South Africa's Social Media Landscape 2025: The Rise of Digital Doubles and the Fall of Familiar Giants
The report reveals that while social media remains central to daily life and marketing strategy, user behaviour has matured. Many South Africans, particularly younger users, are rethinking their relationship with social platforms. This shift is influencing how brands approach social media, moving from blanket presence to more selective, strategic engagement.
Audiences are more selective
For the first time, data shows a decline in daily or weekly usage across some of the most established platforms. Facebook's highly active user base dropped from 53.8 percent in 2023 to 51.2 percent in 2024. Meanwhile, TikTok's daily and weekly usage climbed to 32.4 percent, up from 25.1 percent the previous year. These numbers suggest that novelty is no longer enough. Users are seeking relevance and value from their time online.
The youth, once the heartbeat of social media, are now the most sceptical. They are turning away from platforms that no longer serve their needs or reflect their identity, favouring short-form, immersive, and purpose-driven content.
Brands are shifting focus
As audiences change their habits, brands are also evolving. According to the report, 57 percent of surveyed organisations have adopted formal social media strategies, with a clear focus on both B2C and B2B outcomes.
LinkedIn has become the most utilised platform by brands in South Africa, used by 85 percent of organisations, surpassing Facebook at 83 percent and Instagram at 73 percent. YouTube is also widely used, with 63 percent of brands creating content there. TikTok, reflecting its rapid rise in cultural relevance, is now used by nearly half of all brands surveyed.
Marketers are also exploring growth in niche platforms. Pinterest, Telegram, and Reddit all reported increased local usage over the past year, offering fresh spaces for brands to connect with focused communities.
Constraints and challenges remain
Despite broad adoption and strategic planning, many marketers continue to face serious challenges. Forty percent of organisations cited budget constraints as a key issue. Others reported time limitations, staffing shortages, and difficulty securing executive support. Only a third of organisations expect to increase their budgets this year, suggesting a cautious and disciplined approach to digital investment.
Measurement practices are also evolving. Marketers are shifting back toward traditional engagement metrics like likes and shares, but are increasingly incorporating sentiment analysis to better understand brand health and audience perception. Conversion tracking remains a challenge, particularly on newer platforms like TikTok and X, prompting a more balanced approach to assessing return on investment.
Where to access the report
For professionals working in marketing, media, communications, or strategy, the Social Media Landscape Report 2025 offers a grounded, data-backed view of where audiences are, how they are behaving, and what brands need to do next. DM
About Ornico
Ornico provides reputation, media, advertising and brand research with a suite of products that includes Brand Intelligence® across the African continent. It does this to help marketers and brand owners make sense of the flood of information that occupies traditional and social media.
By collecting and analysing media data across many channels, Ornico informs brand owners and marketing decision makers about the most important strategic decisions they'll ever make regarding their brands.
From editorial and advertising monitoring services, social media analytics to advanced brand research, Ornico provides a holistic and independent view of brand performance as reflected by television, radio, print media as well as social and digital media.
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