How Social Media Sites Make Their Money [Infographic]

I remember back in the old days when the only social media sites anyone ever kept up with was Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Of course, that was years ago, and now most of us are all juggling a bunch of them. I sometimes wonder if spreading ourselves so thin dilutes the quality of our individual interactions, but for now, that is the trend. The rewards still far outweigh the time spent in my opinion.

I’ve gotten to where I can’t fall asleep soundly at night unless I pin for a little while first. Then, in the morning, I check Twitter. Throughout the day, when I have a minute here or there, I’m on several other ones. How do you manage your time with it all? Have you ever wondered how some of these sites make money? First of all, many of them don’t make money, yet. It’s not uncommon for a social site to wait a while before even attempting to monetize, and obviously that is a good idea so they can focus on the user experience. For the ones who are more established though, how exactly do they make money? I’ve wondered that many times.

That question is answered with this infographic created by USBundles (sourced by Pivetcon, TechCrunch, Mashable and CNET). I’m surprised that only 10% of those sites are pursuing new revenue channels. That makes me want to find a new one! I’m sure there are many of them just waiting to be discovered.