Methods

This report presents findings from participatory research workshops exploring these questions with

128 children and young people aged 9 to 18 in Australia, India and Indonesia.

Approach

This research is grounded in a culture-centred methodological approach, that seeks to recognise and account for the diverse cultural characteristics, experiences, and perspectives of young people (Tzenis, 2020). It aims to “invert the erasure of subaltern communities” by centring the lived experiences of communities and reflexively interrogating positions of power (Dutta, 2008).

A decolonised, youth-centred approach was adopted to challenge dominant discourses and hierarchies of knowledge production. The study used Distributed Data Generation (DDG) (Third et al., 2021), a participatory workshop-based methodology, implemented through collaboration between academic research centres in Australia and India, and a non-for-profit youth organisation in Indonesia. The purpose this polycentric approach is to resist the universalisation of Eurocentric norms and to cultivate research that is multicultural, inclusive, and genuinely international in approach. By shifting to polycentrism in research, we aim to illuminate the diversity of lived experiences that comprise our shared world (Pathak-Shelat, Kotilainen & Hirsjärvi, 2015).

Aligned with this intent, the DDG method foregrounds marginalised perspectives and forms of knowledge and has been used to partner with global South organisations to facilitate rights-based youth research (Third et al., 2021). Participatory approaches more broadly contribute to the decolonisation of knowledge about young people by co-producing insights with children and young people (Varga, 2011) and by addressing child–adult power imbalances that shape research encounters (Kustatscher et al., 2022).

In this project, cross-cultural partnerships ensured that the research agenda was informed by local expertise. This collaborative structure helped unsettled Western assumptions about what constitutes valid research, which methodologies are legitimate, whose knowledge counts, and how knowledge should be represented.

Participants and procedure

The study engaged 128 young people, 9 - to 18-years of age, across Australia, India and Indonesia. The sample included children and young people from urban, regional and rural locations, as well as those from culturally and linguistically diverse, migrant, and low socio-economic and otherwise disadvantaged backgrounds.

In Australia, workshops were conducted in four locations across New South Wales; Bondi (urban), Parramatta (urban), Cowra (rural) and Orange (rural). In Indonesia, two workshops were held: one in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta (urban) and one in Semplak, Bogor, West Java (rural). In India, four workshops were conducted across Gujarat: Ahmedabad (urban), Rajkot (urban), Vankal (rural), and Adas (rural).

Each participant took part in a 3-to-3.5-hour workshop, involving group, pair and individual creative activities designed to explore young people’s expressions of culture, their experiences of the digital world, and aspirations for culture-centred digital design (Appendix 1: Workshop Activities Summary).

Participant’s responses were captured through worksheets, facilitator notes and workshop reflections, along with transcripts of group discussions. These materials formed the dataset. Data was entered into Excel spreadsheets and manually coded and analysed using inductive thematic analysis techniques.

Ethical approval was obtained through Western Sydney University’s Human Research Ethics Committee (H15766). Additional approval in Indonesia was granted by the Ethical Committee on Social Studies and Humanities - National Research and Innovation Agency (No: 535/KE.01/SK/06/2024). Separate ethical approval was not required for data collection in India.

Country | Participants (Aged 9-18) | Workshop Locations Australia | 40 | Parramatta, Western Sydney (Urban); Bondi, Eastern Sydney (Urban); Orange, NSW (Rural); Cowra, NSW (Rural). Indonesia | 41 | Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta (Urban); Bognor (Rural).

India | 46 | Ahmedabad (Urban); Rajkot (Urban) Vankal (Rural); Adas (Rural).

Findings

Findings from this pilot study provide insight into how children’s and young people’s digital technology use influences and shapes their cultural practices, and sheds light on the digital experiences of culturally diverse children and young people.

1. There are differences in how diverse children and young people express culture

Across the overall dataset, children and young people tend to relate culture to either conceptual, tradition-related, or tangible factors. However, we found clear, albeit sometimes overlapping, differences between how children and young people within each country understand and express culture. Broadly, young participants in India describe culture in conceptual terms, those in Indonesia relate culture to traditions, and in Australia participants predominantly report tangible aspect of culture.

For children and young people who took part in workshops in India, culture is mainly understood through the conceptual lenses of nationalism, dharma (Hindu religious ‘duty’), family, youth aspirations and youth cultures, identity, and value systems, although they do recognise more tangible factors like the importance of everyday practices as forms of cultural expression. While the conceptual focus of Indian participants is consistent, some participants also report additional factors that shed light on their understandings of culture, based on their location and age. For example, in Rajkot, children emphasise “thought”, “mindset” and “our way of thinking and problem solving” as an important part of culture. Across locations in India, younger children made sense of different, Western cultures through the lens of the familiar. So, many younger children responded ‘Yes’ when asked if an image of a plate of Italian spaghetti represented their culture because they interpreted spaghetti as noodles, a dish common in India and commercially popularised under the brand name Maggi by Nestle.

