▁the ▁number ▁of ▁U . S . ▁pat ent ▁applications ▁that ▁cover ▁new ▁techn ologies ▁related ▁to ▁social ▁media , ▁and ▁the ▁number ▁of ▁them ▁that ▁are ▁published ▁has ▁been ▁growing ▁rapidly ▁over ▁the ▁past ▁five ▁years . ▁There ▁are ▁now ▁over ▁ 2 0 0 0 ▁published ▁pat ent ▁applications . ▁As ▁many ▁as ▁ 7 0 0 0 ▁applications ▁may ▁be ▁currently ▁on ▁file ▁including ▁those ▁that ▁haven ' t ▁been ▁published ▁yet . ▁Only ▁slightly ▁over ▁ 1 0 0 ▁of ▁these ▁applications ▁have ▁issued ▁as ▁pat ents , ▁however , ▁largely ▁due ▁to ▁the ▁multi - year ▁back log ▁in ▁exam ination ▁of ▁business ▁method ▁pat ents , ▁pat ents ▁which ▁outline ▁and ▁claim ▁new ▁methods ▁of ▁doing ▁business . ▁ ▁Statistics ▁on ▁usage ▁and ▁membership ▁ ▁According ▁to ▁Stat ista , ▁in ▁ 2 0 1 9 , ▁it ▁is ▁estimated ▁that ▁there ▁will ▁be ▁around ▁ 2 . 7 7 ▁billion ▁social ▁media ▁users ▁around ▁the ▁glo be , ▁up ▁from ▁ 2 . 4 6 ▁billion ▁in ▁ 2 0 1 7 . ▁ ▁In ▁ 2 0 2 0 , ▁there ▁were ▁ 3 . 8 ▁billion ▁social ▁media ▁users . ▁ ▁Most ▁popular ▁social ▁networks ▁The ▁following ▁list ▁of ▁the ▁leading ▁social ▁networks ▁shows ▁the ▁number ▁of ▁active ▁users ▁as ▁of ▁July ▁ 2 0 1 9 . ▁ ▁Us age ▁According ▁to ▁a ▁survey ▁conducted ▁by ▁P ew ▁Research ▁in ▁ 2 0 1 8 , ▁Facebook ▁and ▁YouTube ▁domin ate ▁the ▁social