Snapchat has become one of the most addictive social media platforms courtesy of its engaging features, sense of community, and unique user experience.

According to a recent consumer insights report from Statista, 76% of Snapchat’s brand users use the social media platform on a daily basis, compared to 68% of its category users.

A brand user refers to someone who regularly uses the Snapchat app and is loyal to the brand itself.

On the other hand, a category user is someone who uses the app primarily for a certain type of content or activity, such as watching celebrity or news content or communicating with friends.

The report further showed that 14% of Snapchat’s brand users visit the app several times a week, compared to 15% of its category users.

Moreover, only 3% of the brand users of the social media platform use it several times a month. In comparison, 4% of its category users visit it several times a month.

Image Source: Statista

Overall, Snapchat is the 5th most popular social media platform in the US, with a user share of 33%, the Statista report shows.

Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok are the top four most popular social media platforms in the country, each with a user share of 78%, 68%, 54%, and 41%, respectively.

Image Source: Statista

It is worth noting that Snapchat’s user growth has not been impressive over the past few years.

According to the Statista report, the share of social media users using Snapchat grew by only 3% since the first half of 2020.

Younger Generations Are More Addicted to Snapchat

Snapchat is most popular in the United States among individuals aged 15 to 25, who account for 48% of the platform’s users, according to data compiled by The Social Shepherd.

Users aged 26 to 35 represent 30%, those aged 36 to 45 account for 18%, those aged 46 to 55 account for 11%, and those 56 and older represent just 5% of the platform’s user base.

In the UK, users aged 18 to 24 represent the largest age group on Snapchat, accounting for 77% of the platform’s users, while users aged 35 to 44 account for 38%, users aged 55 to 64 account for 8%, and those aged 75 and older represent only 2% of users.

Females make up the majority of Snapchat users, at 52.9%, with males making up the remaining portion.

With 144.35 million users, India has the largest user base on Snapchat as of April 2022, according to data by Statista.

This is followed by the United States with 107.9 million users, France with 24.7 million users, the United Kingdom with 22.2 million users, and Saudi Arabia with 20.4 million users.


Source: Statista

Users worldwide spend approximately 145 minutes on social media per day. According to Snapchat’s data, users spend an average of 30 minutes per day on the platform.

How Snapchat Keeps Users Hooked

Snapchat’s user interface is designed to offer its users a personalized, engaging experience that keeps them coming back for more.

The app uses features like Snapstreaks and Discover to create a sense of community and excitement.

Snapstreaks, also known as just “Streaks,” is a feature on the Snapchat app that encourages users to communicate with each other regularly. It is a game-like feature where two users have to send a Snap (picture or video) to each other within a 24-hour period to maintain the streak.

The number of consecutive days that two users exchange snaps are indicated by a fire emoji next to their name. The longer the streak, the higher the number next to the fire emoji.

Meanwhile, Discover is a feature that allows users to explore curated content from a variety of publishers, such as news outlets, magazines, and entertainment companies, in an interactive and engaging way.

Users can swipe through different channels, subscribe to their favorite publishers, and share content with their friends.

Additionally, Snapchat’s ephemeral nature – with photos and videos disappearing after a set time – creates a sense of urgency and FOMO (fear of missing out) among users, leading them to use the app more frequently.

In early 2019, Snapchat released a couple of filters (or lenses, as Snapchat calls them) that further helped the platform grow in popularity by providing users with a fun and engaging way to share their photos and videos.

Filters add a layer of creativity and entertainment to the content that users share on the platform, making it more social and entertaining for both the person sharing the content and the person viewing it.

Snapchat offers a wide range of filters, including face filters that can change the user’s appearance and environment filters that can transform the background of a photo or video.

Moreover, Snapchat filters are updated frequently to keep the content fresh and interesting.

As people began to play with these filters and share their funny photos with friends outside of Snapchat, the app saw its download rate double.

In fact, Snapchat saw about 41.5 million downloads in May 2019, which was a major increase when compared to the previous month’s 16.8 million downloads.