2024 – The Year of the Digital Plot Twist

Welcome to 2025! Before we get too caught up in new goals and strategies, let's take a moment to look back at 2024.?

This was 12 months of "didn't see that coming" moments that had everyone's strategy docs flying out the window. We watched steady players suddenly skyrocket and "sure things" face-plant.

Some called it chaos. Others called it opportunity. Let's call it what it really was: the year that rewrote the digital playbook while we were all still reading the old one.

Ready for the juicy bits? Let's dig in.

LinkedIn plays the long game

Let's peek at LinkedIn's report card first (you know, the platform you're scrolling right now). Talk about steady climbing — they crossed the 20 billion visits milestone in 2024.?

And while their iPhone game in the US wasn't exactly breaking the internet, with a 0.38% uptick bringing them to 27.79 million active users, they kept their professional crown firmly in place.

The social scene heats up

Here's where it gets interesting — while LinkedIn's still in the growth game, it's not exactly keeping pace with the social media sprint stars like Instagram and TikTok.?

Reddit turned out to be the dark horse of 2024, riding that IPO buzz straight to the top. And Facebook? Even while hitting some speed bumps, they're busy writing their comeback story.

The internet eases off the gas

Let's talk numbers — and these are the kinds that make your analytics tools break a sweat. In 2024, the top 100 websites collectively pulled in a whopping 2.693 trillion visits, nudging up 0.34% from 2023.?

While that's playing it cooler than the global population's 0.91% growth spurt, there's more to this story. Between internet access and connectivity challenges in different parts of the globe, even seeing the web giants (we're looking at you, Google, Facebook, and YouTube) take a tiny dip hasn't stopped the internet's overall upward climb.

Block Blast claims the high score

Remember those late nights with your Game Boy, stacking blocks like your life depended on it??

Well, Block Blast gave us a throwback moment with some serious Tetris energy, and the downloads went absolutely wild. This little puzzle game climbed from 21st on Android and 33rd on iPhone all the way to the top of the charts this year.

Temu makes power moves

Talk about a new kid disrupting the scene. Chinese ecommerce giant Temu burst into the top 10 most visited marketplaces last year.

Between their marketing blitz and prices that make your wallet smile (especially in this economy), they've nabbed that bronze medal right behind Amazon and eBay. Not bad for a freshman year in the big leagues — looks like the marketplace veterans just got some serious competition.

ChatGPT takes five after a record-breaking year

Here's the bigger story on ChatGPT's December numbers: after riding four straight months of growth, the AI powerhouse finally caught its breath with a 2.7% dip from November.?

But zoom out for a second—December still served up 3.7 billion visits, crushing last year's numbers with a 138% surge. Now that’s momentum!

The web elite shuffle the deck

Even with ChatGPT's meteoric rise (and combining traffic from chatgpt.com and chat.openai.com), the AI darling couldn't quite break into the web's top 10 club.

Now here's a twist — Reddit just flexed its muscles, climbing from lucky number 13 to snag a VIP spot in the top 10.

And X? That 10th-place finish isn't quite what it seems. When you add up both its new digs and Twitter's old domain, they're still holding court in 5th place with a cool 5.023 billion visits. Guess some things never change — at least not in the traffic game.

Game on for 2025

If 2024 showed us one thing, it's that the digital landscape never hits pause. Between platforms pulling surprise moves, users playing musical chairs, and fresh faces shaking up the scene, it's a whole new game out there. Looking at 2025, those who can pivot faster than a trending hashtag are the ones who'll end up writing tomorrow's success stories.

And what better way to prepare for this year than by reviewing the official list of the fastest-growing companies in 2024? #Digital100 is coming soon—pre-register here for early access: https://bit.ly/4gMrPa8