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In the course of sociological research about the Internet, an accompanying range of new methodological approaches have been developed to investigate usage, communication, processes of appropriation, and the virtuality of the Internet. However, the exploration of the Internet as a technological and material object as well as the question of how it is involved in human practices are seen more rarely. This paper presents a methodology of software-based recording and an analysis of the interactions between humans and the Internet, which are visible on the screen. Adding methods of usability and market research to sociological Internet research, this enables us to 'move closer' to the technology and to get a detailed view of human practices and Internet 'actions' on the interface; therewith, it will be possible to investigate how social practices proceed when Internet technologies are involved, how users handle the Internet and to what extent it enables, facilitates, limits, or hinders practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Has COVID‐19 changed gender‐ and parental‐status‐specific differences in working from home? To answer this question, we used data from the Institute for Employment Research High‐Frequency Online Personal Panel collected in Germany in the early stages of the pandemic (May–August 2020). Regression analyses revealed changes in pre‐pandemic gender‐ and parental‐status‐specific differences in remote working—not only when strict social distancing measures were in place, but also after they were lifted: Fathers were no longer more likely than childless men and women to work remotely, and women were no longer more likely than men to work more hours from home when using this arrangement. Further, the results suggest that cultural barriers in organizations to working from home—which were especially prevalent for mothers before the pandemic—have decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]