# \$1 Today or \$2 Tomorrow? The Answer is in Your Facebook Likes

## TL;DR

This paper investigates how Facebook Likes can predict individuals' delay discounting rates, which influence decision-making related to immediate versus delayed rewards, with implications for social and health outcomes.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to predict delay discounting rates using Facebook Likes, linking social media behavior to economic and psychological decision-making.

## Key findings

- Facebook Likes can predict individuals' delay discounting rates.
- Lower discounting rates correlate with better social and health outcomes.
- Higher discounting rates associate with problematic behaviors.

## Abstract

In economics and psychology, delay discounting is often used to characterize how individuals choose between a smaller immediate reward and a larger delayed reward. People with higher delay discounting rate (DDR) often choose smaller but more immediate rewards (a "today person"). In contrast, people with a lower discounting rate often choose a larger future rewards (a "tomorrow person"). Since the ability to modulate the desire of immediate gratification for long term rewards plays an important role in our decision-making, the lower discounting rate often predicts better social, academic and health outcomes. In contrast, the higher discounting rate is often associated with problematic behaviors such as alcohol/drug abuse, pathological gambling and credit card default. Thus, research on understanding and moderating delay discounting has the potential to produce substantial societal benefits.