Facebook vs. Twitter Headcount

YearTwitterMeta20153,89812,69120163,58317,04820173,37225,10520183,92035,58720194,90044,94220205,50058,60420217,50071,97020223,80075,964FourWeekMBA Intelligence - Source data: Financial Statements 2022 has been a bloody year for tech; with a macroeconomic slowdown and an over-hiring during the bubble created by easy liquidity through the pandemic, tech giants have found themselves with large employees base, unable to keep up with the current economic landscape. Among the companies that got hit the most, players in the digital advertising and social media space, like Twitter and Facebook (Meta), have executed mass layoffs of their employees. Meta laid off 13% of its workforce in 2022, while Twitter, as Elon Musk took over the company, laid off half its workforce. Related Visual Stories Facebook Stats Facebook Revenues Facebook ARPU ARPU, or average revenue per user, is a key metric for attention merchants like Facebook. It assesses the ability of the platform to monetize its users. For instance, by the end of 2022, Meta's ARPU worldwide was $10.86. While in US & Canada, it was $58.77; in Europe, it was $17.29; in Asia, $4.61 and in the rest of the world, it was $3.52. Facebook Profitability Facebook Revenue Breakdown Mark Zuckerberg Empire Mark Zuckerberg is the principal shareholder of the company. Not only he retains ownership and control of the company. Facebook, like Google, has issued two kinds of common stocks, Class A and Class B. Where the holders of Class B common stocks are entitled to ten votes per share, and holders of our Class A common stocks are entitled to one vote per share. Mark Zuckerberg has a total voting power of 57.9%. Attention-Merchants Business Model In an asymmetric business model, the organization doesn't monetize the user directly. Still, it leverages the data users provide and technology, thus having a key customer pay to sustain the core asset. For example, Google makes money by leveraging users' data and its algorithms sold to advertisers for visibility. This is how attention merchants make monetize their business models. Asymmetric Business Model In an asymmetric business model, the organization doesn't monetize the user directly. Still, it leverages the data users provide and technology, thus having a key customer pay to sustain the core asset. For example, Google makes money by leveraging users' data and its algorithms sold to advertisers for visibility. Facebook Business Model Facebook, the main product of Meta, is an attention merchant. As such, its algorithms condense the attention of over 2.91 billion monthly active users as of June 2021. Meta generated $117.9 billion in revenues, in 2021, of which $114.9 billion was from advertising (97.4% of the total revenues) and over $2.2 billion from Reality Labs (the augmented and virtual reality products arm). Facebook ARPU The ARPU, or average revenue per user, is a key metric to track the success of Facebook - now Meta - family of products. For instance, by the end of 2021, Meta's ARPU worldwide was $11.57. While in US & Canada, it was $60.57, in Europe, it was $19.68, in Asia $4.89, and in the rest of the world, it was $3.43. Facebook Organizational Structure Facebook is characterized by a multi-faceted matrix organizational structure. The company utilizes a flat organizational structure in combination with corporate function-based teams and product-based or geographic divisions. The flat organizational structure is organized around the leadership of Mark Zuckerberg and the key executives around him. On the other hand, the function-based teams are based on the main corporate functions (like HR, product management, investor relations, and so on). Metaverse Supply Chain Google Business Model A hidden revenue business model is a pattern for revenue generation that keeps users out of the equation, so they don't pay for the service or product offered. For instance, Google's users don't pay for the search engine. Instead, the revenue streams come from advertising money spent by businesses bidding on keywords. TikTok Business Model TikTok is a Chinese creative social media platform driven by short-form video content enabling users to interact and generate content at scale. TikTok primarily makes money through advertising, and it generated $4.6 billion in advertising revenues in 2021, thus making it among the most popular attention-based business models or attention merchants. Instagram Business Model Instagram makes money via visual advertising. As part of Facebook products, the company generates revenues for Facebook Inc.'s overall business model. Acquired by Facebook for a billion dollars in 2012, today Instagram is integrated into the overall Facebook business strategy. In 2018, Instagram founders, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger left the company, as Facebook pushed toward tighter integration of the two platforms. YouTube Business Model YouTube was acquired for almost $1.7 billion in 2006 by Google. It makes money through advertising and subscription revenues. YouTube advertising network is part of Google Ads, and it generated more than $28B in revenue by 2021. YouTube also makes money with its paid memberships and premium content. Twitter Business Model Twitter makes money in two ways: advertising and data licensing. In 2021, Twitter generated $4.5 billion from advertising and $570 million from data licensing. While Twitter generated $5 billion in total revenues, it lost 221 million. Read Also: Twitter Business Model, Digital Business Models, Platform Business Models, Attention-Based Business Models.

About The Author

Gennaro Cuofano

Year	Twitter	Meta
2015	3,898	12,691
2016	3,583	17,048
2017	3,372	25,105
2018	3,920	35,587
2019	4,900	44,942
2020	5,500	58,604
2021	7,500	71,970
2022	3,800	75,964

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About The Author

Gennaro Cuofano