Social Media Is a $16.9 Billion Business

The technology research company believes social media will generate $8.8 billion from advertising, $6.2 billion from social gaming revenue and another $278 million from subscription accounts.

These numbers include social media powerhouses like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, though multiple companies in the industry have struggled a bit financially despite massive growth.

Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) has seen its shares drop more than $9 below its initial public offering price of $38, which it debuted in May. Zygna Inc. (Nasdaq: ZNGA), a social gaming service that supplies games like Farmville to Facebook, has seen its shares take a beating after badly missing its second-quarter earnings projections. Its shares were down more than 38 percent in after-market trading on Wednesday.

Others like Twitter have been given valuations of more than $8 billion, but have struggled to generate enough revenue to match the lofty values.