Why media companies are to thank for Facebook’s success

Investors are cheering as Facebook (FB) crushes Wall Street estimates in the fourth quarter.

The social media giant beat on both the top and bottom lines as its revenue soared 30% from the previous quarter to $5.8 billion.

Jim Anderson, CEO of SocialFlow, which uses algorithms to analyze user behavior on social media platforms to optimize clients' posts, told Yahoo Finance’s Alexis Christoforous that media companies are one reason for Facebook’s record-setting results.

“Facebook is gathering and garnering consumer attention,” said Anderson. “The vast majority of Facebook’s content in terms of reach comes from media companies. That’s the content that’s being shared,” said Anderson. “The media companies deserve a great deal of credit for the success of Facebook.”

The number of users logging on to Facebook is increasing, and mobile is a key driver. The site now has 1.59 billion monthly visitors, with approximately 1.44 billion of those users visiting the site on a mobile device. The social media giant also said it now has 1.04 billion daily active users.

“It’s amazing how ubiquitous it’s become, especially on mobile devices. When Facebook went public, 0% of its advertising revenue came from mobile. Now, 80% of its advertising revenue comes from mobile,” said Anderson.

About $5.63 billion of Facebook’s total revenue came from advertising, overshadowing its old payments business. Mobile revenue accounted for $4.5 billion.

And that massive growth may not be over. Facebook still has many untapped revenue drivers at its disposal. The monetization potential for WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger have yet to be seen. And its Oculus VR plans to start shipping its $599 Rift virtual reality headset in March.