Facebook is a free social media platform (owned by Meta) where users create an account to connect with friends and family through posting photos, videos, Facebook reels, and general thoughts to their feeds (the stream of content that pops up on your home page or profile).

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“82.8% of New Zealanders and 78.2% of Australians use Facebook monthly!”

Through the Meta Business Suite, business owners can create a Facebook Business Account. This enables some handy features such as theFacebook Ads manager, which lets you schedule social media posts (known as organic posts) to go out automatically on your feed at the dates you set, or payfor advertising, which lets you promote your Facebook ads or organic posts across the platform.

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Outside of posting to your feed Facebook comes with an online market to sell second-hand goods called Facebook Marketplace, and Facebook messenger, an app that lets you send messages privately to the people you know or to businesses that have accounts on Facebook.

Instagram (owned by Meta) is a free photo and video based social media platform. It is an app where you can post photos and short videos (known as reels) to share with followers online. After posing on Instagram, your photo or reel ends up on your follower’s feeds so they can view it.

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You can also choose to post a photo or video to your story, which will share your post in a bubble at the top of everyone’s feeds. However, stories will disappear after 24 hours. This makes it great for sharing temporary photos or events that you don’t need to stick around on your Instagram account forever.

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“61.9% of New Zealanders and 62.4% of Australians use Instagram monthly!”

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Instagram lets you set the privacy on your account when you sign up so that it can be public, meaning anyone can follow it if they search for it, or private, meaning you must accept a follow request before someone cansee what’s on your profile.

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While you can use Instagram to keep up to date with friends and family, many also use the app to follow celebrities and businesses. This makes Instagram a great platform for advertising on, as people use the Instagram search to look up business profiles to view what the company is about, what their services are, view any products and shop that they have, and see what they’re currently up to by viewing their stories.

TikTok is a short-form video sharing platform. Users and businesses on TikTok create 10-60 second videos about a diverse range of topics: These include current trends, internet subgroups, dancing, memes, information, news, current events, fashion, education and more.

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“An average user on TikTok spends over 40 hours a month watching TikTok videos!”

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The TikTok app is well known for customising it’s feed, or For You Page (FYP), to showcase incredibly tailored video content to its users. This makes it easy for niche subgroups to form on TikTok, and outside of having many followers, using hashtags, and trending music within these subgroups is another great method to getting views.

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Alongside these methods of promoting videos on TikTok, it now has an ad manager that creators and businesses can use to run advertising on. This allows a business to run ads to get their TikToks promoted on people’s For You Pages, yet another method to get your content seen by more people on the platform.

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Besides the usual video content, TikTok also has a live feature that celebrities and famous TikTok personalities to live chat withtheir audience and get tips and donations.

Snapchat is primarily a messaging app where users send “Snaps” to each other. Snaps are photos or videos that “expire”, meaning that once the snap has been opened, after 24 hours it will self-delete and can never be opened again. Users can also post “Stories” which aren’t a direct message to another friend, but a 24-hour expiring highlight of what they’ve been up to for everyone who follows them to view.

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There’s no pressure to stage photos or lifestyle videos because snaps are temporary, unlike other video and photo based social media platforms. This makes it a great platform for friends to send what they’re currently up to with each other in a casual and quick manor, making it a more genuine and intimate social media platform.

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“34.3% of New Zealanders and 33% of Australians use Snapchat monthly!”

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Although many users only use Snapchat as a messaging app and a way to keep up with their friends, it also has a video watching platform built into it. The Snapchat discover page is a short form video feed that, unlike its main messaging features, is permanent.

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The Discover page is for video permanent content that your friends have posted, with the addition that creators and businesses can also post to it. This is done through posting videos called “spotlights” and “stories” that have no expiry date, so users can scroll through and watch whenever they want to.

LinkedIn is a social networking website and app made for individual professionals, organisations, and companies alike to network, showcase what their business is up to, celebrate career advancements, share insights into industries and search for jobs. Once you have an account on LinkedIn you can share videos, photos, blog posts, job listings, case studies and more. These posts will end up the home page of the people that follow you.

