Monday, June 30th is ‘World Social Media Day‘. This day serves as a reminder of the power of social media and its transformational impact on communication, connectivity, and information sharing that brings together individuals, businesses, and communities around the world. Although quite why and by whom remains uncertain.
To make this global ‘celebration’, a new survey has revealed the British cities most addicted to social media, and London has come in sixth place.
To draw this out, the website development agency ProfileTree crunched search volume data for a list of 515 Internet keywords across British cities to pinpoint where residents can’t get enough of social media and their favourite platforms.
London’s findings
London only managed a surprising sixth place with 228,056 searches per 100,000 residents despite being home to nearly 9 million people. The capital’s unexpected ranking suggests bigger populations don’t automatically mean bigger social media appetites, although Londoners show the most interest in Pinterest out of all British cities.
Britain’s Most Social Media-Obsessed Cities
| Rank | City | Searches per 100,000 |
| 1 | Oxford | 312,033 |
| 2 | Birmingham | 274,624 |
| 3 | Glasgow | 274,588 |
| 4 | Leeds | 246,151 |
| 5 | Manchester | 245,730 |
| 6 | London | 228,056 |
| 7 | Newcastle upon Tyne | 225,610 |
| 8 | Edinburgh | 223,180 |
| 9 | Bristol | 220,258 |
| 10 | Coventry | 217,896 |
From the above data table, Oxford has topped the ranking for most social media-obsessed city in Britain, accumulating 312,033 searches for various social media platforms and topics per 100,000 people. The city’s favourite platforms are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Oxford residents search for Instagram, Linkedin and Reddit more than any other city in the country.
Birmingham and Glasgow sit practically neck-and-neck for second place in the rankings. Brummies clocked 274,624 searches per 100,000 residents. Glaswegians managed 274,588 per 100,000 people. The tiny gap of just 36 searches makes it almost impossible to separate these major cities in their online habits. They also share the same go-to platforms, which are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; however, Glasgow searches for Twitter more than any other city in the UK.
Leeds took fourth place, with 246,151 searches per 100,000 people, while Manchester wasn’t far behind in fifth place with 245,730. Both cities follow the same trend as others, with their top three social media platforms being Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Interestingly, Northern cities feature heavily in the top spots, with Newcastle upon Tyne also making the top ten, securing seventh place after recording 225,610 searches per 100,000 residents.
London only managed a surprising sixth place with 228,056 searches per 100,000 residents despite being home to nearly 9 million people. The capital’s unexpected ranking suggests bigger populations don’t automatically mean bigger social media appetites, although Londoners show the most interest in Pinterest out of all British cities.
Two Scottish cities made the top ten list, with Edinburgh joining Glasgow in the rankings. The Scottish capital recorded 223,180 searches per 100,000 residents, placing it eighth and showing Scots can’t help themselves from scrolling on social media too.
Bristol secured its place in the top ten with 220,258 searches per 100,000 people, and Coventry’s searches tallied up to 217,896 per 100,000 people. These results put the West Country and Midlands cities ninth and tenth, completing the top ten.
Facebook smashes the competition across all locations, becoming the top social media platform in every city in the UK. The platform has racked up 10,579,982 monthly searches nationwide, more than tripling the nearest rival Twitter, with 3,496,416. Instagram has taken third spot with 2,639,191 monthly searches, cementing the clear pecking order in Britain’s favourite social platforms.
Cambridge has produced a baffling result in the study, finishing dead last among all 78 cities examined. The prestigious university city recorded only 25,325 social media-related searches per 100,000 residents, a shocking 12 times fewer than academic rival Oxford.
Ciaran Connolly, Founder of ProfileTree, tells Digital Journal: “These results paint a fascinating picture of social media engagement across UK cities. The contrast between Oxford and Cambridge, both prestigious university cities, is particularly striking and challenges assumptions about where digital engagement is highest.
Connolly adds: “Social media usage rarely matches what you’d expect based on a city’s reputation. This creates major challenges for businesses targeting audiences through social channels, but these findings can give some insight. 82.8% of Brits use social media, which is a whopping 56.2 million users. Ofcom even reports that 82% of young people in the UK use social media as their primary news source, just proving how much influence these platforms really have.”
