Instagram is the world's fastest growing social media site

Snap-happy mobile users around the world might not be surprised to hear that the user-friendly photo app, which shows selfies, plates of delicious food, and #throwbackthursdays at their very best, grew its user base by 23% in the last six months, thanks in most part to the growing number of global smartphone users.

According to the data revealed in GlobalWebIndex’s Social Report released by TechCrunch, brands looking to appeal to teen audiences may be interested in expanding their presence on the photo-sharing site, with around 39% of its estimated 90 million active users being teenagers. YouTube and Tumblr were the only other sites with a dominant teen user base.

Other data from the GWI report shows that despite recent scaremongering, Facebook continues to fend off fierce competition from its rivals to remain the number one social site online, well ahead of YouTube, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn.

The data also revealed proof that smartphones are continuing to change the face of social media, with the number of users accessing social networking services from their phones at 66%, compared to desktop users at 64%. Microblogging sites like Twitter and messaging apps were also dominated by mobile devices, with penetration from tablet devices at 44%, and mobile handset penetration at 29%.