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“26.4% of New Zealanders and 28.9% of Australians use LinkedIn monthly!”

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The environment on LinkedIn is unique compared to other social media platforms, as most people log in to LinkedIn with a professional mindset rather than to casually see what friends and family are up to.

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LinkedIn provides businesses with advertising opportunities through the LinkedIn Campaign Manager. This lets organisations run advertising campaigns to promote LinkedIn posts on the home pages of a specified target audience. This is a great opportunity to promote specific posts, job listings, send direct messages and promote your business page.

YouTube is a long form video watching platform and app owned by Google. The main way people use YouTube is through watching the videos that pop up on the YouTube Home page, watching in the suggested videos section to the side of a video they’re already watching, going to a YouTube channel and seeing a full list of videos that channel uploaded, or by using the search bar at the top.

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People use YouTube for an incredibly diverse range of reasons. Most users watch YouTube videos for entertainment, such as watching sports highlights, gaming videos, listening to and watching music videos, following YouTube personalities and celebrities and more. However, many also use YouTube to look up questions and find instructional or educational videos like tutorials, cooking instructions, information, and news.

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“An average user on YouTube spends around 20 hours a month watching YouTube videos!”

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Anyone can post a video of any length to YouTube for free, and this video content gets sorted by its type: A “video” which is a horizontal video of any length, a “Short” which is a vertical video between 3 seconds and 3 minutes, or a “Livestream” which is a live video that includes an on-going livechat as the video is airing.

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To keep the platform free to use, YouTube runs advertising on the platform in the form of promoting videos on the home page, search results and suggested videos panel. It also runs adverts played at the start, beginning and even in the middle of videos.

With a free account, users can follow other accounts, like posts, repost (previously retweets), and comment on trending discussions across various topics, from entertainment and politics to sports and technology.

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"26.7% of New Zealanders and 29.6% of Australians use X monthly!"

The platform is widely used for news and live discussions, making it a platform primarily used by influencers, businesses, public figures and journalists. Through the X search feature, users can explore trending topics, hashtags, and specific accounts to stay updated on what’s happening globally.

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X also offers an advertising service where brands can promote posts to appear in users' feeds, search results, and trending topic sections. Businesses and brands can use this for real-time engagement with customers, brand awareness, and marketing campaigns.

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Available as a web platform and mobile app, X allows users to stay connected wherever they are. Signing up is free, and once logged in, users can customise their experience by following topics, curating lists, and engaging in discussions on everything from pop culture to professional insights.

Pinterest is a highly visual social media platform and app designed for discovering, saving, and sharing creative ideas through images and videos. Users can create themed boards to organise content, whether it’s for home décor, fashion, beauty, food recipes, or DIY projects. It’s a go-to platform for inspiration on everything from aesthetic interior designs to outfits, nails, tattoos, and art.

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"31.2% of New Zealanders and 28.8% of Australians use Pinterest monthly!"

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When you sign up and log in, you can explore millions of posts by using the Pinterest search tool. This allows users to find everything from creative mood boards to trending lifestyle content. You can also download wallpaper images to use as backgrounds for your devices or to keep as references for personal projects.

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For businesses, Pinterest is a valuable marketing tool, as users often search for ideas before making purchases. Brands can promote content through Pinterest Ads, ensuring their products appear in relevant search results and on users' feeds.

While Google isn’t traditionally seen as a social media platform, Google My Business (now part of Google Business Profile) allows companies to post updates, share promotions, and engage with local customers. Businesses can create a Google account, sign up for a free profile, and enhance their online presence with photos, customer reviews, and important updates.

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"Google processes over 8.5 billion searches per day!"

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Google is a powerhouse for digital advertising, with Google Ads allowing businesses to promote their products and services across Google Search, Maps, and YouTube. Marketers can track audience engagement and stay ahead of online trends to optimise their campaigns.

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Beyond search and business tools, Google offers essential apps like Gmail for email, Google Drive for cloud storage, Google Photos for image organisation, and Google Maps for navigation. Many of these tools seamlessly integrate with others, such as Google Calendar for scheduling and Google Translate for instant language translations.