The Welfare Effects of Social Media
- (pp. 629-76)
(Complimentary)
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.Citation
Allcott, Hunt, Luca Braghieri, Sarah Eichmeyer, and Matthew Gentzkow. 2020. "The Welfare Effects of Social Media." American Economic Review, 110 (3): 629-76. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20190658Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D12 Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
- D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
- D90 Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: General
- I31 General Welfare; Well-Being
- L82 Entertainment; Media
- L86 Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
- Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification