The 10 Largest Social Media Companies In The World, And What They Do

Social media has revolutionized communication and connection in the 21st century. What started as a way for college students to connect with their peers has evolved into a force that impacts business, politics, culture and everyday human interaction. As billions of people use social platforms to share their lives and interests, social media companies wield tremendous influence.

This article provides an in-depth look at the world‘s 10 largest social media companies based on active users and revenue. For each platform, we will explore its history, purpose, key offerings and financial standing. By the end, you will have a solid understanding of the tech giants that connect people across languages, geographies and generations.

The Staggering Reach of Social Media

Before diving into the top 10 companies, it helps to understand just how pervasive social media platforms have become in everyday life:

• Over 4.5 billion people now use social media worldwide as of early 2022, according to DataReportal. This equals roughly 58% of the total global population.

• An estimated 3.6 billion people use social media via mobile devices.

• The average person spends over 2 hours per day using social platforms and messaging apps as of 2021, says GlobalWebIndex.

As these jaw-dropping statistics reveal, social apps and sites now rank among the most popular ways billions experience the internet.

Next let‘s explore the top companies enabling these global connections, starting with number 10.

10. Telegram – 500+ Million Users

Launch: 2013
Founders: Pavel Durov, Nikolai Durov
Headquarters: Dubai, UAE

Telegram is an encrypted messaging app that has surged in popularity in recent years for its security and privacy-focused features. Users can send text and multimedia messages, as well as make voice/video calls through the platform.

Distinguishing capabilities of Telegram include its cloud storage which enables messages to sync across user devices, group chats supporting up to 200,000 members, and self-destructing Secret Chats.

The Dubai-based company was founded by Russian brothers and tech entrepreneurs Pavel and Nikolai Durov as an antidote to Russia‘s surveillance over internet activity. It has attracted over 500 million active users as of 2022 estimates, cementing its place among the world‘s top social apps even without a major revenue model yet in place.

9. Reddit – 430+ Million Users

Launch: 2005
Founders: Steve Huffman, Alexis Ohanian, Aaron Swartz
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA

With the tagline ‘the front page of the internet‘, Reddit is a social news and discussion website where users submit content and vote up/down on posts. This community-based voting determines the most popular and visible content on the site.

Key features that have fueled Reddit‘s rise include:

• Subreddits: Topic/interest-based communities e.g. r/science, r/gaming
• Chatrooms
• AMAs (Ask Me Anything): Q&A interviews with celebrities, thought leaders and interesting personalities

Overseen by co-founder Steve Huffman as CEO, Reddit ranks as the 9th largest social media platform. Though it does not disclose official user figures, estimates peg MAUs around 430 million. In terms of revenue, the company makes money primarily through advertising and premium memberships.

8. Pinterest – 433+ Million Users

Launch: 2010
Founders: Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra, Evan Sharp
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA

Pinterest is a visual discovery engine that lets users browse and bookmark creative ideas by ‘pinning’ them onto virtual pinboards. Its main appeal lies in lifestyle content categories like fashion, home decor, recipes, DIY crafts and travel inspiration.

Since its launch, the platform has evolved shopping features to enable purchases of products shown in Pins. Users can now easily shop featured items without leaving Pinterest.

Pinterest went public in 2019 and brought in $2.6 billion in total revenue in 2021. Already profitable since late 2021, its ad business and ecommerce vision place it in a strong position moving forward.

7. Snapchat – 347 Million Users

Launch: 2011
Founders: Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, Reggie Brown
Headquarters: Santa Monica, CA

Snapchat pioneered self-deleting photo, video and text messages – called ‘Snaps’ – that disappear once viewed. This ephemeral content sharingResonance distinguishes it from permanent social media posts on other platforms.

Snapchat also features a ‘Stories‘ option enabling users to post content viewable for 24 hours. Augmented reality (AR) filters and lenses that digitally alter faces/surroundings in entertaining ways make creating Snaps incredibly addictive and fun.

Having revived its fortunes after early struggles post-IPO, Snap Inc. now reaches over 300 million daily active users. In 2021, the company recorded total revenues exceeding $4.1 billion.

6. TikTok – 1 Billion Users

Launch: 2016 (as Douyin in China)
Founders: Zhang Yiming
Headquarters: Culver City, CA

TikTok has taken the world by storm in record time thanks to its algorithmically fueled For You feed that quickly learns your interests and serves up endlessly scrolling short videos tailored precisely for you. From fun dances and challenges to viral memes and lifehacks, TikTok is impossible to put down once you pick it up.

TikTok owner ByteDance originally created a similar short video app called Douyin for the Chinese market in 2016. It expanded TikTok globally the same year by acquiring popular incumbents (Musical.ly) and pouring resources into the platform.