These differing emphases and interpretations reinforce how perceptions of culture can vary by location and, potentially, further hint at the role of socio-economic/political contexts in informing such understandings. Thus, the importance and promotion of nationalism and religion across India is mirrored in the broad sweep of Indian participants’ understandings of culture. Similarly, young participants in Rajkot highlighting ‘their’ way of approaching and solving problems may reflect a more localised, low socio-economic environment that nevertheless foregrounds rapid industrial and economic growth and so encourages competitive self-reliance, confidence and positive social comparison between the local-ingroup and others.

In contrast to workshop participants in India, children in Australia tend to link culture with material practices and tangible phenomenon such as the built and natural environments like shops, streets, landmarks, services, and animals, and celebrations or holidays such as Easter and Christmas. Put another way, young Australians mainly describe visible rather than invisible expressions of culture when asked to identify or define what Australian culture means to them. They do not focus on tangibility exclusively, however. Young participants are very aware of the diversity of the Australian population, expressly highlighting multiculturalism as a central, defining characteristic of Australian society. This strong awareness of multiculturalism appears to make it more difficult, or at least less important, for young Australians to describe other defining non-tangible cultural characteristics common to all Australians. In other words, in a society where participants prioritise a definition of culture grounded on the equal value of multiple constituent cultures, each with their own traditions, rituals, concepts and other non-visible characteristics, it may be challenging for them to identify or describe an overall shared set of intangible cultural attributes common to all society members (or, alternatively, they be less inclined and/or attach less value on the need to do so).

At the same time, in Cowra, a low socio-economic rural location where a comparatively high proportion of people identify as Indigenous, young participants surfaced histories and manifestations of colonialism (e.g., Invasion Day, Missions^{^[1]}) and other negative associations like drunkenness, profanity, and drug use in their references to Australian culture. Like the regional variations in India, the reporting of unfavourable cultural markers by young people in Cowra likely reflects localised contextual variability of cultural perceptions and understandings; the local lived experiences of young people in Cowra intrude into their definition of Australian culture.

Footnote 1: Invasion Day is an alternative term for Australia Day that reframes the arrival of the first British fleet as the beginning of colonisation and describes its subsequent negative effects. Missions were restricted areas like farms, reserves, or schools where Aboriginal peoples were forcibly relocated by governments and collaborators for conversion to Christianity, training as menial workers, etc.

For children who took part in workshops in Indonesia, culture tends to be represented by traditional behaviours, practices and artefacts such as heritage and arts, dance, textile making, martial arts, archery, poetry, music, and foods specific to their region. Indonesian participants also linked tradition with positive behavioural norms, with particular regional emphases. Children in rural Bogor commented that politeness, warmth, friendliness and gotong royong (a traditional practice of community cooperation and sharing burdens) represents ‘culture’ in their region, while in urban Jakarta young participants highlighted tolerance, acceptance and respect for differences as key parts of Indonesian culture. Gotong Royong and associated norms may reflect a closer-knit, communal culture more prevalent in smaller rural communities while emphasis on respect for diversity, tolerance, etc. could be influenced by larger, more diverse urban environmental contexts.

Aspects of tradition identified by young people in Indonesia as markers of their culture can be seen as overlapping with tangible cultural markers. For example, food, textiles, music and poetry represent commodities that can be tangibly and overtly experienced. However, for young Indonesians, while important, such tangible cultural products are inextricable from the cultural practices and process they result from. Tangible cultural artefacts themselves do not stand alone to define culture, rather it is the interweaving of artefacts with the traditional practices that produce them that together constitute the central characteristics of Indonesian culture for young Indonesians.

One broad regional difference emerged between the nature of responses about culture from participants in the South-East Asian region compared to those in Australia. For children who took part in workshops in Indonesia and India, references to what comprises culture in their countries and localities uniformly present as positive framings of cultural norms, beliefs and practices, particularly focused around family, religion, values, and traditions. In contrast, some (although not all) Australian participants included highly negative phenomenon in their descriptions of Australian culture (e.g., drug use, drunkenness, negative aspects of colonialism). One potential reason may be that demand effects influenced participant responses. It may be that young participants in Indonesia and India were reluctant to surface negative cultural connotations with unfamiliar workshop facilitators, reinforced by their awareness of the involvement of a global North institution (Western Sydney University). Our pilot study did not canvas this issue in greater depth, however, and so it presents an opportunity for further research.

