The Italian social media market is going through a phase of saturation and, for the first time, we are also witnessing an overall contraction in the use of some platforms, highlighted by data Audicom-Audiweb analyzed by the expert Vincenzo Cosenza, who spoke about it atHANDLE. According to Cosenza «there is an unprecedented contraction in the use of some social networks that begins in 2024 and continues in the first months of 2025. Between January-September 2024 and 2025 there is a loss of 0.16% of overall users and a rebalancing of flows between platforms». And it doesn’t end here. The expert, in fact, reported to ANSA that «in the coming months (…) social media will undergo a transformation due to the massive entry of content produced with artificial intelligence». Specifically, X suffered a -27.6% use and Twitch (-35%), while Reddit (+81%) and Threads (+31.6%) exploded and time spent on TikTok increased (+27%). YouTube confirms itself as the most used social platform in Italy with 37.1 million users.
How much the use of social media has decreased in Italy
Between January and September 2025, compared to the same period in 2024, there was a slight, but unprecedented, loss of 0.16% in the overall number of users, marking a moment of rebalancing of flows. The most striking data is the vertical collapse of
Signs of fatigue are also found in historic platforms such as Instagram, which fell by 1.9%, and Facebook, which lost 1 million users. In this scenario, TikTok maintains a stable position, standing out for a notable 27% increase in user usage time, while platforms such as Twitch (–35%), Snapchat (–4.4%) and Tumblr (–40%) are in strong regression. The only real growth is driven by “small outsiders” such as Reddit, the famous forum aggregator which recorded +81% in 2025, and Threads, the direct Meta microblogging platform rival of X, with an increase of 31.6%.
These numbers present us with an important redefinition of Italians’ digital habits. The ranking still sees YouTube in first place, with an audience of 37.1 million people, and a rather limited drop in users. Facebook follows with 35.8 million users, which despite the decrease of 1 million users in the first nine months of 2025, remains the platform where Italians spend the most time: on average 13 hours and 29 minutes per month. On the last step of the podium we find Instagram, with almost 32.9 million users and which, as mentioned, is showing some fatigue. TikTok, however, remains stable in fourth place with 22.4 million users. Telegram rises to fifth place with 16.5 million users, a slight decline in recent months. LinkedIn, the social network focused on the professional world, is positioned in sixth place due to the continuous and significant decline, largely due to the low use by users (just 15 minutes per month). The most critical situation is for X, which ranks seventh due to the decline in users which we have already told you about earlier.
How AI could further change the social world
According to Vincenzo Cosenza, the picture will be further redefined in the coming months, when AI will dominate the social world with artificially generated content and with the integration of chatbots to increase engagement (i.e. the involvement and interaction of users), with Meta already at the forefront (there are functions that allow you to create chatbots on Instagram, for example, with which users can communicate) and X which, thanks to the integration with Grok, could also try to catch up. In this scenario of stalemate and rebalancing, AI could represent the variable destined to shake up the sector.
