Unequal experiences, unequal outcomes? Digital inequalities in experiencing online benefits and privacy harms, mistrust, and self-inhibiting behaviors

Digital inequality research shows that certain sociodemographic groups (e.g., older persons) experience fewer benefits from using digital technologies (e.g., not finding useful information). While disadvantage is typically conceptualized as not experiencing benefits, users also experience online harms (e.g., unauthorized access to personal information), which have been largely ignored. Better understanding of systematic differences in online experiences can contribute to understanding mistrust in online companies and chilling effects (i.e., inhibiting certain digital behaviors). Using Bayesian inference to analyze data of a preregistered survey-based study (N = 1,410), we find confirming and contradicting results for digital inequalities. While older and less educated persons experience fewer online benefits and women and older persons tend to inhibit their digital behaviors more, no inequalities regarding harmful privacy experiences were found (older persons even reported fewer harmful experiences). Generally, mistrust and self-inhibition are higher when people experience online harms and lower when they experience online benefits. We discuss these findings in relation to structural disadvantages, intersectionality, and potential solutions.The internet can make life easier. But not all people benefit equally because some have fewer good experiences. Using the internet also comes with some problems. People have bad experiences because companies collect private data. Therefore, they may start to mistrust these companies and limit their use. We asked 1,410 people about theiri nternet experiences and looked at whether age, gender, and education played a role. We found that older and less educated people have fewer good experiences, but older people do not have as many bad ones either. Women and older people hold back from using the internet. People who had bad experiences mistrust internet companies more and limit their internet use. People with good experiences trusted companies more and used the internet more actively. Also, having good experiences comes with having bad ones. We show that people have very different online experiences as some benefit, while others face problems. This matters in making the internet a better place for everyone.