2. Digital media consumption reinforces cultural belonging and identity

The differences in the ways in which workshop participants understand what encompasses their culture are reflected in how they conceptualise the influence of digital media on their sense of culture. As with the data about cultural expression, there are broad differences between participants in India and Indonesia compared with their counterparts in Australia. Principally, young Indian and Indonesian participants highlight how digital media can strengthen national and/or regional cultural norms, reinforcing ideas about what it means to be Indian and Indonesia, respectively. In comparison, for participants in Australia, their digital engagement is less about accessing or reaffirming Australian culture and more about connection through entertaining exchanges with youthful peer groups that reinforces the membership of, and sense of belonging to, an overarching youth culture.

For workshop participants in India, digital media consumption practices reinforce what it means to be ‘Indian’. For example, a group of 13 and 14 year olds in Adas, rural India, explained that watching popular Indian TV series and films based on Sanskrit epics about Hindu deities (e.g. Ramayan) and social revolutionaries who fought for Indian independence (e.g. The Legend of Bhagat Singh) helps them to learn more about their country and culture, and can strengthen knowledge about Indian religious and moral values.

"TV is required for our culture because news of the whole country can be known. Series or movies on TV give a lot of information on our culture. As examples, there are many movies or series like Ramayana, Mahabharat, Legend of Hanuman, The Legend of Bhagat Singh, through which we learn about our culture." Aged 13 - 14 group, Adas, India, rural

At the same time, this group also pointed out that in some instances, digital media can undermine their culture. For example, they call out the controversial film Adipurush, critiqued by many Hindu groups for using colloquial language seen as disrespectful to the deities it portrayed, because participants also viewed it as disrespecting their culture. Here, consuming digital media causes cultural tensions and surfaces ‘affective and emotional injuries’ (Hill, 2020), helping to inform what these young people in Adas conceptualise as morally right and wrong, and therefore what it means to be a good, respectful member of their community and an Indian citizen.

"The disadvantage of TV is it gives information that is against culture. Like some movies or serials cause hurt to our culture. Such as movies like Adipurush also cause[s] hurt to our culture." (Aged 13-14 group, Adas, India, rural)

Similarly, a 14-year-old in Vankal, rural India, explained that the Government run citizen engagement platform, Mygov.in, which aims to engage citizens in policy making by seeking opinions on issues of public interest and welfare, helps “keep me connected to my India and the activities going in my country. It even connects me to Western countries and traditions. This particular website is designed by our Honourable PM sir and he tries to make every child to be connected to every culture.” Engaging with digital media here, enables civic participation and reinforces the notion of being an included an Indian citizen in ‘my country’.

Participants who took part in workshops in Indonesia also surfaced how their digital media consumption practices can reveal and/or reinforce the moral and cultural norms that shape what being ‘Indonesian’ means. For example, many Indonesian participants value using digital platforms for entertainment, cultural exchange, cultural awareness and education, but also report how they experience discomfort or offense through culturally inappropriate or unsafe digital content or spaces. For instance, an 11-year-old in Bogor (rural Indonesia), revealed how he loves using TikTok to engage with its wide selection of videos, but feels uncomfortable when he comes across ‘rude language’ and videos of people eating pork. Here, his understanding of what is culturally appropriate is reinforced by exposure to what is deemed culturally offensive. Along similar lines, many participants report that their phone can distract them from household and religious responsibilities. So, a 13-year-old girl in Jakarta values using her phone to connect with family, access knowledge and seek information, but is concerned that it causes distractions, making her “lose track of time (and forget to do homework) such as reciting the Koran, cleaning the house and studying”.

Such concerns illuminate how digital media consumption can intersect with cultural practice. For an 11-year-old boy in rural Indonesia, encountering online video content of people eating forbidden foods causes him distress and the digital media consumption of a 13-year-old girl in urban Indonesia ruptures her ability to perform the duties that, as a girl in her family, she is responsible for (Bhatia et al., 2021). While these examples both describe children ill at ease with the content and form of their online experiences, they also demonstrate two ways that online and cultural practices intersect and are in tension. Even though both participants report some degree of discomfort, both also continue their current online engagement practices. The benefits they experience from online engagement outweigh the detriments and so they indulge culturally inappropriate customs and behaviours. On the other hand, their discomfort also signals possible limits to cultural tolerance where neither explicitly affirm the value of other cultural practices. Thus, as much as media consumption can reinforce cultural identity, online practices may also have the potential to undermine, challenge, and perhaps even re-shape cultural practice and identity.

