first large-scale study measuring how much real monetary value people place on their social media networks was just published by MIT / Carnegie Mellon researchers.
asked 20k U.S. adults how much they'd have to be paid to give up Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or X* or to use them without specific features for 1 month.
on average, users value them at $80 - $100/month. some interesting takeaways below:
1. direct connections ("local" network effects) drive 20 - 34% of platform value.
2. on FB and insta, strong ties (family, close friends) matter most. on LinkedIn and X, weaker ties (professional, acquaintances) are more valuable.
3. men value social network connections to women more than to men; women value connections to men and women equally.
4. features that boost active creation (posting, stories, reels) drive more platform value than just consuming.
5. low-income users derive more incremental value from FB Messenger (cheaper than paying for SMS or cell), FB and LinkedIn groups (helps with community, local buy/sell, economic mobility), and X Lists (relevant news or niche communities).
only issue is that all respondents were 18+ and the average age of this study was... 44 years old. Gen Alpha and young Gen Z always drive the next wave of culture and consumer trends.
*would be interesting to do this study with 16 - 21 year olds and include TikTok and Snapchat. we don't know if they value creation tools, ephemeral content, and algos more or less than Millennial adults.
full study here: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.04545 5 replies
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