Key stat: 81% of US Instagram users watched Reels, but only 39% uploaded content to Reels, according to an April report from Morning Consult.

Beyond the chart:

• That lopsided ratio is exactly why Meta keeps building for watchers rather than makers. Reels already accounted for one-fifth of Instagram ad impressions in Q2 2025, per Tinuiti.
• Meanwhile, brands are leaning harder on the content that comparatively few users actually make. Some 36% of marketers say user-generated content is extremely important to their social strategy, compared with 2% who say the same about AI-generated content, according to a survey from PhotoShelter.

Use this chart: Drop this in your creator-strategy deck when someone assumes your audience will make content for you. Show it to social leads sizing UGC campaigns, and use the country columns to set realistic creation expectations before you commit production budget market by market.

Related EMARKETER reports:

• Creator Economy 2026 (EMARKETER subscription required)
• Social Users and Time Spent Forecast 2026 (EMARKETER subscription required)

Methodology: Data is from the April 2026 Morning Consult report titled "The State of Social Media: Global Trends & Platform Behaviors." Data featured in this report comes from Morning Consult Intelligence; surveys are conducted online daily and results are aggregated on a rolling basis. Global platform usage data is based on surveys conducted on a continuous basis from approximately Q4 2017-Q1 2026 (depending on when Morning Consult commenced tracking in each market), and all figures reflect weighted general population estimates of adults 18+. Social media activities data is based on surveys conducted from June 2025-April 2026 among respondents in six markets (US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, and Spain); activities are reported among account holders of each respective platform, and across all platforms and markets sample sizes range from approximately n=266 to n=13,172 (LinkedIn activities are reported for the US only, n=4,130).