working paper link here. the below is taken from the brief on this paper.

Large shares of consumers use Instagram and TikTok out of a fear of missing out rather than genuine interest and, as a result, are worse off than if the platforms did not exist in the first place.

  • Users would need to be paid $59 to deactivate TikTok and $47 to deactivate Instagram if others in their network were to continue using their accounts.
  • Users would be willing to pay $28 and $10 to have others, including themselves, deactivate TikTok and Instagram, respectively.
  • Accounting for consumption spillovers to non-users reveals that 64% of active TikTok users and 48% of active Instagram users experience negative welfare from the products’ existence. Participants who do not have accounts would be willing to pay $67 and $39 to have others deactivate their TikTok and Instagram accounts, respectively.
  • Taken together, these results imply the existence of a “social media trap” for a large share of consumers, whose utility from the platforms is negative but would have been even more negative if they didn’t use social media.