Mapping the digital publics

Social media isn’t one thing: it’s a landscape. It’s not just one place where everyone gets together, we now have all sorts of feeds and chats that show politics in a different light. When people ask what social media is doing to public life, they're really asking a complex messy question about very different platforms. In the UK, people spent the most time on YouTube, Facebook/Messenger, Instagram, TikTok, X and WhatsApp. Then there’s Reddit, Snapchat, LinkedIn and Pinterest, which aren’t as big but matter for how people find information, follow issues and connect with. If we want to know how people come together online, how they work together and see themselves as a group, it is more useful to map this landscape than to generalise about social media in the abstract. 

There are two ways that these platforms differ. One is how open or closed a space is: does the platform have a public feed, private group chats, invite-only servers, or a mix. The other way they differ is in who talks to who: are people engaging with friends and peers or are audiences watching famous people, influencers and brands in a ‘parasocial’ way; are they developing relationships that feel intimate and reciprocal but are, in fact, mostly one-sided? Based on these criteria, do people spend more time on some types of platforms than others? 

Ofcom data on who uses what, for how long and who they mainly see on each platform starts to form a clearer picture of how platforms shape our experiences differently. 

The chart below maps how much time people spend on these platforms and how parasocial these platforms are. The pattern is striking: the platforms where people spend the most time – YouTube, TikTok, Instagram – cluster together at the high parasocial end, while closed and peer to peer spaces like WhatsApp and reddit sit at the other. The three sections that follow work through each cluster in turn, examining what these platforms have in common, where they differ and what that means for how people experience them.  

Parasocial platforms  

YouTube, Instagram and TikTok all follow a similar logic: their default feeds are algorithmic, they prioritise creators, influencers and public figures over people you already know, and their commercial features are designed to further that relationship. According to Ofcom data, adults spend far more time on these sites than most others. 

Algorithmic feeds and the logic of discovery 

All three platforms provide content via algorithmic feeds rather than chronological feeds or feeds that prioritise social engagement. YouTube's Home screen shows recommended videos based on your viewing history and subscriptions. Instagram’s main feed showcases clips and stories from friends, influencers, celebrities, brands and media. TikTok goes the furthest; it’s For You page is especially designed to introduce people to new creators and topics that aren’t already following – discovery over familiarity. In each case, the platform – not the user – mainly determines what is shown. 

Influencers at the centre  

On all three platforms, content is organised by creator accounts rather than peer networks. YouTube frames this most formally: channels function as destinations, with subscribers returning to familiar hosts across entertainment, education, commentary and lifestyle content. On Instagram, creator accounts, influencers, brands and public figures sit alongside friends in the feed, but public accounts dominate reach and engagement. TikTok’s For You feed surfaces creators you don’t yet follow, meaning the platform is constantly expanding your creator diet rather than deepening existing connections. 

One-to-many 

Across all three parasocial platforms, the dominant relationship is one-to-many. On YouTube, you watch and, possibly comment on or like videos, but your relationship is largely with the channel and not a peer group. The high daily use rates for YouTube show that people are willing to spend the long periods of time in these parasocial relationships, returning to familiar hosts and formats. Interactions on Instagram such as comments, direct messages and shares are usually directed towards public people and influencers rather than being used for horizontal, peer to peer discussion. These platforms also include commercial aspects that help to solidify creator prominence: YouTube Super Chats allow viewers to pay to have messages highlighted during live streams, while TikTok shop integrates shopping directly into the creator feed, turning influence into a transaction. TikTok's combination of algorithmic discovery and creator- led content makes it a particularly powerful engine of attention, even if users spend less time there than on YouTube. 

Case study: #Tiktokmademebuyit  

The hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt, which has received billions of views, exemplifies how TikTok blurs the line between content and business. A creator posts what appears to be an average ‘everyday routine’ or ‘things I use’ video; a product is tagged immediately in the video via TikTok Shop, and viewers may make a purchase without leaving the app. Because of algorithmic reach, a product can sell out within hours of a video going popular, not because viewers sought it out, but because the For You feed recommended it to them mid-scroll. 

