Penetration rate of social media in Malaysia 2016-2023

As of January 2023, about 78.5 percent of the Malaysian population were active social media users. This was a decrease by 13.2 percent compared to 2022, in which the social media users amounted to approximately 91.7 percent of the total population in Malaysia. Among all social media platforms available there, Facebook was the leading social media platform.

Facebook’s popularity in Malaysia

The most popular social media platforms among users in Malaysia in 2020 were Facebook, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and LinkedIn. Since its launch in 2004, Facebook has become the most widely used social media platform among social media users in Malaysia. It was projected that Facebook’s penetration rate in Malaysia would reach up to 70 to 71 percent in the coming years. In addition, considering the continual growth of interest in Facebook among social media users, it is estimated that the number of Facebook users in Malaysia would be at approximately 24 million in 2023.

Social media addiction

Social media addiction is a behavioral addiction relating to individual’s attachment to social media. The symptoms of this type of addiction includes mood swings caused by what the individual is experiencing on social media. Regardless of the platform used, most Malaysians felt that social media contributed to the state of their happiness and thought that it was difficult for them to quit using social media.