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Introduction
Accessing digital cultural expressions forms a new social system that influences individuals’ experiences and opportunities and significantly impacts society (Uzelac, 2010). However, digital culture is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, because people have access to a greater variety of cultural expressions from anywhere in the world, they are more easily exposed to their preferred cultural expressions—fostering what Weingartner (2021) and Norris (2001) have referred to as a “democratization” of culture and the “normalization thesis”, respectively—and supposedly reflecting a narrowing of the digital divide. On the other hand, the fact that access to digital culture is stratified exacerbates social stratification and defines cultural hierarchies regarding people’s access to culture (Katz-Gerro, 1999, Ateca-Amestoy, 2008, Dimaggio and Markus, 2010, Mihelj et al., 2019, Weingartner, 2021). This second proposition has been formalized by Norris (2001) as the “stratification thesis”. However, which of the two propositions better explains reality has not been empirically tested.
Access to digital culture has benefits in terms of life satisfaction and wellbeing (Bartikowski et al., 2018, Fanea-Ivanovici and Pana, 2020). It is therefore of interest to governments and policymakers (Burri, 2016)—directly, because perceived satisfaction with life is positively correlated with exposure to cultural expressions (Bygren et al., 1996, 2009, Grossi et al., 2011, Wheatley and Bickerton, 2017) and indirectly, because exposure to a greater variety of cultures may positively influence openness to different cultures and social groups (McCrae, 1996, Brock, 2012, Gibbs et al., 2013, Brandt et al., 2015, 2015, Porter et al., 2017, Nai et al., 2018, Limov, 2020, Wolstenholme et al., 2020). However, if social inequality is transposed to access to digital culture, the benefits may be unequally distributed in and between societies. Since research into the digital divide has shown that not only is access to digital platforms unequally distributed, but also attitudes, skills, and benefits (van Deursen and van Dijk, 2014), there is support for Norris’s (2001) stratification thesis regarding the individual and societal benefits of digital access to cultural expressions.
While evidence exists regarding the stratification of access to digital culture, evidence is sparse regarding the link with cultural and social openness. However, as far as we are aware, while there is evidence regarding the link between exposure to diverse cultures and social openness (McCrae, 1996, de...