Socioeconomic Status and Patterns of Online Behavior in Germany

Do individuals from different socioeconomic status (SES) groups use the internet differently? The digital divide extends beyond disparities in access to adequate internet access. Being online offers potential benefits, but people may differ in their knowledge, opportunities, and capabilities to take full advantage of these benefits.

Using a linked dataset from the German General Social Survey (a large, probability-based survey) and respondents' web surfing behavior (GESIS Web Tracking), this study explores whether online behavior varies by SES background. Respondents participated in a web tracking study, which collected data on every individual website visit over two months following the installation of a browser plug-in. This pilot study includes more than 4 million website visits from 500 participants, with the linked data providing around 340,000 website visits from 106 respondents. The websites visited were classified into content-based categories, such as “education,” “job search,” “healthy living,” “personal finance,” alongside categories like “shopping,” “sports,” and “video gaming.” Through regression analysis, I examine whether SES is associated with particular types of website visits and whether this relationship is moderated by first- and second-level digital divide factors, such as access to fast internet connections and digital literacy.

Differing online behavior may ultimately contribute to inequalities in education, the labor market, or financial well-being, potentially mitigating or reinforcing existing social inequalities. Thus, understanding these behavioral differences is crucial for reducing structures that exacerbate inequality.