How Often Should I Access My Online Social Networks?

Users of online social networks are faced with a conundrum of trying to be always informed without having enough time or attention budget to do so. The retention of users on online social networks has important implications, encompassing economic, psychological and infrastructure aspects. In this paper, we pose the following question: what is the optimal rate at which users should access a social network? To answer this question, we propose an analytical model to determine the value of an access (VoA) to the social network. In the simple setting considered in this paper, VoA is defined as the chance of a user accessing the network and obtaining new content. Clearly, VoA depends on the rate at which sources generate content and on the filtering imposed by the social network. Then, we pose an optimization problem wherein the utility of users grows with respect to VoA but is penalized by costs incurred to access the network. Using the proposed framework, we provide insights on the optimal access rate. Our results are parameterized using Facebook data, indicating the predictive power of the approach.