As of 2022, we can safely place TikTok among the top 3 largest social apps with over 1 billion monthly active users. These staggering engagement levels have brands, marketers and content creators flocking to the platform. Integrated ecommerce capabilities also drive huge potential for shopping directly via TikTok.

5. Twitter – 237 Million Users

Launch: 2006
Founders: Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, Evan Williams
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA

Twitter serves as a public, open journal where people share text posts up to 280 characters long called ‘Tweets‘. Hashtags (#) enable users to organize Tweets by topic for others to follow specific conversations.

In late 2022, Twitter went through a tumultuous $44 billion acquisition by tech billionaire Elon Musk. This deal reaching closure could shape Twitter‘s future trajectory significantly under Musk‘s private ownership.

Even before these developments, the platform had cemented its position as a ‘global town hall‘ for sharing news, updates and eyewitness reporting in real-time. Politicians, journalists, celebrities and thought leaders often make major announcements on Twitter first.

Even though its user base lags behind social media peers at 237 million MAUs, Twitter holds major influence given its popularity with world leaders, policymakers, brands/marketers and news junkies.

4. LinkedIn – 830 Million Users

Launch: 2003
Founders: Reid Hoffman, Allen Blue, Konstantin Guericke, Eric Ly, Jean-Luc Vaillant
Headquarters: Sunnyvale, CA

As the world‘s largest professional networking platform, LinkedIn connects employers with talent and enables jobseekers to post resumes/CVs. People also use it to find business partners, follow thought leaders and build professional reputations.

Core LinkedIn features like member Skills profiles and Groups help drive fruitful business/career-oriented connections. The site also serves as a rich source of business news, articles and insights from influencers.

As LinkedIn continues monetizing via recruitment tools, premium subscriptions and advertising products, parent company Microsoft reports LinkedIn revenue topping $10 billion in 2021. With over 830 million users spanning 200+ countries, LinkedIn retains its lead as the #1 platform for professional networking and career development around the globe.

3. WeChat – 1.29 Billion Users

Launch: 2011
Founder: Tencent
Headquarters: Shenzhen, China

WeChat began life as a simple messaging app in 2011, but has since evolved into a digital Swiss Army knife deeply integrated into everyday life in China. It lets users seamlessly chat, browse social media, order food, book taxis, pay utility bills… basically anything you could want to do on your phone.

This super app functionality combines platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, PayPal and more – all in one place. WeChat supports convenient QR code-based payments from bank accounts linked through the app.

Given China banned Western apps like Facebook, WeChat successfully filled a connectivity gap for Chinese consumers when it launched. Today parent company Tencent reports over 1.29 billion monthly active users on WeChat worldwide.

2. YouTube – 2.56 Billion Users

Launch: 2005
Founders: Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, Jawed Karim
Headquarters: San Bruno, CA

Starting off as a simple video hosting and sharing platform, YouTube has matured into a full-fledged social media giant fueled by entertainment, pop culture and internet celebrities.

Users can watch, upload or livestream videos as well as create channels and build engaged subscriber bases spanning millions of regular viewers. Top creators make big money through YouTube running ads on their videos.

While no definitive user statistics are shared by parent company Alphabet, estimates peg total monthly logged-in users around 2.56 billion. The vast majority of people across geographies and age groups have watched YouTube videos at some point.

As the second most visited site trailing only Google, YouTube retains massive influence over internet entertainment, news consumption and pop culture trends.

1. Meta Platforms (Facebook) – 2.96 Billion Users

Launch: 2004
Founders: Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, Andrew McCollum, Chris Hughes
Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA

Without question, Facebook remains the undisputed king of social media in terms of active users. The network lets people connect with friends and family, share life updates,consume news and entertainment as well as join groups, events, Marketplace listings and more.

Key Facebook-owned properties expanding its universe beyond its namesake platform include:

• Instagram: Photo + video sharing app emphasizing visual content
• Messenger: Private messaging app for text, voice and video chats
• WhatsApp: Leading global chat app focused on private groups + calls
• Oculus: Pioneer in virtual reality hardware + experiences

Collectively reaching 2.96 billion monthly active users around the world, Mark Zuckerberg‘s Meta empire continues growing thanks to these services enabling community, communication and discovery.

Instagram in particular has massive appeal among younger users, cementing Meta‘s dominance across demographics for years to come. As Meta pivots focus towards the metaverse concept for the long term, it already connects more humans online than any entity in history.

Top 10 Social Media Companies by Userbase

The Takeaway

We hope this overview has helped illustrate why social media holds such enormous influence in modern life. As connectivity and engagement continue growing, social platforms show no signs of fading from prominence anytime soon.

Their lasting impacts across communication, culture, commerce and community keep the top players firmly entrenched as household tech names. With sophisticated data/insights capabilities and loyalty across diverse demographics, they will likely only expand their foothold moving forward.