The Production and Consumption of Social Media

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Filippas, Apostolos; Horton, John J.; Lipnowski, Elliot; Parasurama, Prasanna
• 署名单位: Fordham University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Yale University; Emory University
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2023.00060
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: social media; social networks; economics: microeconomic behavior; applied economics; platform design

摘要

We model social media as collections of users producing and consuming content. Users value consuming content, but due to scarce attention, they may not value all content from other users. Users also value receiving attention, creating the incentive to attract an audience by producing valuable content but also through attention bartering- users mutually becoming each other's audience. Attention bartering shapes substantially the patterns of production and consumption on social media, explains key features of social media behavior and platform decision making, and yields sharp predictions that are consistent with data we collect from #EconTwitter. We conduct Twitter and Instagram user surveys that yield additional direct evidence in support of attention bartering, and we discuss the implications of attention bartering for the design of social media platforms.