Digital literacy, esports, and DIY culture
Top-down and bottom-up approaches to twenty-first century competencies in Singapore
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19590484 |
|---|---|
| Authors | J P Williams (0000-0002-7409-2572, Nanyang Technological University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 56-71 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | DIY Alternative Cultures & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2753-8702 • E-ISSN: 2753-8702 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/27538702261432684 |
| OpenAlex | W7138150610 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 40 |
In this article, I explore cultural conceptions and practices of digital literacy articulated in three distinct areas of social action in Singapore, a technology-dense nation. Using qualitative content analysis and interviews with 33 esports players, I compare governmental digital literacy initiatives, grassroots esports programming, and individual players’ narratives and DIY practices. I show that governmental initiatives emphasize functional and protectionist competencies such as technical know-how, computational thinking, and risk mitigation, while grassroots esports programs and individual player practices connect players to a broader range of digital-relevant competencies, including technical, informational, productive, creative, problem-solving, critical thinking, collaborative, and communicative knowledge and skills. The findings represent DIY participatory practices and cultures as crucial but underappreciated milieux in which young people develop competencies that are increasingly necessary for networked life in a digital society. I couch my analysis within a discussion of the entanglement of grassroot and DIY practices with dominant culture
Action (physics) · Citizen journalism · Digital Literacy · Grassroots · Literacy · Narrative · Participatory action research · Social media · Social practice · Digital Games and Media · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Literacy, Media, and Education
Singapore
Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture
Covid-19 and digitalization
A meta-analysis of pathological gaming prevalence and comorbidity with mental health, academic and social problems
Game-based Learning and 21st century skills
A ‘good’ neoliberal citizen
The impact of esports participation on the development of 21st century skills in youth
‘It’s like the gold rush’
We the Gamers
Digital Labor
DIY, Alternative Cultures and Society
Perceptions of video gaming careers and its implications on parental mediation
Video Games and Digital Literacies
Esports as a Cultural Microcosm for Studying Psycholinguistics
The politics of gamification
The Spec Generation Who Can't Say “No”
Culture of Meritocracy, Political Hegemony, and Singapore’s Development
Marx's Theory of Play, Leisure and Unalienated Praxis
Visibility labour
Gamification
The Platformization of Violence
Can Serious Games Contribute to Developing and Sustaining 21st Century Skills
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |