A computational model of reward learning and habits on social media

Abstract

Social media have fundamentally transformed how we live and communicate. However, the methods to study how our cognitive systems interact with technology platforms are very limited. Computational modelling represents a new avenue to uncover the finegrained cognitive processes driving social media behaviour. Here, we develop a computational model of real-world social media posting data, adapted from the animal reward learning literature. Using a Twitter (currently X) dataset (n=2,696 users), including a preregistered replication, we show that a hybrid reinforcement learning and habitual cognitive process underlies social media posting behaviour. More frequent posters show more signs of habitual behaviour. Further, younger people and women are more driven by reinforcement learning – updating their strategy more adaptively to maximise social media rewards – while older users and men are more habitual.