In Australia, many of the young people who took part described themselves as belonging to a rich, multicultural society. Indeed, Australia explicitly positions multiculturalism as a cornerstone of national identity (Aly, 2025; Department of Home Affairs, 2024). While that position finds general support in the Australian public, sentiment and discourse about the nature and consequences of multiculturalism can ebb and flow (Pietsch & Genc, 2019/2026). Elements of that discourse are reflected in the tension some participants experienced when asked to explore ‘Australian’ culture and identities. For example, a young girl in Parramatta, self-identified as a second or third generation migrant, expressed clearly and confidently that she was “not Aussie” but rather felt stronger ties to her cultural background from her family’s place of origin. Indeed, all workshop groups found it challenging to clearly delineate a shared ‘Australian’ culture they identified with. Along those lines, we heard from Australian participants that their digital practices do not necessarily strongly reinforce what it means to be ‘Australian’.

Young Australians told us they use, and love using, digital media, reporting a particular fondness for social media and video sharing platforms where they can engage with “fun” experiences designed predominately for young users. They use those platforms and spaces to connect with, and engage with content created by, other young people, reinforcing a sense of belonging and connection to being a young person and to youth culture. For example, two 14-year-olds in Bondi explained how video games, like Mario and Minecraft, and social platforms like Discord, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat, “make us feel happy and are fun for us. This is because the games/websites were designed to be used for our age audience.” Another young teen in Bondi said that Instagram and online games feel made with them in mind because “you can see everyone playing” and “see what your friends are doing”. Similarly, other young participants agreed that TikTok is a digital space that “is made up of teenagers”, and therefore, somewhere they feel connected to youth culture.

3. Children and young people learn about their own and other cultures through digital technology

We again found a key difference between children’s and young people’s reasons for engaging with digital technologies when comparing the data from India and Indonesia with Australian data. For young participants in the two South-East Asian countries, learning about other countries and peoples were important functions of online engagement. In contrast, young Australian participants seldom explicitly highlighted educational or awareness-raising about other cultures as a reason for digital engagement, instead focussing on the entertainment value of international content.

Children who participated in workshops in India and Indonesia were clear about harnessing digital platforms to learn about their own and other cultures, particularly through playing online games, engaging with content on social media and using video sharing and streaming platforms.

“We can learn about our culture through [YouTube].” (Aged 14 - 18 group, Rajkot, India, urban)

"We can [gain] necessary knowledge from games and [video sharing platforms] so that we can know about the outside world if we want." (Female, 13, Adas, India, rural)

By exploring digital technology use with children and young people, we found that global content frequently appears in users' feeds, broadening awareness of international lifestyles and culturally diverse languages, fashion, food and practices.

"We can see cultures from all over the world [on YouTube]." Male, 16, Bogor, Indonesia, Rural

“Watching films from abroad adds insight into information about their language, fashion, food and habits. For example, watching Korean dramas [on Netflix].” Female, 15, Bogor, Indonesia, Rural

In Indonesia, children expressed an eagerness and curiosity to learn about the world and different cultures by engaging with content and communicating with others – including using digital technology to develop online friendships with people from overseas. So, for example, a 13 year old girl in rural Bogor, West Java, told us that she loves playing Roblox because she “can get to know a lot of foreign people”.

Many in Indonesia felt that platforms like TikTok, YouTube and Instagram had been made with their culture in mind because they see content about their own languages, dances or foods represented on those platforms. They engage online to explore and learn about those and other traditional cultural practices or traditions, as well as stay current with more contemporary features of their society like engaging with local sports content or modern Indonesian dance music. In line with Indonesian participants’ enthusiasm for content about other cultures, a number of participants reported watching YouTube videos to engage with aspects of their own and other cultures by, for example, listening to regional Indonesian pop music as well as watching Japanese anime and cosplay videos.

Capturing a common theme across Indonesian participants, an 18 year old in urban Jakarta revealed how interacting with features on social media platforms reinforce a sense of inclusive digital design for her. She told us that Instagram feels like it is made with her mind as it offers opportunities for users to celebrate Indonesian holidays by using tailored stickers or emojis.

