Digital inequalities

Our research lab looks at the complexities of digital inequalities, examining how disparities in access, skills, and usage of digital technologies impact social, economic, and political participation. We explore how these digital divides influence existing inequalities and what interventions can effectively bridge the gap, ensuring that the benefits of the digital age are accessible to all.

Methods

Econometric Analysis: supports us to narrow down causality by quantifying the influence of X on Y in quasi-experimental settings. Together with demographers, economists, and sociologists, we try to create an understanding of the relationships and channels between digital inequalities and societal phenomena. 

Geospatial Data Science: enables us to integrate disparate sources of data by creating a common (smallest) geographic identifier. This way, interventions to reduce digital inequalities can be targeted more efficiently.

Computer Vision: helps to transform the expanding availability of largely harmonized satellite imagery into meaningful insights, e.g. in infrastructure and connectivity across regions. This allows for the identification of underserved areas and informs strategies to address digital divides.

Social Media Analysis: helps to reveal patterns of digital engagement and exclusion, highlighting disparities in access and participation among different communities. This insight is crucial for developing inclusive digital policies.

Contact

Till Koebe

tkoebe (AT) cs (DOT) uni-saarland (DOT) de

Relevant papers

• R Al Tamime, I Weber. "Addressing Wikipedia’s Gender Gaps Through Social Media Ads." Wikimedia Research Fund, 2023.

• G Kalhor, H Gardner, I Weber, R Kashyap. "Gender Gaps in Online Social Connectivity, Promotion, and Relocation Reports on LinkedIn." arXiv preprint arXiv:2308.13296, 2023.

• W Qian, O Hexel, E Zagheni, R Kashyap, I Weber. "Demographic inequalities in digital spaces in China: The case of Weibo." ICWSM Workshop on Data for the Wellbeing of Most Vulnerable, 2023.

• N Sabri, S Reysen, I Weber. "Gender Pay Gap in Sports on a Fan-Request Celebrity Video Site." ACM Web Conference, 2023, 4142–4149.

• R Al Tamime, I Weber. "Using social media advertisement data to monitor the gender gap in STEM: opportunities and challenges." PeerJ Computer Science 8, e994, 2023.

• R Kashyap, M Fatehkia, RA Tamime, I Weber. "Monitoring global digital gender inequality using the online populations of Facebook and Google." Demographic Research 43, 779-816, 2020.