Leveraging Digital Trace Data to Explore Wealth Perception in Inequality Research

Wealth perception plays a crucial role in shaping societal attitudes towards inequality, influencing public support for policies and the social acceptance of wealth disparities. Traditional data sources have provided essential insights, yet they are often constrained by limitations such as self-report biases and declining survey participation. In contrast, digital trace data, derived from social media, offers an unfiltered, real-time glimpse into how wealth is portrayed and perceived by the public—providing a unique and authentic lens to understand the dynamics of inequality. Our study leverages data from Instagram to analyze the representation of wealth among billionaires and their audiences, utilizing advanced analytical tools such as deep learning, sentiment analysis, and image feature extraction. By examining posts from a selected sample of Forbes billionaires, we uncover patterns of conspicuous versus inconspicuous consumption and analyze their effects on public sentiment. Our findings indicate that curated, glamorous portrayals of wealth generally elicit positive responses from audiences, contributing to aspirational dynamics. However, instances of overtly conspicuous consumption often produce polarized reactions, highlighting the complex interplay of admiration and resentment among different social groups. The use of digital trace data in this context reveals nuanced dynamics of social stratification that are challenging to capture through traditional methods. Social media platforms provide a fertile ground for observing emotional contagion, where public sentiment about wealth and inequality spreads and evolves in real-time. This paper also addresses the methodological challenges involved in using these novel data sources, emphasizing the need for ethical considerations and the integration of computational methods to enhance our understanding of inequality. By focusing on wealth perception, we underscore the power of digital data in reshaping the field of inequality research, offering new dimensions of insight into the public’s relationship with wealth and disparity.