"On Instagram, usually when there is a holiday or celebration in Indonesia, Instagram will celebrate by making special stickers or emojis." ( Female, 18, Jakarta, Indonesia, urban)

On the other hand, some of the participants who took part in workshops in Indonesia expressed dissonant views about the same platforms. Put another way, some Indonesian children and young people describe the same platforms as being simultaneously made with their culture in mind and not made with their culture in mind. For example, a young female participant in rural Indonesia describes TikTok as culturally appropriate because it shares “information about typical food and culture from a region which is created by content creators” but at the same time perceives the platform is not made with her culture in mind because it contains content that “I think is not appropriate, for example dancing content”. Similarly, a 16-year-old male from a rural area believes his ability to access “information about things that exist in other places” signals how TikTok is made with people from his culture in mind but that it is also culturally inappropriate because “Many TikTok users abuse it as a means to disparage other countries or regions”.

On one level, that duality of thought could be explained by the complexity and diversity of children’s and young people’s digital technology engagement: the breadth and scope of possible use cases might simply mean online platforms and services cannot be all things to all people. Alternatively, though, these and other similar experiences may signify users lack sufficient control over the content they are exposed to and ideally wish to consume, pointing to deficiencies in platform and service design. In other words, one key reason children and young people commonly encounter culturally inappropriate online content could be because platforms and services are overwhelmingly designed for the global North and so do not account for alternative cultural perspectives and needs. Moreover, as well as a lack of consideration of diverse cultural perspectives, mono-cultural design structures may, intentionally or unintentionally, introduce barriers that actively impede or curtail children’s and young people’s ability to choose and engage with culturally appropriate online content.

4. Children and young people say global digital products can exclude, disregard, disrespect and ignore diverse cultures

Following on from children’s and young people’s dissonant perceptions and experiences of their cultures online, the same platforms that children and young people say are made with their culture in mind are also the platforms that participants (particularly those in India and Indonesia) report do not feel like they have been designed with their culture in mind. Participants surfaced examples of Western-centric digital design across a range of digital products and platforms, especially where their local languages and cultural events are ignored. For example, teenagers who took part in a workshop in Jakarta noted how online games do not offer experiences in their local language.

“[On StumbleGuys] the language options are incomplete. Bahasa Indonesia is not available.” Female, 18, Jakarta, Indonesia, urban

“[In Honor of Kings] there are no Indonesian servers and no Indonesian language [options].” Male, 15, Jakarta, Indonesia, urban

Along similar lines, a pair of teenagers in Vankal, rural India, observed that the gaming environment Minecraft offers opportunities to celebrate and represent Christian and Western holidays, but does not acknowledge significant Indian celebrations.

“Minecraft… is not mostly related to our culture as when there is a Western festival… Like Christmas or Halloween, it redesigns the game and adds some interesting features… But this doesn't happen with Indian festivals. … if it is Diwali or Holi there are no additions.” (Female, 14 and Male, 14, Vankal, rural India)

Further, young people who took part in workshops in India and Indonesia say that digital experiences can often cause moral and ethical tensions, or that play can transgress boundaries of what they believe to be appropriate according to their cultural and religious values. For example, teenagers in Vankal, rural India, observed how the killing of cows in Minecraft gameplay causes moral frictions for Hindu players. Others deemed online videogames inappropriate because of the violence that is often depicted and because gameplay can require players to engage in in-game violence.

“[In the game Minecraft] it seems like we are going against nature's laws because the killing of animals for food items like leather is not good.” (Female, 14 and Male, 14, Vankal, rural India)

“[There is] inappropriate content which is against culture on social media. [On PubG Battlegrounds there is] killing mobs, animals, and villagers which is against a few cultures. [The game] encourages shooting and violence which is against cultures.” Aged 9-13 group, Ahmedabad, India, urban

Similarly, children and young people who took part in both urban and rural workshops in Indonesia said that social media platforms that enable content sharing (e.g., TikTok, Instagram, YouTube) felt culturally inappropriate at times when they encounter behaviour that infringes their cultural values and beliefs (e.g., as above where a young male in rural Indonesia found videos of people eating pork objectionable). What’s more, many young participants from across rural and urban Indonesia say they routinely observe their culture being mocked, insulted and disrespected through comments on social media platforms such as TikTok and YouTube.

"[There are] too many hate comments mocking Indonesian culture [on YouTube].” Female, 15, Jakarta, Indonesia, urban

“Many foreign creators [on TikTok] say Indonesia is ugly and has a lot of rubbish.” 9 -13 year old group, Jakarta, Indonesia, urban

"In the comments section [on TikTok] I often find negative comments such as comments that vilify the content creator." Male, 16, Bogor, Indonesia, rural

"There are many videos insulting Indonesian culture on TikTok." Male, 16, Bogor, Indonesia, rural

Aligned experiences were reflected by some older participants in Indian workshops who expressed concern about the role of digital technology in making people forget their cultural and moral values, like honesty. Some of those participants reported being further disquieted about the perceived permeation of westernized views online and the potential subsequent negative influences on Indian culture.

