South Africans shifting away from WhatsApp and Facebook

Meta Platforms’ dominance in the South African social media market is waning, with users of WhatsApp and Facebook beginning to turn to other platforms, like TikTok and Telegram.

This is according to Ornico and World Wide Worx’s Social Media Landscape Report 2025, which found that emotional attachment to social media is declining in the country.

Its surveys showed South Africans feel less compelled to view their social media feeds, which is the first time this has been noticed.

The report said this was particularly evident among young people, as user bases become more mature, sceptical and selective.

“The data shows a slow fragmentation of users’ attention and trust across platforms, marking a move away from the blanket ubiquity of earlier years,” it said.

“Users are becoming more deliberate in their social media habits, actively rethinking how and why they use each platform rather than logging in out of sheer novelty or habit.”

Facebook, which still dominates the market, saw its overall user penetration drop from 59.6% in 2023 to 56.2% in 2024.

The Meta-owned social media platform also saw its highly active users, the percentage of its total user base who use it daily or weekly, decrease to 51.2% in 2024 from 53.8% the year before.

On the other hand, TikTok, which is particularly prominent among young people, saw its overall user penetration increase to 38.6% in 2024, while the number of highly active users rose to 32.4%.

The report noted that while Twitter/X also saw an increase in highly active users, from 11% to 15.2%, it has adopted a more niche role and “remains less central for the broader population.”

Other platforms, such as Reddit and Pinterest, also saw 12% and 5.4% increases in their user bases, respectively.

The report also found that while WhatsApp remains the most-used messaging platform by a significant margin, its penetration has dipped slightly.

While the report’s executive summary did not provide WhatsApp’s penetration, a Market Research Foundation report said it was 66% in 2023.

This could be due to the increased uptake of alternative messaging platforms that offer greater privacy and specialised utility.

For instance, Telegram, a popular alternative to WhatsApp, saw its user penetration grow from 10.3% to 13% between 2023 and 2024.

Social media in business

The report also noted how businesses in South Africa use social media, finding that LinkedIn, owned by Microsoft, was the preferred platform.

Most respondents in this part of the survey were media and marketing professionals, while 48% were agency leaders.

It found that 85% of organisations in the country use LinkedIn, 83% use Facebook, 73% use Instagram, and 63% use YouTube.

While far fewer organisations use TikTok, its marketing presence is starting to rise, with 47% of brands utilising it.

“Marketers have broadened their approach across multiple platforms and begun leveraging new tools to keep their messaging effective and efficient,” the report said.

Regarding how much companies spend on social media, the report said that budget allocation is becoming polarised, with 53% spending under R10,000 and 23% spending over R50,000.

Of those surveyed, 31% of organisations reported increasing their social media budgets over the past year, while 34% still plan to do so.