What makes this significant is that the transaction is integrated into the parasocial moment: the viewer buys because they trust the person on the screen, not because they’re shopping for the product. TikToks integration is the most seamless of the three parasocial platforms. On YouTube, Super Chats monetise the connection directly but purchasing still leads to you elsewhere, and on Instagram, paid relationships are highlighted and product links appear outside the content. But on TikTok, commerce does not disrupt the experience; it is the experience.  

Noisy, social platforms 

X, Reddit and parts of Facebook operate on a different logic to creator-centric platforms: they are more open and sociable, with fewer one-sided interactions, a higher likelihood of encountering strangers and a weak tie with strangers, rather than close relationships with celebrities or influencers. However, all three rely on algorithms to structure what you see. 

Algorithmic structure and community organisation 

All three platforms use algorithms, but in very different ways. On X, your feed consists of posts from accounts you follow, and content recommended by an automatic ranking system, resulting in an open, fast-moving stream with exposure dictated by follower counts, verification and algorithmic boosts. Reddit organises its algorithmic feed into topic-based groups, so content is sorted by interest rather than social connection or creator status. Facebook cuts across both models: its algorithmic feed displays messages from friends, public pages, community groups and brands simultaneously, making it the most hybrid of the three noisy platforms. 

Interaction patterns and horizontal dimension 

Despite their differences, the three platforms allow for more peer-to-peer, horizontal interactions than on YouTube, Instagram or TikTok. Strangers dispute in public on X using threaded discussions, replying to tweets. Reddit allows anonymous users to post content and engage in discussions in topic-based communities. Facebook’s public groups and comment threads allow for semi-public exchanges between strangers. The parasocial level varies: X platforms high-profile people, whereas you see fewer high-profile people on Reddit. But none of these platforms are particularly designed for watching a creator perform to an audience. 

Closed  

WhatsApp, private Facebook groups and LinkedIn operate differently from the other platforms above. On these platforms, users primarily interact with friends, family, colleagues and recognised contacts rather than acquaintances, creators or public figures. 

Who we see 

WhatsApp doesn’t have a standardised public feed, content is distributed through overlapping group discussions, such as family threads, neighbourhood, workplace and community networks. According to Ofcom data, the service has a very high-reach and is used often, and the experience is relational and private rather than performance-oriented. Private Facebook groups work similarly: despite running on Meta's ad-driven infrastructure they feel more like rooms than public squares, with membership gates determining who can see content and participate. LinkedIn differs slightly: its feed is algorithmic and commercially driven, and users see coworkers, recruiters and sector figures, rather than solely close contacts. 

Where the model is shifting  

Both WhatsApp and LinkedIn are showing symptoms of moving away from their core. The new WhatsApp Channels feature introduces a broadcast element - one-way updates from businesses, organisations and public figures - to what is still primarily a peer-to-peer platform. LinkedIn, similarly, is beginning to shift: its increasing emphasis on video content pushes it towards the more public, creator-adjacent model of the platforms described in the first section, even as it remains modest in time spent, averaging just two minutes per day among UK online adults. 

Time, attention and what the data tells us 

According to Ofcom data, UK adults spend an average of 51 minutes per day on YouTube, up from 47 minutes in 2024. Facebook/Messenger averages 43 minutes and Instagram 20 minutes. YouTube and Instagram are heavily used by 18-34-year-olds, but TikTok, is most popular with 18–34-year-olds who spend 49 minutes a day on it on average. Younger users are almost exclusively interested in creator-centric platforms. WhatsApp stands out here: 90 per cent of UK online adults used it in 2025, and 74 per cent of people use it daily. It has more users than any other similar platform, but users spend their time in closed, peer-to-peer spaces rather than public feeds.  

Ultimately, these platforms are not just where our attention goes – they shape what kind of attention is even possible. Taken collectively, the platforms discussed here are not neutral pipelines that deliver the same type of content in different colours. Each has its own architecture – a set of defaults, incentives and design decisions – that influence who you meet, how you interact, the types of relationship you build, and the ideas you discover. The move to algorithmic feeds means these platforms now actively construct what feels normal, relevant and worthy of attention. Using social media means comprehending the distinction between these platforms, and not just understanding where people’s attention is going, but what norms and conversations these platforms are quietly shaping as people use them.