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Reddit has become the fastest-growing large social media platform in the United Kingdom, overtaking X, according to new data. The Ofcom Online Nation report reveals that Brits are turning away from Elon Musk’s social media platform as its average monthly adult reach continues to decline.
Research from the UK’s communications regulator indicates that the number of people visiting the site dropped from 27.9 million in 2021 to 26.5 million in 2022 and further to 23.8 million in 2023. The monthly average for 2024, up to August, was 22.2 million—a decrease of 1.6 million adult visitors compared to the previous year.
Our latest report into the UK's digital habits reveals:
⏲️ Gen Z women spend over an hour longer online than Gen Z men.
📱Men are more avid users of online dating and Gen AI.
⚠️ Women and teenage girls are most concerned about online harm.Read more: https://t.co/7VpJmTHnI2
— Ofcom (@Ofcom) November 28, 2024
In contrast, Reddit experienced a 47% year-on-year increase in reach among online adults, climbing to 22.9 million users by May 2024. The growth has made Reddit the fifth highest-reaching social media platform among British adults.
A year after its launch, Meta’s microblogging service Threads ranked as the 12th most widely used social media platform, reaching 5.3 million UK online adults in July 2024. Although it still trails behind X in terms of user numbers, Threads has been rapidly closing the gap. Meanwhile, Bluesky saw significant growth in September, with a 263% increase in users, reaching 461,000 British adults.
X has undergone several changes in recent months, yet the platform continues to decline in popularity across the country.
Ofcom’s data reflects similar trends noted in other research on X. While it remains widely used, the platform has been steadily losing users over the past two years. According to UK-based SOAX, X experienced an 8.83% decline in monthly active users since 2022 and a 5.14% drop since 2023. This downward trend persists despite the overall global growth in social media users, as reported by Statista.
The decline coincides with the platform’s change in ownership when Musk acquired it for $44 billion in October 2022. Since then, X has branded itself as a champion of free speech with serious consequences.
Brits aren’t that interested in AI
ChatGPT emerged as the most popular generative AI tool, with 37% of British online users aged 8-15 and 33% of UK internet users aged 16 and over reporting that they had used it in the past year.
While “finding information or content” remained the primary reason for using generative AI tools, only a small proportion of users trust the information provided. Among users aged 16+, just 18% believed the information was reliable, compared to one-third of 8-15-year-olds who expressed confidence in the accuracy of the content they received.
Despite its growing popularity, half of UK internet users aged over 16 reported that they had never used a generative AI tool. The most common reasons cited for not using these tools—shared equally by males and females—were a lack of interest and not feeling the need to use them.
Concerns about the societal impact of generative AI are prevalent among older users. Nearly three in five UK internet users aged 16 and above said they were worried about its future effects on society.
Featured image: Canva
