Indonesia's digital landscape has experienced massive growth, with the number of social media users climbing 26% year-on-year to reach 180 million, according to the "Digital 2026: Indonesia" report.
The new report, released by creative agency We Are Social and intelligence platform Meltwater, reveals that 62.9% of the nation's population now actively uses social media.
User engagement remains high, with the average Indonesian spending over three hours per day (21 hours and 50 minutes per week) on social platforms. This time is spread across an average of 7.7 different platforms each month.
WhatsApp was identified as the most frequently used and "favorite" social platform, with nine in ten Indonesians active on the app monthly. However, in the battle for daily attention, TikTok (1 hour 53 minutes) and WhatsApp (1 hour 52 minutes) are in a virtual tie for the most average time spent per user each day.
The report also highlights social media's critical role in commerce. While search engines remain the top source for brand discovery (38.3%), they are followed immediately by social media ads (37.3%) and social media comments (32.6%). Three in five Indonesians now use social networks as a primary tool for online brand research.
"Social media has become deeply ingrained in Indonesia’s daily life," said Yudhi Hastiardi, Managing Director, Indonesia at We Are Social. "From entertainment to ecommerce, social sits at the heart of the digital experience."
Alongside social media, generative AI adoption is growing exponentially. More than a third of Indonesians use ChatGPT monthly, which is now ranked as the fourth most visited website in the country by Similarweb. The OpenAI platform dominates the local market, accounting for 80.6% of AI web traffic.
This surge in digital activity is matched by a rise in advertising spend. Total ad spend for 2025 is projected to be $6.97 billion, a 5.3% increase. Digital ad spend, which accounts for 52% of the total, is growing faster at 8% year-on-year to reach $3.64 billion. Social media and influencer advertising are leading this growth, with year-on-year increases of 11.3% and 14.4%, respectively.
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