Facebook still most popular social media platform in Kenya
By Sinda MatikoFacebook’s popularity in Kenya has greatly increased as it remains Kenya’s most dominant social media platform.
According to the Communications Authority (CA) of Kenya’s latest report on audience measurement and industry trends, Facebook had 57.1 percent of users at the end of December 2024.
WhatsApp, another platform owned by Meta, came in second with 54.4 percent, while TikTok came in third with 29.5 percent of users, with YouTube holding 26.2 percent of the digital space. Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) follow with 12.9 percent and 12.2 percent, respectively.
“The frequent mention of Facebook and WhatsApp shows how widely they are used and how influential they are in Kenya’s digital space. Social media is mainly accessed through mobile phones and remains a key component of media consumption.” CA states.
The latest report shows a 10 percent increase in Facebook usage in Kenya. In the three months to December 2023, Facebook overtook WhatsApp to become the most popular social media platform in Kenya.
CA data at the time showed that 47.5 percent of Kenyans used Facebook during the quarter, with WhatsApp coming in second at 47.3 percent during the same period.
“The prevalence of Facebook and WhatsApp in social media mentions highlights their widespread adoption and influential presence in the Kenyan digital landscape,” CA said at the time.
YouTube was in third place at the time but has since been overtaken by TikTok. However, the data shows that YouTube users have increased since 2023, jumping from 18.6 percent to 21 percent by the end of that year and 26.2 percent by December 2024.
The data shows TikTok’s popularity has steadily increased from 17 percent to 19.3 percent, overtaking YouTube as the third most popular platform.
Instagram continues to struggle with popularity growth jumping from 11.8 percent to 12.9, however, X has been gaining ground having grown its base from 7.9 percent to currently 12.2 percent.