Social media plays an integral part in many people’s lives; it keeps us connected to friends and family, it’s also integral to the success of businesses, and is a great source around the globe for the latest news. In 2014 an online voucher code and money saving website looked into who owns our social media and how much they control. They have now looked back on their research to see what’s changed in that time, whether Google’s sites are still going strong, if Facebook has floundered and where the new kids on the block are now.
3 years ago, online voucher code and money saving website My Vochure Codes tracked who the biggest players in social media were and who owned these platforms. Now they investigate to find out which social media platforms are #winning in 2017 and which are losing. They have created an informative infographic to show who controls our social media now, how much they are worth compared to 3 years ago and how much money they now make from us.
The social media spectrum hasn’t changed greatly: most of it is still controlled by 5 main companies. However the up and coming social sites from 3 years ago have become bigger and stronger, whilst other sites from the big 5 companies have weakened in the social media sector.
5 Biggest sites in 2014 and now in 2017
| Facebook then | Facebook now |
| Facebook Group Worth $190 billion | Facebook Group Worth $314.8 billion |
| Facebook users 1.7 billion | Facebook users 1.79 billion |
| WhatsApp users 600 million | WhatsApp users 1 billion |
| Instagram users 200 million | Instagram users 500 million |
| Yahoo then | Yahoo now |
| Yahoo value $35 billion | Yahoo value $35.5 billion |
| Flickr users 92 million | Flickr users 122 million |
| Tumblr users 69 million | Tumblr users 550 million |
| Google then | Google now |
| Google value $382 billion | Google value $525 billion |
| YouTube users 1 billion | YouTube users 1 billion |
| Google+ users 540 million | Google+ users 300 million |
| Twitter then | Twitter now |
| Twitter value $49 million | Twitter value $32.9 billion |
| Twitter users 271 million | Twitter users 317 million |
| LinkedIn then | LinkedIn now |
| Linked in value $75 million | LinkedIn values $15.8 billion |
| LinkedIn users 187 million | Linked in users 467 million |
Facebook is still the biggest social networking business, with the most users. Although the company’s value is still short of Google’s, its social networking platform is light years ahead of Google+ which has seen a decrease in users since 2014. There is talk of Google phasing its social networking platform out due to this. Facebook’s other platforms, WhatsApp and Instagram, have gone from strength to strength increasing users and having a positive effect on Facebook’s value.
Yahoo has struggled with security breaches over the past couple of years. Although their social networking platforms have increased in the number of users, they haven’t grown as much as some others. Issues around personal data breaches may have affected this.
