Spanish second-most popular language on Facebook and Twitter

On social media, Spanish is second to English as the world’s most widely used language.

English is (perhaps ironically) known as the lingua franca of the world, with more people speaking it as a second language than any other. Whether at a bar in Germany, a restaurant in Thailand or hiking through the hills of Peru, chances are that a smattering of English gets most people a long way.

French, Chinese and Spanish have each long jostled for second-place in this unofficial chart, and new data released this week appears to show that Spanish has won the battle royale…

With 470 million people speaking Spanish as their native language the world over, and a further 21 million studying it, Spanish was always a heavyweight on the global scene. But now, thanks to the millions of Spanish speakers active on social media, Spanish has become the second-most widely used language on networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

On the internet as a whole, Spanish is the third-most widely spoken language after English and Chinese, but when it comes to social networks Spanish is growing faster than ever. The use of Spanish on online platforms has risen by 1,100% since the turn of the millennium, according to a study by the Instituto Cervantes.

Currently, Spanish speakers comprise 7.2% of the world’s population, and this is expected to rise to 7.5% by 2030. The Instituto Cervantes estimates that within three generations, one in ten people globally will be able to speak Spanish.

And while the dominance of English is now thought to be largely insurmountable – even the Chinese have begun learning English in their millions – Spanish is going to become an increasingly important language to know in the future, particularly for people who like to travel, do business overseas or are seeking to emigrate to Spain or one of the many parts of Central and South America, and even the USA, where Spanish speakers are a growing minority.