapchat’s sails, the company never stopped growing. Earlier this year, Snapchat announced modest growth as its base of daily active users rose to 190 million. For advertisers looking to reach the 18-35 age demographic, Snapchat could still be a compelling option.
5. Why is TikTok so popular now?
The simple answer is that short-form video is extremely popular right now, and TikTok has features that make sharing fun. The average user of TikTok (and its Chinese counterpart, DouYin) spends a staggering 52 minutes per day on the app.
Also propelling its growth is the company’s massive marketing budget. TikTok spent $1 billon last year on advertising in the U.S., and is currently burning through around $3 million per day to get people onto their platform. One looming question for the China-based company is not whether Facebook will co-opt their features, but when.
Technology
Visualizing the Top U.S. States for AI Jobs
Nearly 800,000 AI jobs were posted in the U.S. throughout 2022. View this graphic to see a breakdown by state.

Visualizing the Top U.S. States for AI Jobs
Much ink has been spilled over fears that artificial intelligence (AI) will eliminate jobs in the economy. While some of those fears may be well-founded, red-hot interest in AI innovation is creating new jobs as well.
This graphic visualizes data from Lightcast, a labor market analytics firm, which shows how many AI-related jobs were posted in each state throughout 2022.
In total there were 795,624 AI jobs posted throughout the year, of which 469,925 (59%) were in the top 10. The full tally is included in the table below.
Rank | State | Number of job postings | % of total |
---|---|---|---|
1 | California | 142,154 | 17.9% |
2 | Texas | 66,624 | 8.4% |
3 | New York | 43,899 | 5.5% |
4 | Massachusetts | 34,603 | 4.3% |
5 | Virginia | 34,221 | 4.3% |
6 | Florida | 33,585 | 4.2% |
7 | Illinois | 31,569 | 4.0% |
8 | Washington | 31,284 | 3.9% |
9 | Georgia | 26,620 | 3.3% |
10 | Michigan | 25,366 | 3.2% |
11 | North Carolina | 23,854 | 3.0% |
12 | New Jersey | 23,447 | 2.9% |
13 | Colorado | 20,421 | 2.6% |
14 | Pennsylvania | 20,397 | 2.6% |
15 | Arizona | 19,514 | 2.5% |
16 | Ohio | 19,208 | 2.4% |
17 | Maryland | 16,769 | 2.1% |
18 | Minnesota | 11,808 | 1.5% |
19 | Tennessee | 11,173 | 1.4% |
20 | Missouri | 10,990 | 1.4% |
21 | Oregon | 10,811 | 1.4% |
22 | Washington, D.C. | 9,606 | 1.2% |
23 | Indiana | 9,247 | 1.2% |
24 | Connecticut | 8,960 | 1.1% |
25 | Wisconsin | 8,879 | 1.1% |
26 | Alabama | 7,866 | 1.0% |
27 | Kansas | 7,683 | 1.0% |
28 | Arkansas | 7,247 | 0.9% |
29 | Utah | 6,885 | 0.9% |
30 | Nevada | 6,813 | 0.9% |
31 | Idaho | 6,109 | 0.8% |
32 | Oklahoma | 5,719 | 0.7% |
33 | Iowa | 5,670 | 0.7% |
34 | South Carolina | 4,928 | 0.6% |
35 | Louisiana | 4,806 | 0.6% |
36 | Kentucky | 4,536 | 0.6% |
37 | Nebraska | 4,032 | 0.5% |
38 | Delaware | 3,503 | 0.4% |
39 | New Mexico | 3,357 | 0.4% |
40 | Rhode Island | 2,965 | 0.4% |
41 | New Hampshire | 2,719 | 0.3% |
42 | Hawaii | 2,550 | 0.3% |
43 | Mississippi | 2,548 | 0.3% |
44 | Maine | 2,227 | 0.3% |
45 | South Dakota | 2,195 | 0.3% |
46 | Vermont | 1,571 | 0.2% |
47 | North Dakota | 1,227 | 0.2% |
48 | Alaska | 970 | 0.1% |
49 | West Virginia | 887 | 0.1% |
50 | Montana | 833 | 0.1% |
51 | Wyoming | 769 | 0.1% |
The following chart adds some context to these numbers. It shows how the percentage of AI job postings in some of the top states has changed since 2010.
We can see that California quickly became the primary destination for AI jobs in the early 2010s, presumably as Silicon Valley companies began developing the technology.
California’s share has since declined, with a significant number of jobs seemingly moving to Texas. In fact, many tech companies are relocating to Texas to avoid California’s relatively higher taxes and cost of living.
The 10 Most In-Demand Specialized Skills
Lightcast also captured the top 10 specialized skills that were required for AI-related jobs. These are listed in the table below.
Skill | Frequency (number of postings) | Frequency (% of postings) |
---|---|---|
Python | 296,662 | 37% |
Computer Science | 260,333 | 33% |
SQL | 185,807 | 23% |
Data Analysis | 159,801 | 20% |
Data Science | 157,855 | 20% |
Amazon Web Services | 155,615 | 19% |
Agile Methodology | 152,965 | 19% |
Automation | 138,791 | 17% |
Java | 133,856 | 17% |
Software Engineering | 133,286 | 17% |
If you’re interested in a career that focuses on AI, becoming proficient in Python is likely to be a good first step.
-
Markets2 weeks ago
Charting the Rise of America’s Debt Ceiling
-
Money3 weeks ago
Comparing the Speed of Interest Rate Hikes (1988-2023)
-
Maps1 week ago
Ranked: The Cities with the Most Skyscrapers in 2023
-
War3 weeks ago
Map Explainer: Sudan
-
Urbanization1 week ago
Ranked: The World’s Biggest Steel Producers, by Country
-
Travel3 weeks ago
Visualized: The World’s Busiest Airports, by Passenger Count
-
Visual Capitalist5 days ago
Join Us For Data Creator Con 2023
-
AI3 weeks ago
Visualizing Global Attitudes Towards AI