When it comes to social media, the first thing that comes to
mind for most is a given: Facebook.
And rightly so!
Social media strategist firm Hasai has recently come out
with this nifty infographic that essentially breaks the social media world down,
from site memberships to number of employees to the leading competitors for
today’s top names, and Facebook currently occupies the social media kingdom’s
throne.
Facebook has 850 million members across the globe and over
3,000 employees! The powerhouse up-and-coming social network Pinterest
has only 10.4 million registered users and a staff of 37. Yes, 37. And despite Thursday’s trending
Twitter topic “RIP Facebook,” the social media giant Facebook brings in $3.7 billion in revenue compared to
Twitter’s $522 million.
Just last summer the media was buzzing about what seemed to
be the “next big thing” in social media and what would become Facebook’s
leading competitor: Google+. But only months after its unveiling, even Google’s
social networking site seemed to fade into social media oblivion.
Now, Facebook isn’t exactly in the same arena as the other
sites featured in the infographic.
For instance, Pinterest has very little to do with reconnecting with
family or friends. And you don’t post status updates telling the world all
about your latest dog-walking experience or your disdain for that jerk who cut
you off on the highway (both of which I’m sure everyone finds extremely
riveting).
Some sites are much more niche, like how Spotify and
Foursquare deal specifically with music and local deals (respectively), unlike
Facebook with its photo/video sharing, event planning, location tagging, gaming
and chat capabilities.
On another note, other sites that could prove relatively
decent competitors such as Club Penguin, Disney’s social network for kids, might
be next on Facebook’s chopping block. Club Penguin actually has more members
than Pinterest, Spotify and Foursquare combined! But be forewarned, Disney:
Facebook’s partnership with Zynga, the social network game development company
best known for FarmVille and Words with Friends, could easily prove fatal,
drawing the younger demographic currently boosting Club Penguin’s membership
toward the ever-increasingly popular Facebook.
Plus, if Facebook goes through with its attempt to throw out
its current age 13+ account requirement, the combination of Zynga’s vast array
of gaming options could be a literal game changer, wiping Club Penguin off the
map.
And don’t think Facebook doesn’t know how important Zynga is
to its membership—the gaming developer accounted for a whopping 19% of the
social network’s revenue and received the majority of Facebook’s $1.4 billion
payout to app developers in 2011. Even with the launch of Zynga.com, new games
are still being debuted on Facebook instead (under an agreement set to expire
in May 2015).
So there you have it, yet another article detailing
Facebook’s perfection of the social media world. But with the growing
skepticism surrounding Facebook’s recent stock market debut, we’ll have to keep
our eyes peeled to see if the network can keep its crown.
Until next time!
MARA JOFFE
Blogger
Sources:
No comments:
Post a Comment