“[Using digital devices like phones] is diverting students from studying. Many people across the world are forgetting their cultures and the moral values like honesty.” Male, 14, Vankal, India, rural

Other participants in Vankal highlighted negative outcomes of digitisation and modernisation ranging from deep structural effects, like the negative material impact on local economies, through to more localised or personal social impacts, such how online content can affect traditional ways of preparing and eating meals. For example, a young boy in Vankal noted how food delivery apps, such as Zomato, encourage people to order take-out food, wasting the food cooked by their mother “with love”.

“It [makes] us [feel] disappointment when we see that local vendors / shop-owners are getting jobless & companies like Amazon making large amount of profit.” (14-18 group, Vankal, India, rural)

Additionally, young people in Indonesia pointed out how continuing and rapidly evolving high-tech design of apps and devices can cause accessibility issues for people who cannot access or afford the technology upgrades needed to use the latest online services. For example, many young people in Indonesian workshops reported being frustrated by technology issues and challenges such as glitches, blurry images, freezes, and lagging. Those experiences further exemplify how current digital design is predominantly focussed on markets that can afford the latest, relatively expensive, technology and so excludes from access those who cannot.

“[The worst parts about my cell phone] Lags, small storage, sometimes errors, and heats up easily.” Male, 16, Jakarta, Indonesia, Urban

In contrast, most children and young people who took part in Australian workshops did not tend to identify where or how their digital experiences ignore or disrespect their cultural norms or values. Instead, Australian participants were generally more concerned about online safety risks. Yet the data also indicates that many perceive ‘digital disharmony’, where they observe digital technology use hampering social harmony. For example, many Australian participants express concern about the patriarchal, misogynistic, homophobic, anti-minority, racist sentiments that casually surface online.

“[On] Twitter anyone can say any opinions which is usually negative, especially about cultures and religions.” 14-18 group, Bondi, Australia, Urban

“It’s kinda upsetting because there is a lot of hate and lowering self-esteem on social media.” Female, 17, Cowra, Australia, rural

“[There should be] strict policies to ban racism and discrimination.” Male, 12 and Female, 9, Parramatta, Australia, urban

5. Children and young people say culture-centred design should apply to multiple areas

Considered overall, the data from this pilot study highlight the ways and extents to which children and young people experience and perceive their engagements with digital and online technologies to be culturally relevant, appropriate, and safe. During the data collection workshops, children and young people were asked to design an app that feels like it has been made with their culture in mind - an app that is inclusive and representative of their culture. Capturing the breadth and depth of young participants’ ideas about how the design of digital platforms and services could be improved to better account for cultural difference, this activity surfaced a set of indicative youth-centred design principles for designing culture-centred digital experiences.

Safety

Ensuring children and young people are safe online is a key concern for all young participants, where safety encompasses a range of potential forms of harm. Children and young people who took part in workshops in Indonesia said that there should be no pornography, no gambling advertising, no violence, no negative comments, no toxicity, and that young people should have the ability to block and report safety issues online. Participants in Australian workshops said that there should be no scams, no advertisements, no strangers, and also advocated for reporting, blocking and banning features. Young people in Indian workshops agreed digital experiences should be safe for young people, but for them, ensuring privacy and security was the primary focus.

“There cannot be online gambling advertisements.” Female, 11 and Female 11, Bogor, Indonesia, Rural

“This application is free from hate comments because Indonesian people are known for being friendly and polite.” Male, 16 and Female, 15, Jakarta, Indonesia, Urban

“[Our app] filters out hate, judgement, swearing, bullying, nudity.” Female 16 and Female 17, Cowra, Australia, rural

“The app should be designed suitably enough to prevent misuse of our documents, privacy, photos, video and our property.” Female, 14 and Male, 15, Male, 15 and Male, 13, Rajkot, India, urban

Accessibility

Children and young people say it’s important that they and their peers can access digital services and devices, where access relates to both technical/mechanical and design aspects of technology. Young participants from Indonesia and India want to be able to access digital experiences in multiple local and regional languages (e.g., Bahasa, Javanese, Sudanese, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, as well as English). Some young people in Australia too, acknowledged the importance of diverse languages to facilitate accessibility.

