Poll Results June 2023
Creativity, Democracy & Digitalization
Welcome to a short survey of four questions on creativity, democracy & digitalization. The questions are in a yes/no format, making them easy to answer. However, there is room for you to elaborate on your answers if you have the time, and we are grateful if you do.
Question 1
Do you think that cultural and creative activities strengthen democracy?
92.3% Yes
7.7% No
Why? / Why not?
Yes, cultural and creative activities represent a direct display of freedom of expression and thereby both an extension and execution of democracy as a whole.
Yes. Thinking creatively encourages, thinking freely. Elements of culture and creativity encourages us to think outside the box.
No. Not necessarily because it’s true that they bring people together but it very much depends on the message of the activity and the activity itself
Yes. Because it’s related
Yes. Because it promotes diversity from wich society can evolve
Yes. Anything that develops one’s understanding—be that through engagement or learning—towards other people and cultures strengthens a key principle of democracy: everyone’s voice counts equally in the ballots.
Yes. They are useful to promote the meaning of democracy and its practical declinations in a way that is accessible to the general public
Yes, because it increases its sense of belonging and sense that al organized can create things
Totally. As Verba (1967) would state, most kind of associations and engagement from citizens enhances political participation and democracy
Yes. I believe that having the possibility to engage in creative and cultural activities lets people, especially the youth, explore social taboos, current political, and societal challenges recurring different languages to treat the subject cited in a subtle manner
Yes, because democracy is all about free expression and the participation of citizens in different areas of life.
Question 2
Do you think that cultural diversity is challenged in a digital world?
61.5% Yes
38.5% No
Why? / Why not?
Yes, since it is subject to access to digital technologies, whose level of diffusion is subject to socio-economic factors.
No. I think it’s more enhanced now than ever. I think with everything now so easily accessible, it makes cultural diversity, an aspect that can be promoted so much more. Not to be confused with this overruling systemic issues because that’s still not the case.
No. I think that in a digital world the cultural diversity is much more exposed than it used to be simply because everyone could participate in a type of content and everyone can receive every type of content.
Yes. Because it changes the background of the cultural
Yes. Surely the ascent of the internet has homogenized the behaviour and the mind of the human society as whole. It not necessarily a bad thing, it can bring people from different background together; but, at the same time, this trend can choke diversity, the engine of evolution. Is a question of finding a the good balance.
Yes. Yes and no. It can in some instances but not always. Social media, for example, can create both information bubbles (where one is exposed to like-minded people and thoughts only), but also expand our information reach to learn about there cultures and people, whom we may have not heard about was it not for social media.
Yes, individualism is hitting cultural activities and changing them into online sessions
Yes, because there is a tendency to convergence of cultural homogeneity, but in no way that limits cultural diversity. It can also be used as a mechanism for cultural diversity.
Yes. Currently, current social media and new social media, focusing both on the management of the social and the algorithm used, polarized everything, even small things, Diversity is a important topic that we should talk and discuss properly.
No. There are reasons that are pro this expression because globalization that is rather promoted by the digital world decreases cultural diversity, for example in teenagers that all listen the same songs or use the same social networks that promote a certain international and globalized model. However I think that this is an indirect result of the digital world but more of the globalization and migration. Based on this I opted for the answer that actually digital world actually helps in cultural diversity because it can be used in spreading cultural awareness and diversity more than any other source.
Question 3
Do you think that young peoples' cultural and creative expressions are promoted in a digital world?
92.3% Yes
7.7% No
Why? / Why not?
Yes. Young people are the predominant users of social media nowadays, thereby allowing for social media to be a display of their own cultural expression as well
Yes. The digital world, and its convenience has made it much easier to be expressive
No. Due to trends I don’t think a lot of young people strive to show creativity and their diversity, however I feel that the people, who are proud of their mixed heritage and what to showcase it or express themselves creatively find it easer to so because they have access to many likeminded online personalities globally and feel supported on their journey.
Yes. There is room for improvement though
Yes. Young people are able to use the means given by the digital revolution to express their feelings and their creativity.
Yes. Today’s digital tools and platforms represent a formidable springboard to spread their creative expressions, thus allowing them to reach a much wider audience
Yes, it is easy to reach them
Yes. I tend to believe that the digital world promotes cultural and creative expressions by exposing them to everyone, but it can also have the opposite effect – by endlessly promoting the “scroll” on social media, for example. It’s all dependent on the way we use the digital world.
Yes. Many of organizations, especially led by youth, use social media to spread their initiative, create funny and catchy videos to illustrate different topics even serious ones. Through the use of social media, organizations and businesses, led by youth, create community to engage and discuss to on different subjects and topics
Yes. Definitely, digital world has fostered creativity in young people by promoting different methods of expression and also promoting some cultural expressions.
Question 4
Do you think that young people strengthen cross-border understanding thanks to digitization?
69.2% Yes
30.8% No
Why? / Why not?
Yes. Wider access to other cultures
Yes. Definitely, I think the digital world has no boundaries which is whites global, and I think it would strengthen global understanding
Yes, because they have access to and consume content from every point of the globe without thinking about where it comes from and usually form opinions about the place/people based on the consumed content as cultural experience
No. It depends. The so called eco-chamber strengthen your prejudices, widening the space between two different culture. is a matter of regulation and education; the digitalisation is just a tool that reinforce something already there.
Yes. Digitalisation can hugely contribute to break barriers among different realities, ultimately allowing young people to establish connections and build common awareness on sensitive issues related to, inter alia, democracy
No. Because it is easier to create a bubble, an get disconnected
Yes. Each day, more and more people from different cultures from non-european/non-western societies expose their (cultural) understandings of the world on social media (for example), and that may lead to a better cross-border understanding of the world.
No. It is not a yes or no question because it solely depends on other social phenomenon. However, personally I think that most of the time when there are problematic regions that have problematics national expressions can have a negative effect because of the hate that might generate towards cross border understanding.