Social Media Means
Photo by Ketut Subiyanto Pexels Logo Photo: Ketut Subiyanto

Who owns the social media platforms?

Who owns most social media platforms? Some of the most popular social media platforms worldwide, including Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, are subsidiaries owned by other companies. In these cases, Meta Platforms owns Facebook and Instagram, while ByteDance owns TikTok.

Can you earn a living from YouTube?
Can you earn a living from YouTube?

You don't get paid per subscriber, but the more subscribers you have, the more potential you have to generate revenue. For example, if you want to...

Read More »
What does a paid social media specialist do?
What does a paid social media specialist do?

What is a Paid Media Specialists? Paid Media Specialists are responsible for the day-to-day management of paid digital marketing campaigns which...

Read More »

When you log in to your favorite social media app, you may not realize some of the ways it is connected to other popular social media platforms. Globally, many of the top social networking services own (or are owned by) the same companies. Investors looking to capitalize on the popularity of the latest social media trends may wish to keep this in mind. Take a closer look at some of the companies that own leading social media platforms and services around the world. Key Takeaways Some of the largest social media platforms in the world are actually subsidiaries of other companies. Established tech giants such as Microsoft and Alphabet own prominent social media networks in addition to providing a range of other offerings.

Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms Inc. (META), formerly Facebook, owns and operates three of the top four social networking platforms by monthly active users (MAU) as of October 2022. It is likely best known for Facebook, which had 2.91 billion MAU as of Dec. 31, 2021, making it the largest social media platform globally by this measurement. While Meta does not provide detailed information about MAU for these platforms, they are believed to be among the most-trafficked apps globally. CNBC reported in December 2021 that Instagram had surpassed 2 billion monthly users, while WhatsApp reached a reported 2 billion users in early 2020.

Tencent

Tencent Holdings Ltd. is a Chinese technology and entertainment holding company that owns a portfolio of social networking platforms that are popular throughout Asia. Of these, the largest by MAU is Weixin, also known in English as WeChat, which had nearly 1.3 billion MAU as of Sept. 30, 2022. WeChat is a messaging platform that also offers payment services and a host of other tools. Tencent also owns QQ, an instant messaging and web portal service, which reported more than 574 million mobile-device MAU as of Sept. 30, 2022.

ByteDance

ByteDance is a Chinese tech giant best-known outside of Asia for the video-focused social media platform TikTok. TikTok, which has come under scrutiny by the U.S. government for its potential use in unauthorized surveillance operations, has more than 1 billion users visit the app each month. ByteDance also owns and operates a number of other social media platforms that are available in China, including Douyin—an alternative to TikTok focused on the Chinese market—and content discovery and news aggregator Toutiao, among others.

Microsoft

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is a software, electronics, and hardware maker that is perhaps not best known as a social networking company, despite its prominence in the United States and abroad as one of the leading office software and tech firms. However, Microsoft owns some of the most popular networking companies for both personal and business use. These include LinkedIn, the professional networking platform that has more than 850 million users. Microsoft also owns video and voice communications platform Skype.

Alphabet

What is the most lowest paying job?
What is the most lowest paying job?

25 of the Lowest Paying Jobs Food-Preparation Workers. ... Gambling Dealers. ... Gambling Change Persons and Booth Cashiers. ... Parking Lot...

Read More »
What remote job pays well?
What remote job pays well?

6 High-Paying Remote Jobs You Can Land With No Remote Experience Remote Developer. ... Remote Web Designer. ... Remote Project Manager. ... Remote...

Read More »

One of the primary offerings of tech giant Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) is YouTube. While not a conventional social media platform in the format as others mentioned, YouTube is a space in which content creators and audiences can come together to share entertainment and information. As of October 2022, there were an estimated 2.5 billion YouTube users worldwide.

Sina

Chinese technology firm Sina Corp. provides mobile and various online services. It also owns Weibo, a popular microblogging platform with roughly 584 million monthly active users as of September 2022.

Other Social Media Companies

There are a variety of other social media companies that maintain significant user bases, either regionally or globally, but either are private companies or are publicly traded companies without a parent or subsidiary social media platforms. These include Chinese video-sharing app Kuaishou, camera and social media platform Snap Inc. (SNAP), microblogging app Twitter, instant messaging service Telegram, content aggregator and discussion platform Reddit, and many others. Who owns most social media platforms? Some of the most popular social media platforms worldwide, including Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, are subsidiaries owned by other companies. In these cases, Meta Platforms owns Facebook and Instagram, while ByteDance owns TikTok. Which social media companies are owned by Google? Alphabet, the parent company of Google, owns YouTube, the video-sharing site. Which social media platform has the largest user base? In terms of number of monthly active users (MAU), Facebook is the largest social media platform globally. It had more than 2.9 billion users as of the end of 2021. However, some social media companies do not provide user data publicly, and others measure user activity in different ways (such as by daily active users), making direct comparisons difficult.

The Bottom Line

The ever-growing network of social media companies has shifted significantly since the industry first developed. Some of the major players in the space have been acquired by other companies, as when Meta Platforms (then Facebook) acquired Instagram in 2012. Other social media platforms are subsidiaries of different companies—consider the example of TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance. And still other social media platforms are private or have been taken private, such as when previously publicly traded Twitter was purchased and taken private by billionaire Elon Musk in late October 2022.

How much money for 1 million followers on TikTok?
How much money for 1 million followers on TikTok?

$1,000 to $5,000 Unlike Youtubeand other platforms, TikTok doesn't pay their creators from ads. Even still, content creators who have about 100,000...

Read More »
Can you make money on TikTok without creator fund?
Can you make money on TikTok without creator fund?

The Creator Fund is the only way you'll get paid directly by TikTok, but the program has received mixed reactions. For one thing, you'll need to be...

Read More »
What type of platform is Gmail?
What type of platform is Gmail?

Gmail is a free email service provided by Google. As of 2019, it had 1.5 billion active users worldwide. A user typically accesses Gmail in a web...

Read More »
How much Instagram pays for 1 million views?
How much Instagram pays for 1 million views?

According to USA Today, an influencer with 10,000 to 50,000 active fans can make a few thousand per post. Instagram influencers with up to 1...

Read More »