Social media has become an integral part of life in Southeast Asia, with 61.5% of the population actively engaged across multiple platforms, surpassing the global average of 6.83 platforms per user, according to the latest Digital 2025 report by We Are Social and Meltwater.
Regional usage insights
The Philippines stands out for its extensive social media usage, with users spending an average of 3 hours and 32 minutes daily – more than an hour above the global benchmark. Filipinos show a strong preference for influencer content, with nearly half (48.3%) watching vlogs or influencer videos weekly, and 44.9% actively following social media influencers.
In Indonesia, social media drives nearly half (42.6%) of the nation’s total online activity. Two-thirds of Indonesian users seek out brands on social platforms, while 82.1% rely on social media for brand research. TikTok is particularly popular, with Indonesians spending an average of nearly 45 hours per month on the app – among the highest engagement rates globally.
Malaysia isn't far behind, with users clocking over 42 hours a month on TikTok. Meanwhile, Thailand emerges as YouTube’s second-most engaged market globally, with users spending an impressive 42 hours and 14 minutes on the platform, well above the global average of 27 hours.
Singapore takes the crown for Reddit engagement, with users spending nearly 4 hours per month on the platform and accessing it an average of 116.9 times.
Social media as a news source
Notably, over a third of Southeast Asians rely on social media as a news source. At the start of 2025, YouTube remains the region's most-used platform, boasting a user base 16% larger than WhatsApp. Globally, Instagram emerges as the favorite social platform, capturing loyalty from 16.6% of users, followed closely by WhatsApp (16%) and Facebook (13.1%).
Brand research
Meltwater and We Are Social further highlight the growing importance of social media for marketers, as half of adult users now visit platforms to learn more about brands - a trend that’s steadily rising. Instagram leads in brand research, with 62.3% of users using it for this purpose, followed by Facebook (52.5%) and TikTok (51.5%). Additionally, 22% of social media users follow influencers, a figure that rises to 30.8% among women aged 16 to 24.
Growth of ChatGPT
The report also highlighted ChatGPT’s growth, with its mobile app averaging over a quarter of a billion monthly active users from September to November 2024. It ranked as one of the world’s most downloaded apps, placing eighth globally. Additionally, ChatGPT saw 310 million unique visitors, generating 3.5 billion visits during the same period.