A report released this week details where South Africa's social media attention is directed and how corporates are adjusting.
Picture: iStock
The fight for digital attention has never been more intense, as research data shows an increase in the regular use of all major platforms.
A 2026 social media landscape report released on Tuesday detailed which sites South Africans were frequenting the most and where brands were positioning themselves to benefit.
The report touched on the use of large language model-driven content generation, but warned of increasing public disdain for the practice.
Facebook still tops
The report was compiled by Ornico and World Wide Worx (WWW), featuring contributions by Ask Africa and Target Group Index.
Ornico CEO Oresti Patricios stated that South Africa had almost 41 million active social media users.
Facebook remained the most frequented, with research data showing 61.8% of the country’s social media users were active on the site.
Facebook reversed its waning popularity last year, having dropped to 56.2% in 2024, down from 59.6% in 2023.
Of the country’s active social media users, 33% regularly shared their lives on Instagram, 19.3% searched LinkedIn regularly, 15.6% shared ideas on Pinterest, and 8.2% frequented Reddit.
These sites all showed between 3% and 5% growth in regular usage.
Usage of Elon Musk’s X has plateaued in South Africa since 2023, with 18.9%, 19.1% and 19.9% of the country’s social media users active on the site in subsequent years.
“When you compare it to how Instagram, TikTok and Facebook have performed, the word to use there is stagnant, rather than stable or steady,” noted WWW CEO Arthur Goldstuck.
Users of the site formerly known as Twitter were most commonly aged between 25 and 44, with Goldstuck noting that only 5% of those older than 65 were considered highly active users.
“You could almost say the old-timers have no patience with the nonsense that goes on, on X,” Goldstuck joked.
TikTok ‘juggernaut’
Unsurprisingly to the panel, TikTok surged from 34% regular usership in 2023 to 47.9% in 2025 – with that number at 56% for young adults.
“The rise of TikTok is a juggernaut – a steamroller coming for all other social media networks,” stated Goldstuck.
He added that the increase in usage across all sites was driven by the shrinking accessibility of corporate media platforms.
Chief Client Officer at Ask Africa, Jezile Dhlamini, explained that the increase in engagement across all platforms was driven by how the youth used the internet.
“[They are using] social media as their search engines. From a social discovery [perspective], that is why we are seeing that resurgence.
“[They] get information around brands, products and content and look at social media from an inspiration perspective as well,” said Dhlamini.
Patricios noted that 88% of marketers were using AI daily, but said research showed 62% of consumers openly distrusted automated content.
“South African brands using heritage storytelling – those unpolished, honest narratives rooted in shared human experience – are dramatically outperforming these glossy AI-rendered narratives.
“Authenticity is the competitive advantage in an age of algorithmic perfection,” Patricios noted.
‘Into the funnel’
The report also showed where corporates were targeting their advertising and interacting with potential clients online.
Data showed that corporates preferred LinkedIn for engagement, with 88% of brands having a presence on the business and employment networking site.
Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and YouTube rounded out the top five social media sites used for engagement by corporate entities.
In terms of advertising expenditure, 37% went to Facebook, 36% to LinkedIn, 17% to Instagram and 4% to X and YouTube, respectively.
The panellists discussed how brands were adjusting to digital marketing, with Old Mutual Senior Media Manager Tumelo Motingoe explaining how engagement translated into profit.
“It’s more so about how we can get consumers to engage with the brand and spend as much time with us as we can get from them.
“For us it all comes down to how does the social media activity we do gets people into and down the funnel to ultimately get to that lead aspect or a sales opportunity,” Motingoe stated.
