Skip to content
Yup Cities Logo

Survey story #3: Unpacking digital media role in young people (dis)engagement in the city

By Rawiyah Salma

Young people today are born as so-called digital and technology natives. Digital media not only serves as a source of entertainment in their daily lives, but also acts as a medium for youth participation in city activities, reflecting modern forms of civic engagement. However, despite the advantages of digital media, can it also contribute to disengagement among young people?

Bringing tablets, our young data collectors approached youth individuals in different public spaces, including neighbourhood areas, parks, beaches; institutions like schools and universities; and through events such as festivals and competitions, asking them to be involved in our youth surveys. Some of those who are asked chose to fill in the survey using their own phones or tablets while paying attention to the survey instruction given by the enumerators.

Based on our survey, the regular usage of digital tools is considerably high. Only 3% of the respondents said they don’t use either smartphones, tablets, or computers independently on a daily basis, in which 10-year-olds took the majority of the proportion (16 percent), which related to the family/parents’ limitation or controls in using digital media.

Digital tools used independently by young people in Solo, Denpasar, Bar Elias, and El Mina in daily basis

In both Indonesia and Lebanon, those who are using computers at public places regularly (including library, school, university, or other institutions) mainly come from those whose parents’ educational level is higher, such as bachelors or masters. While in age perspective, the older of the respondents, the more they were using computers at public places.

To what extent do digital media be used?

See how young people in Solo, Denpasar; and Bar Elias, El Mina use digital tools in their daily lives in the graphics below. Click on the next arrow to follow the story.

These actions are done through a diversity of social media, including text-based such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Threads, and X, image and video-based such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok. In the survey, it is also shown that very few young people (only 1.6%) are aware of the government platform’s existence, including national e-library, complaint service to the local government, integrated transportation application, and others. A Balinese student who is currently studying in Solo university said that she is actively using both Solo and Denpasar local complaint units to raise her issues in those cities.

What do young people like about digital media?

The diverse activities conducted in the digital platforms have been encouraged by several factors that enable young people to use it in different ways. The biggest reason fell to the information that is easily accessible, thought by almost three-fourths of the respondents. The next most frequent factor is the digital media simplicity and easiness to be understood, chosen by one out of three respondents. Other factors owned by digital media that match young people’s liking are its selection of relevant and interesting content, lots of audiences, visual-based, and two important factors regarding the young people themselves: the ability to present themselves the way they like and to express their opinion freely.

Young Lebanese who are expats said they use digital media to keep a link to their concerned issues to their cities. One of them comes and does activities in the city in summer, hence he keeps engaged through social media and his family’s network. 

What limits young people from using digital media?

Meanwhile there are several factors that limit young people from using digital media, which are found differently in Solo-Denpasar, Indonesia, compared to Bar Elias-El Mina, Lebanon.

In Indonesia, the majority are scared of their personal information being stolen, worry about their surveillance, and have problems with their internet coverage; which concerns females more than males, while the factor that concerns male’s more than females is the expensive internet access.

Nearly 2 percent of the respondents choose not to use digital media or have the thought of limiting their own usage as they want to hinder the digital media’s “addictiveness”, “overuse”, and “dependency”. These youth mentioned that they dislike the “inaccurate digital information that triggers ambiguity for its audiences”, “spam and useless information”, and the “lack of inclusivity and website integration.”

In contrast, 17 respondents expressed confidence that nothing limits them* in using digital media. A 24-year-old respondent from Solo stated, “Nothing limits me because the way I use social media brings more advantages than disadvantages to me. The content benefits many people, and you can also use it as a source of income to cover all your expenses.”

On the other hand, young people in Lebanon face different limitations. The biggest issue fell to the internet coverage problem, chosen by more than one-third of the total proportion and being male’s concern more than female. Other major issues were related to their fear of digital risks: not trusting people and information online and being scared of personal information being stolen, both raised by more than 23 percent of the respondents. This made them “cautious about sharing information on social media” and “highly aware about cyber security”, as they said in the survey. 

Over 10 percent of the respondents said they choose to not use digital media. A respondent said that it could “affect the mind and corrupt morals”. A 10-year-old Lebanese in El Mina, although owns a youtube channel, said that he was concerned about the security situation in Lebanon, hence he tried to protect himself by isolating himself from news.

However, there were respondents who feel that nothing limits their usage of digital media, which was even more than in Indonesia, said by 26 respondents*. A 18-year-old person in Bar Elias said that digital tools could even be a source of income if used correctly, and despite current circumstances in the country, he believes that young people have a significant opportunity to create an impact. 

Despite the varied limitations, from external factors such as internet connectivity, to the internal issues of personal privacy and trust, digital media plays an important medium for youth engagement in the city. On the other hand, there are some young people that feel they face no constraints at all, holding beliefs that the positive usage of digital media could bring such advantages to them. The accessibility and easiness of digital media, as well as its frequent usage by young people shows the high possibility of being used as a media to connect with the city. As the city moves forward, understanding and addressing these mixed perspectives will be essential to foster an inclusive digital engagement that empowers youth.

*The “nothing limits me” option was not provided in the survey, it was primarily thought by the respondents themselves.

…

Check out our previous posts!

Built by WildPress