Visualizing Age-Specific Digital Platform Usage in Germany

This visualization explores age-specific digital platform use among the German population, aged 18 to 74 years, using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Innovation Sample. Focusing on time spent on social media, we show that nearly everyone uses digital platforms on a regular basis, with younger users spending significantly more time online. Moreover, YouTube is quite popular across all age groups, while younger users spend more time on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. Focusing on subjective reasons for digital platform use, we show that younger individuals place more emphasis on information than on entertainment and state more often that they are actively posting, commenting, or sharing content, while older age groups are predominantly passive consumers on digital platforms.