Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Much has been written about Facebook’s acquisition of the rapidly growing WhatsApp for $19 billion. What does this say about the future of social media?

... Even now as its competitors grow and its younger users flee to more private and streamlined sites, Facebook’s long shadow can be seen throughout the social sphere; while it may no longer be on the cutting edge of development, it certainly knows how to recognize companies that are and integrate them into its platform.

So, in context with this WhatsApp purchase, what can Facebook’s acquisition history, both of talent and of products, tell us about the future of social media? To begin an in-depth analysis, we highly recommend giving this acquisition timeline tool a look, as it effectively compares the history of acquisitions across the top tech firms. Below, we’ll analyze Facebook’s various acquisitions, with the caveat that many of these phases overlap even as they trend forward...