Investing in Social Media Stocks

Social media isn't new anymore, but it is still a fast-growing industry.

There are currently around 5.24 billion active social media users worldwide, which is 63.9% of the world's population and more than double the active social media user count a decade ago.

The biggest social networks still make most of their money from advertising, but social media is maturing and generating revenue from sources such as e-commerce, digital payments, and video games.

Investing in social media has amplified shareholder dollars in recent years, as measured by the performance of the exchange-traded fund (ETF) Global X Social Media ETF (SOCL 0.71%). Returns have been driven by top names such as Meta Platforms’ Facebook (META 1.2%), Snap (SNAP -0.13%), and Alphabet’s Google (GOOG 2.17%) (GOOGL 2.23%), which also owns YouTube.

Aside from the major players, plenty of other emerging social platforms are worth your attention. With hundreds of millions of regular internet users, now is a great time to consider investing in social media companies.

Best social media stocks in 2025

Best social media stocks in 2025

These are some of the leading social media stocks to own in 2025 and beyond:

1. Match Group

1. Match Group

Match Group is best known for its dating sites, Tinder (the top downloaded dating app worldwide), OkCupid, and Hinge. Finding companionship via the web has steadily become normalized over time.

Compared to other large social media businesses, Match has a unique business model. It derives most of its revenue from subscriptions paid directly by users rather than advertising.

Match Group, despite experiencing a recent dip in payer numbers, is demonstrating overall financial strength as management maintains a focus on consistent profitability. The company is actively managing its debt, maintaining strong cash flow, and returning value to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends.

While revenue growth has slowed and even seen negative trends in recent quarters, the company is still generating substantial revenue from its various dating platforms like Tinder, Hinge, and others.

2. Etsy

2. Etsy

Etsy is best known as an e-commerce platform, but it stands out for its unique approach to facilitating online sales. Not only does the company specialize in vintage and handmade goods, but Etsy is also an online discovery platform where shoppers directly connect with creators.

Etsy is currently struggling due to a combination of factors. These include a normalization of consumer spending behaviors, increased competition from other marketplaces, and a shift in consumer spending towards necessities over discretionary items. There's also been a perception among some consumers that the platform is no longer broadly focused on handmade or otherwise original goods.

• Etsy's total revenue for the second quarter of 2025 was $672.7 million, up 3.8% year over year.
• This was primarily driven by an increased take rate due to strong performance in on-site advertising (Etsy Ads) and, to a lesser extent, payment processing fees.
• Services revenue, which includes Etsy Ads, grew 15.3% year over year.
• However, consolidated gross merchandise sales fell 4.8% year over year to $2.8 billion.
• Active buyers on Etsy also decreased 3.4% year over year to 93.3 million, and active sellers declined by 7.8% year over year.
• On the plus side, reactivated buyers increased by 2.8% compared to the prior year.

Etsy is focused on investments in enhancing the app experience, personalization, and marketing to reignite sales growth and increase buyer engagement. The platform is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to improve search, recommendations, and seller tools. Investors who believe in that value proposition may want to take at least a small slice of the action.

3. Pinterest

3. Pinterest

The visual sharing, search, and discovery company was a huge winner when millions around the globe flocked to Pinterest while confined to their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many are choosing to continue using the platform as it ushers in its next era of growth.

With more than 578 million monthly users, it has become a top site worldwide for merchants and creators to advertise their products via a unique picture- and video-based format.

The company is spending strategically to continue increasing its user base and ways for businesses to build their brand on Pinterest. It is generating net income and positive free cash flow, so Pinterest is in increasingly good shape.

4. IAC

4. IAC

IAC is hardly a household name, but the holding company has fostered and sold several well-known social media and online interactive platforms. Among them are Match Group, the travel and tourism conglomerate Expedia Group (EXPE -2.1%), and the online video and streaming site Vimeo (VMEO 0.0%). While IAC has a proven track record of investing in and expanding businesses in the social realm of the internet, its current focus is not strictly social media.

It is also engaged with many other companies, including Dotdash Meredith, which recently rebranded to People Inc. This conglomerate includes Investopedia, People, Better Homes and Gardens, and Real Simple, and is the largest digital and print publisher in the United States.

IAC reported a net income of $211.5 million for Q2 2025, a significant turnaround from a net loss of $142.2 million in the same quarter last year. However, IAC's revenue for the quarter decreased by 7% year over year to $586.9 million, which management attributed to ongoing drops in Google-driven web traffic and evolving search algorithms.

IAC is actively investing in new product lines and diversifying audience channels to reduce reliance on traditional search revenue, which are affecting near-term margins but are expected to improve profitability in the future.

5. Bumble

5. Bumble

Bumble (and its subsidiary Badoo) was founded by a former executive at Match Group's Tinder, and it has emerged as one of the fastest-growing dating apps. The company's initial public offering (IPO) in early 2021 raised $2.5 billion in cash, and it stands out for being one of just a few female-founded and -led companies. Bumble has tried to take a fresh approach to social networking and online dating.

Bumble and Badoo's basic features are free to use, and the company primarily makes its money from one-time, in-app purchases and premium subscriptions. In just over a decade (Bumble was founded in 2014), the dating and relationship service has accumulated millions of users worldwide.

Bumble has struggled the last few years. A saturated dating app market, a decline in overall online dating enthusiasm, and struggles to effectively monetize its user base through premium features have been some issues at play. The company has also gone through some leadership changes.

CEO Lidiane Jones, who was formerly the CEO of Slack, resigned in January 2025. Jones was CEO for just one year, having taken the helm after Whitney Wolfe Herd's departure. Herd, the founder of Bumble, returned as CEO in March 2025.

Herd's return signals a strategic shift at Bumble towards creating a more curated and higher quality experience for users, leveraging AI, and expanding into other connection-focused avenues like friendships to drive long-term, sustainable growth. The success of this strategy in reversing recent declines in paying users and reigniting growth remains to be seen.

Related investing topics

Should you invest?

Should you buy social media stocks?

Social media boasts a vast and expanding global user base, making the market ripe for rapid growth and potentially high returns.

• You can invest in established players like Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) and Alphabet (Google, YouTube), or explore other platforms at various stages of their respective growth stories, like Match Group or Pinterest.
• The social media sector continues to expand with increasing internet access and smartphone usage globally.
• The industry is also embracing social commerce and AI, which could offer durable growth avenues for investors.
• Social media companies often generate revenue through digital advertising, and this reality is only expected to continue as businesses continue to shift marketing budgets to online channels.

There are some drawbacks of investing in this space to consider as well, and to factor into your overall risk tolerance assessment as you form your investment thesis for any given stock.

• The social media landscape is constantly evolving, with new platforms emerging and existing ones competing fiercely for user attention and market share.
• The sector faces increasing government regulation and public scrutiny regarding data privacy, content moderation, and misinformation, which can potentially affect platform operations and revenue.
• Social media algorithms determine content visibility, and frequent changes can harm businesses' ability to reach their audiences.
• Social media stocks, like other technology stocks, can be susceptible to market fluctuations and sentiment-driven trading.

The social media business model is still evolving and changing. With roots in advertising-based revenue, social media companies are finding new ways to connect people all over the world while more effectively monetizing their expansive networks. Investors in social media stocks should be comfortable with buying and holding while the social media industry reaches maturity.