“The app should also include languages of different countries and their regions.” Male, 15, Rajkot, India, urban

“There needs to be linguistic diversity.” Female, 18 and Male, 15, Jakarta, Indonesia, urban

“Has multiple language options so that anyone can use the app.” Aged 14-18, Bondi, Australia, urban

Additionally, across all workshops, children and young people want to see affordable access to digital experiences. Young people in Australian workshops want free digital products, and the ability to access them without constant internet connectivity. Similarly, participants in Indonesian and Indian workshops said that it is important that they and other children and young people like them are able to access apps that consume less data and that are useable without a stable, always on, or reliable connection.

“[Designers] should use such an electronic device that consumes less network [Designers] should have such an app that comes to the aid of poor people and is absolutely free of cost for them.” Female, 14, Rajkot, India, urban

“[Our app is] free - [you] shouldn't have to pay to learn about culture. [With] no internet you can still use.” Female, 13, Male, 13, Male, 12 and Female 9, Parramatta, Australia, urban

Inclusivity and Respect

The differing experiences of children and young people across countries and regions shaped their recommendations about how inclusivity and respect should be manifested in digital design. Young people in Indonesian designed apps in response to the negative online experiences that they encountered. To them, a culture-centred digital experience is inclusive, accepting and respectful to Indonesian culture. Participants in India similarly emphasised the importance of online content that is inclusive and respectfully presents diverse cultural values, traditions, and practices. Neither group want to see racism or content that mocks their respective cultures. Young people in Australian also want to see digital experiences that reflect, represent and celebrate a diverse, multicultural society. While their ideas were not in reaction to experiences of negative portrayals of Australian culture, they also want designers to acknowledge cultural diversity and prioritise inclusivity.

“No one should mock Indonesian culture.” Male, 12 and Female, 13, Jakarta, Indonesia, urban

“Multicultural app. Share pictures of day in their life (culture, work, food, places, animals, differences, dances, celebrations, school).” Female, 16 and Female, 17, Cowra, Australia, rural

“[Designers] should remember that everyone has different beliefs and cultures.” Aged 9-13, Parramatta, Australia, Urban

“[Designers should] make sure to include every culture when designing because if your culture is not there, it equals upset. But if it is there, that is good.” Aged 9-13, Parramatta, Australia, Urban

“[Designers] should ensure that no culture caste or community feels hurt and that no religion is shown in bad context.” Aged 14-18, Rajkot, India, urban

“According to me [the] app should include festivals and cultures of different regions. The app should also include languages of different countries and their regions.” Male, 15, Rajkot, India, urban

Cultural Awareness

Children and young people highly value digital and online experiences that raise awareness and promote education about their own and other diverse cultures. For young people in Indonesia, there was a strong focus on designing digital experiences that educate and inform foreigners (as well as Indonesians) about Indonesian cultural traditions, histories, beliefs, values, practices, art, food, language, and the rich diversity of Indonesian culture. Similarly, some young Australian participants in urban Parramatta (which has a large and diverse multicultural population), focused on designing digital experiences that facilitate the mutual learning of diverse cultures. For example, in the Parramatta workshop, young people designed an app to share Australian cultural food experiences (Tim Tams, Vegemite, Caramello Koala) via video simulations to educate others about diverse cultures. In a similar way, young people in Indian workshops expressed how digital experiences should raise awareness of the diverse aspects of Indian culture from across regions and represent Indian histories. They were strong advocates for other cultures to know about Indian culture while at the same time expressing their keenness to learn about other cultures. Taken together, these findings reveal that young people think less about the spatial design of platforms and services but have more consideration about how to make their own cultures more mainstream via the digital, while at the same time avoid isolating or censoring other cultures.

“Information about culture, ethnicity and religion in Indonesia.” Male, 11 and Male, 12, Jakarta, Indonesia, urban

“[We would] create a chat feature to learn each other’s and appreciate the diversity of other[s] [cultures].” Female, 18 and Male, 17, Jakarta, Indonesia, urban

“We want to create a social media application that specifically introduces Indonesia culture and Indonesian language. … the application we made is intended so that foreigners can get to know Indonesia culture. So, this application can be used by the younger generation in Australia to get to know Indonesia culture.” Female, 13 and Female, 13, Bogor, Indonesia, rural

“A platform where people talk about their cultures and experiences. And other people learn. Leaders of cultures get money for every video they view (vegemite simulation/noodle simulation).” Aged 9-13, Parramatta, Australia, Urban

“[Designers should think about] the clothes, the food of our Indian culture. Different languages in which we can read or hear the contents available. Some things related to our Indian history.” Female, 14 and Male, 14, Vankal, India, rural

Cultural Expression

Closely linked to cultural awareness, children and young people in Indonesia and India in particular are thoughtful about how their respective cultures are presented and portrayed online. Young people in Indonesia aspire for digital experiences that allow them to explicitly express their cultural identity. For example, some wanted to be able to interact with app features that represent Indonesian culture, play games with characters that reflect Indonesian fashion and dress standards, or access games about traditional activities like kite flying. Others felt that the look and feel of digital experiences should draw on and be influenced by traditional cultural artefacts, such as art, weapons, and nationalistic symbols like the Indonesia flag and national emblem. Young people in Indian workshops held similar views, wanting to see clear and obvious reflections of their culture, customs, traditions and heritage in online designs.

