The Welfare Effects of Social Media

Hunt Allcott, Luca Braghieri, Sarah Eichmeyer and Matthew Gentzkow

No 25514, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: The rise of social media has provoked both optimism about potential societal benefits and concern about harms such as addiction, depression, and political polarization. In a randomized experiment, we find that deactivating Facebook for the four weeks before the 2018 US midterm election (i) reduced online activity, while increasing offline activities such as watching TV alone and socializing with family and friends; (ii) reduced both factual news knowledge and political polarization; (iii) increased subjective well-being; and (iv) caused a large persistent reduction in post-experiment Facebook use. Deactivation reduced post-experiment valuations of Facebook, suggesting that traditional metrics may overstate consumer surplus.

JEL-codes: D12 D90 I31 L86 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-big, nep-cul, nep-hap, nep-pay and nep-soc
Note: IO POL
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

Published as Hunt Allcott & Luca Braghieri & Sarah Eichmeyer & Matthew Gentzkow, 2020. "The Welfare Effects of Social Media," American Economic Review, vol 110(3), pages 629-676.

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Journal Article: The Welfare Effects of Social Media (2020)
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