The study, led by the University of Bristol in the UK in partnership with the University at Buffalo, State University of New York in the US, found this shift of focus from learning about the actual content to concentrating on the related social connections is more marked among people with a better memory.
Lead author Dr Esther Kang, Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Bristol, said: "When you follow someone on LinkedIn, join a Facebook group, or become a member of an online community, you might assume you will learn more about the content they share. Paradoxically, our study suggests the opposite happens, as individuals channel their mental energy away from knowledge gathering to mapping the social landscape, noting people's individual connections and the wider network.
"Interestingly, this shift was exhibited more among people with greater working memory capacity, so the sharper you are cognitively the more likely you are to tune that content out."
The research involved around 1,000 adults aged between 18 and 77 across five experiments. In each study, participants engaged with simulated social media environments, such as joining groups, following pages, or becoming friends with others. Their exposure to content, as well as their memory for both content ("who knows what") and social connections ("who knows who"), was then assessed.
One of the experiments found participants engaging with an online community showed a notable drop in content learning. Overall, recall accuracy for "who knew what" decreased by around 40%. Conversely, their memory for social connections was significantly boosted, with accuracy in reporting 'who knew whom' increasing by around 65%.
"This pattern reflects a cognitive trade off. Rather than encoding information itself, individuals increasingly track who possesses the information. It indicates that people engage with and use the social network like an external hard drive for the brain. Once information is perceived as being stored 'out there' in the network, the mind reduces effort in remembering it independently," Dr Kang explained.
"The strength of this switch also appears to be determined by working memory capacity. Individuals with higher working memory capacity showed a more than 50% reduction in content recall, but a dramatic increase (over 150%) in accuracy in tracking social connections after forming connections to others. In contrast, individuals with lower working memory capacity performed more consistently. These high working memory individuals are not just being lazy. Rather, they are demonstrating efficiency, recognising they can retrieve content later through their network, so they invest their attention in understanding who is connected to whom rather than in absorbing content immediately."
The results highlight a hidden trade off in digital environments. While social networks make information easier to access, they may also reduce deep learning and independent knowledge formation.
Study co-author Dr Arun Lakshmanan, Associate Professor of Marketing in the University at Buffalo, added: "For educators, marketers, and digital platforms, the message is clear. Simply increasing connectivity or follower counts may not enhance engagement with content. Instead, strategies that encourage active processing, such as time-sensitive content or interactive knowledge sharing, may be needed to sustain meaningful attention."
Paper
'Tracking Connections, Not Content: How Working Memory Shapes Content and Social Learning in Online Networks' by E. Kang and A. Lakshmanan in Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
