The Digital Cultures of Europe - Turning Music, Video, and Search Preferences into a Digital Culture Index

We used open data on Spotify listening habits, YouTube content preferences, and Google search terms to systematically capture digital culture across Europe and created a Digital Culture Index. We assessed personality (valence and energy), lifestyle (universality and internationality) and routine (practicality and engagement) as representations of digital culture, capturing both the idiosyncratic reality of each country – from the Irish obsession with obituaries to the apparent gambling habits of South-East Europe – and surprising commonalities between countries as far apart as Portugal and Norway. We are validating our findings with external data: Do the happiest countries (valence) also top the World Happiness Report? Have practical countries higher GDPs? Do international countries travel more or have better trade relationships?

Our implications raise new questions for business, science, and politics, and should inspire to think anew about digital culture.