- Norwich takes the top spot as the UK’s most social media-obsessed city
- Wrexham and Liverpool place second and third in the rankings
- Wakefield is the least social media-obsessed city in the UK, searching the least for social media-related terms
A new study has revealed that Norwich is the UK’s most social media-obsessed city, with its population searching the most for social media-related terms over every other city in the UK.
The research conducted by entertainment experts at PlayOJO analysed the number of Google searches for various social media platforms over the past year, including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, Pinterest, Reddit and Linkedin.
Norwich is the top city in the UK with the highest number of searches for social media-related terms; the city sweeps in at over 215,000 searches per 100,000 people and has a population of over 143,000.
Wrexham is the second most social media-obsessed city, with over 65,000 people searching for all social media platforms, equating to over 209,000 times per 100,000 people.
In third place is Liverpool, which has a population of over 484,000 people meaning its number of searches is over 195,000 per 100,000 people. As opposed to Bath, with a population of just 94,000, ranking in fourth place, searching over 186,000 times per 100,000 people.
Manchester is the fifth most social media-obsessed city in the UK, with a population of over 1.8 million people. This city’s searches for social media-related terms total over 185,000 per 100,000 people.
The least social media-obsessed city in the UK is Wakefield which searches just over 14,000 per 100,000 for social media-related terms. Following Wakefield is Winchester, searching over 37,000 per 100,000 people, with Canterbury, Lancaster and Doncaster all resulting in below 70,000 searches per 100,000 people.
London has the largest population in the UK and ranks 25th in the table, with over 131,000 searches per 100,000 people. Following London’s large population is Birmingham, with over 1.1 million inhabitants; this city ranks as the ninth most social media-obsessed city, with 171,000 searches per 100,000 people.
The study also analysed the percentage of searches that the platforms receive in each place, to discover where they are most popular. Blackpool ranks as the most Facebook-obsessed place in the UK, as it makes a higher percentage of searches for the platform than any other town or city.
Brighton loves Instagram more than any other place in the list, while Cambridge is more likely to search for both LinkedIn and Reddit than other towns and cities are.
Winchester is more interested in Pinterest than other places, while in Bradford search levels are higher than anywhere else for both Snapchat and TikTok.
Glasgow is where Twitter has the highest search share compared to other cities, and Newport tops the list for its interest in YouTube.
The most searched social media app in the UK is YouTube, followed by Facebook, with Twitter in third.
A spokesperson from the PlayOJO Casino team commented on the findings: “Social media has become a fundamental part of our day-to-day lives and enables us to communicate and socialise with friends, family and anyone across the world at the touch of a button, which is why many rely on these apps to connect and develop our relationships at any chosen time.
“It is only natural that some cities are drawn to using social media more than others. This study offers an exciting glance at which cities across the UK are invested in these platforms the most, with Norwich topping the list and proving to have more interest in social media than some of the country’s largest cities.“
The most social media-obsessed cities in the UK
Rank |
City |
Population |
Searches per 100k |
1 |
Norwich |
143,118 |
215,775 |
2 |
Wrexham |
65,692 |
209,206 |
3 |
Liverpool |
484,488 |
195,037 |
4 |
Bath |
94,782 |
186,135 |
5 |
Manchester |
549,853 |
185,204 |
6 |
Bristol |
467,099 |
184,881 |
7 |
Inverness |
46,870 |
183,556 |
8 |
Hereford |
63,024 |
175,561 |
9 |
Birmingham |
1,142,494 |
171,621 |
10 |
Cambridge |
144,714 |
171,391 |
11 |
Lincoln |
102,330 |
170,139 |
12 |
Glasgow |
626,410 |
165,367 |
13 |
Preston |
147,617 |
162,773 |
14 |
Salford |
103,886 |
159,507 |
15 |
Newcastle upon Tyne |
298,264 |
153,480 |
16 |
Edinburgh |
513,210 |
153,088 |
17 |
Chester |
89,823 |
149,223 |
18 |
Blackburn |
117,963 |
144,218 |
19 |
Belfast |
333,871 |
144,085 |
20 |
Worcester |
103,617 |
137,875 |
21 |
Leicester |
366,018 |
137,383 |
22 |
Peterborough |
216,349 |
136,925 |
23 |
Oxford |
152,450 |
133,420 |
24 |
Exeter |
130,800 |
132,398 |
25 |
London |
8,982,256 |
131,917 |
26 |
Aberdeen |
222,793 |
130,938 |
27 |
Coventry |
343,320 |
130,033 |
28 |
York |
201,672 |
126,805 |
29 |
Dundee |
148,270 |
124,434 |
30 |
Sheffield |
554,401 |
122,482 |
31 |
Leeds |
809,036 |
120,234 |
32 |
Cardiff |
335,145 |
120,046 |
33 |
Portsmouth |
206,828 |
119,671 |
34 |
Nottingham |
319,566 |
118,776 |
35 |
Swansea |
246,217 |
117,126 |
36 |
Blackpool |
140,954 |
116,471 |
37 |
Wolverhampton |
264,036 |
112,133 |
38 |
Derby |
261,136 |
110,023 |
39 |
Kingston upon Hull |
261,149 |
109,632 |
40 |
Plymouth |
263,100 |
108,233 |
41 |
Burnley |
94,721 |
105,131 |
42 |
Southend-on-Sea |
180,601 |
103,059 |
43 |
Brighton |
229,700 |
98,778 |
44 |
Derry |
150,756 |
97,456 |
45 |
Stoke-on-Trent |
258,037 |
95,929 |
46 |
Milton Keynes |
288,201 |
93,918 |
47 |
Colchester |
192,424 |
92,398 |
48 |
Gloucester |
145,563 |
90,517 |
49 |
Southampton |
247,256 |
88,142 |
50 |
Carlisle |
110,255 |
81,810 |
51 |
Chelmsford |
181,763 |
79,859 |
52 |
Sunderland |
274,211 |
79,484 |
53 |
Bradford |
546,976 |
79,133 |
54 |
St Albans |
148,641 |
66,834 |
55 |
Doncaster |
308,705 |
65,121 |
56 |
Lancaster |
142,162 |
64,611 |
57 |
Canterbury |
156,554 |
61,526 |
58 |
Winchester |
127,916 |
57,228 |
59 |
Wakefield |
353,802 |
39,750 |
Help keep news FREE for our readers
Supporting your local community newspaper/online news outlet is crucial now more than ever. If you believe in independent journalism, then consider making a valuable contribution by making a one-time or monthly donation. We operate in rural areas where providing unbiased news can be challenging. Read More About Supporting The West Wales Chronicle