Social Media Platform & Search Engine: YouTube (part 1)
Over the last few weeks we’ve analyzed social media platforms in depth. So far, we’ve discussed Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. We've reviewed their platform demographics, algorithm updates, and content trends.
Today we’re going to analyze both a social media platform and search engine: YouTube.
Grab your caffeine, put on your comfy clothes, and let's dive in.
YouTube, created in 2005, started as a platform where people could upload their “home videos”. YouTube quickly experienced success, passing 25 million videos uploaded in just over a year of launch. Google purchased YouTube in 2006 and supplied more broadband bandwidth and resources to help litigate copy right concerns. One of the most notable decisions Google made in the process of acquiring YouTube (and best decisions in my opinion) was to keep the original brand in its entirety. The name YouTube, logo, brand colors and guidelines would remain the same. YouTube's red and black play button logo and colors stand out from other social platforms, which played into Google's decision to keep the brand. These colors are intentional, meant to ignite emotions of excitement, passion, and energy.
Over the years, YouTube has undergone small updates and refreshes, but the brand has largely remained the same. Minimal changes coupled with the constant focus on innovative and engaging content has made YouTube one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Over the years, YouTube has revolutionized video content for consumption (both short and long form), changed the game for dynamic advertising, and paved the way for creators and brands to monetize from social platforms. (Can you believe YouTube has been paying creators since 2007?) YouTube is now a full blown search engine, with its most recent support from Google’s AI’s Overviews.
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User Age
Information below sourced from DataReportal’s Annual Report shows YouTube’s updated user ages in 2024. YouTube has seen continued growth and success because the platform is deemed to have 'something for everybody'. Typically, the ‘something for everybody’ approach is not executed in a way that sets a company up for longevity. YouTube has mastered the approach and the user age demographics below prove just how versatile (and user friendly!) YouTube is as a platform.
Users ages 23-34 make up 21.7% of YouTube’s audience. Coming in a close second are users ages 35-44 at 18.5%. Next are users ages 18-24 at 15.8% and users ages 45-54 at 14.0%.?These numbers are much closer percentages compared to other platforms like TikTok and Instagram, which have a larger gap in age demographics.
How many users in these age ranges also have kids watching YouTube?!
User Gender (male and female only)
(not including nonbinary, gender nonconforming, transgender, genderfluid, genderqueer, intersex, etc.)
Data from Statista in 2024 shows the global gender demographics of YouTube (male and female only) are 45.7% female, 54.3% male. In the United States, the gender demographics are similar, with female identifying users making up 51.2% and male identifying users making up 48.8%.
User Location
Top 5 countries of audience size (updated as of February 2025)
Paid Subscribers (YouTube Shorts + YouTube Premium)
YouTube has seen a steady increase of paid users since 2020.
Source: Statista
Starting at 30 million paid subscribers in 2020, YouTube has grown to 100 million paid subscribers as of November 2024.
Time spent
YouTube has continued to see a steady increase of time spent on the platform since 2019. In 2019, YouTube saw a user average of 39.7 minutes on the platform per day. In 2023, viewers were spending an average of 47.5 minutes per day. Preliminary data and forecasting shows that in 2024, users spent roughly 48.7 minutes per day on YouTube.
Now that we understand user data and demographics, it’s time to look at the YouTube algorithm and updates for 2025.
Talk next week!