“The application must provide GIFs/stickers depicting Indonesia culture.” Female, 18 and Male, 15, Jakarta, Indonesia, urban

“[Our game would include] attractive characters according to Indonesian fashion.” Male, 16 and Female, 15, Bogor, Indonesia, rural

“A golden rule that would speak to me would be to include aspects of my culture, including customs and traditions and every other aspect be it art, dance, language/dialect, all of which would motivate a culture relevant design.” Female, 14, India, Rajkot, India, urban

Decolonisation

Decolonisation featured explicitly in some Indonesian and Australian participants’ ideas for examples of app designs that they feel would be made with their culture in mind. For example, children and young people in Indonesia designed an app which they said would assists decolonisation efforts by surfacing, educating and acknowledging the impacts of colonialism. Other young Indonesians designed apps in response to wider offline structural and systemic issues (i.e., histories of colonialism). ​A group in Bogor, West Java, designed a game that educates young people about the Battle of Surabaya (1945), a powerful image of Indonesian nationalism, fought between British Indian imperial forces and the Indonesian National Revolution against the re-imposition of Dutch colonial rule. In Jakarta, yet another group designed a game that educates and celebrates Indonesian independence.

“[Our app provides] education about colonialism in Surabaya.” Aged 9-13, Bogor, Indonesia, rural

“Game: Indonesian independence. Its function is to introduce competitions during the celebration of Indonesian independence.” Aged 14-18, Jakarta, Indonesia, Urban

In Australia, young people in Cowra designed an app to educate users about local place-based facts about plants, animals, food, but that also included education about Australia’s “darker history” (i.e., the historic and ongoing impacts of colonialism on Aboriginal communities).

“[Designers should think about] darker history, stuff that doesn't get brought up in schools.” Female, 17 and Female, 17, Cowra, Australia, rural

Cultural Appropriateness

Reflecting the value they place on accurate and respectful representations of their respective cultures, children and young people in Indonesia and India proposed apps that aligned with and championed the worldviews of their own cultures. Young people in Indonesian workshops had a strong focus on digital experiences that are culturally appropriate. They did not want to see profanity, age-inappropriate content (i.e., adult content, alcohol), or content depicting revealing dress for women.

In India, participants expressed an overall sense that the digital was linked to being a 'Western concept' (e.g., see above the unease some participants felt about how online engagement might result in a deterioration or forgetting of traditional values like honesty). Such concerns may also reflect how moves towards more communications online, and the anonymity that online communications can afford, seemingly results in declining face-to-face interactions and so potentially erodes the development of empathy, honesty, and other human values, which are thought of as central tenets of traditional Indian culture. Put another way, for some participants in India, honesty is very much a religious and cultural belief rooted and engraved throughout Indian history, the scriptures they access, and the cultural practices they see and experienced in their day-to-day lives. Accordingly, for these young people, digital experiences should be in line with their moral, ethical, religious and cultural values.

“Our application does not allow the dissemination of 18+ videos that are not in accordance with Eastern culture and are not appropriate for the younger generation to watch.” Female, 13 and Female, 13, Bogor, Indonesia, rural

“Must be in accordance with the values of Pancasila and the constitution.” Male, 16 and Female, 15, Jakarta, Indonesia, urban

“[We saw] content with inappropriate outfit and mocking content on TikTok. … [On our game] it’s prohibited for someone to wear inappropriate outfit, users should have [good] manner.” Female, 11 and Male, 11, Jakarta, Indonesia, urban

“There should not be R-rated stories or stories containing vulgarity, violence etc. [Designers] should not [go] against the ethics of peace.” Male, 15, Male, 16 and Male, 16, Vanka, India, rural

“[Designers] must be aware of Indian culture's true knowledge because Anti-Hindus talk mythical talks (wrong talks) about it. … [Designers should take into account] the values of our old cultural knowledge the moral they give.” Female, 14 and Male, 14, Vankal, India, rural