The social structuring of the French internet audience

This article examines the social structuring of the audiences of the 500 websites and applications generating the most traffic in France. The analysis focuses on unpublished data from Médiamétrie’s ‘Audience Internet Global’ panel, which uses dedicated software to measure the browsing practices of a panel of 25,000 individuals aged two and over, representative of the French internet-using population. The article highlights the three ‘heavy’ variables that explain the distribution of digital audiences: gender, age, and social position of internet users. While inequalities in internet access and in digital skills have been well documented in the literature, this research highlights a less frequently studied dimension of the ‘digital divide’: inequalities in internet users’ browsing habits. Rather than evoking a ‘third generation’ digital divide, it postulates the existence of a structural homology between the digital world and ‘real’ social world.