Leading social media and messaging platforms in Germany 2021

WhatsApp was the leading actively used messenger service in Germany in 2021. Almost 84 percent of users confirmed this. While WhatsApp is foremost a messaging service, certain features indicate similarities with social media networks, as sharing and posting between users still occurs, just not necessarily on a publicly accessible website.

Delivering the message

For most of the population, modern life is unimaginable without messenger apps. Texting has become much more varied as a form of communication thanks to extended file and content sharing options within messages. WhatsApp was the most used messaging and communication app in Germany, in terms of daily active users who had downloaded the app from the Google Play Store. As of October 2020, almost 6.07 million users were messaging on WhatsApp every day. In the same month, almost 602,000 Android device users downloaded the app from the Google Play Store.

Personal data

While Facebook is extremely popular in European countries, long-term questions and concerns from users continue to arise, with personal data security being one of the leading topics of discussion. In general, the majority of German internet users did not think their personal data was safe online. At the same time, social media continues to enjoy rising popularity and use among the German population, both in a private and professional context.