Network engagement from learning friends’ preferences: evidence from a video gaming social network

Increased similarity with one’s friends’ choices in a social network leads a user to engage further with the social network. Participation is modelled based on user utility derived both from participating in preferred events and from joint participation with friends. The model implies that users will participate more as they learn that they share more interests with their friends. These implications are tested using panel data from an online video gaming network in which users can learn the characteristics of friends’ recent game play behaviour. The focal user’s time on the platform increases substantially as friend’s choices become more similar to the focal user’s behaviour. These results are robust to multiple possible sources of endogeneity.