Investing News: Top Social Media Companies of 2014 By User Base

Top Social Media Companies
Investing news: Top social media companies can be ranked by a variety of factors. User base is considered one of the most important factors because it has a direct impact on a company's revenue.

Leading companies like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest have varying user bases depending on their target audience.

Here is a list of the top social media companies of 2014 by user base...

Some of the Top Social Media Companies of 2014 By User Base

Facebook Inc.

Social networking company Facebook has about 1.23 billion active users. The company reported a 16% increase in its user base in December 2013. This figure is attributed to a rise in the number of Facebook users in emerging markets such as Asia. The number of individuals who use the networking site daily rose to 757 million in the same period.

This is great news for the site, which is facing a lot of competition from other rising top social media companies such as Twitter and Pinterest.

Facebook is becoming more popular among users who are between 18 and 29 years old. This rise has had a positive impact on the company's finances and it reported a 63% increase in revenue in the last quarter of 2013. Most of the company's revenue comes from mobile ads, and the growing user base is expected to translate to higher future profits.

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LinkedIn Corp.

This is one of the top social media companies, that's growing at a faster rate compared to other sites. Its user base has reached 277 million.

Unlike Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn targets professionals - it provides a platform through which professionals from various sectors can network. Corporate recruiters form an important component of the company's user base. They use LinkedIn's tools to promote vacancies and look for potential employees.

The company also relies heavily on subscriptions compared to other networks, and most of its revenue comes from subscriptions.

Twitter Inc.

Twitter has nearly 232 million active users. The site was considered to be a major rival for Facebook when it went public in November 2013, but it has thus far disappointed investors. Its initial public offering revealed that the site only has 218 million active users in a month, compared to Facebook's 800 million active users monthly.

This slow growth in user base has been blamed on Twitter's focus on media houses and celebrities, and on its steeper "learning curve" for users to grasp how to accomplish their goals on the site. Facebook has managed to surpass the one billion user mark at least in part due to its ease of use.

Investors are worried by the slow user growth despite the increase in revenue since the company went public. Twitter primarily targets users who want to stay informed about events around the globe. This is different from Facebook, which seeks to connect ordinary individuals with their friends and family.

Twitter is reportedly working on its learning curve to make it more competitive as one of the top social media companies on the market.

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