Surprising result in internet traffic: It outpaced its competitors

The "Quarterly Market Data Report on the Turkish Electronic Communications Sector" published by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) revealed striking results regarding internet usage habits in the first quarter of 2026.

According to the data, users concentrated the majority of their internet traffic on video and social media platforms.

YOUTUBE RANKS FIRST IN INTERNET TRAFFIC

It was determined that 40.6 percent of total internet traffic in the first quarter occurred via YouTube.

While Instagram followed YouTube with 16 percent, the data revealed that users are shifting toward video content consumption in their internet usage.

YOUTUBE IS THE LEADER IN THE STREAMING CATEGORY

When internet traffic was examined by category, YouTube also ranked first in "streaming" or broadcast-based applications.

In this category, YouTube's usage rate was recorded at 57.4 percent. While Instagram was in second place with 17.4 percent, TikTok appeared on the list with 5.6 percent and Netflix with 5.5 percent.

INSTAGRAM LEADS IN INSTANT MESSAGING

In the "instant messaging" category, it was observed that the most heavily used application was Instagram with 58.5 percent.

While Facebook ranked second with 26.4 percent, WhatsApp was in third place with 7.3 percent, and Telegram was in fourth place with 6.2 percent.

The data showed that social media-based platforms have come to the fore in messaging and that traditional messaging services are used more limitedly.

GAMING AND VOIP USAGE DATA

In the "online games" category, the highest usage rate occurred on the PlayStation platform with 25.4 percent.

PlayStation was followed by Steam with 24.1 percent, PUBG with 9.2 percent, and League of Legends with 6.7 percent.

In the voice communication (VOIP) category, WhatsApp stood out by a wide margin. 61.2 percent of total traffic usage occurred via WhatsApp.