The Urgency of Digitalizing Lamaholot-East Flores Cultural Values by Youth in Building Religious Moderation

The development of contemporary digital technology has shaped the younger generation as digital natives. This condition presents a great opportunity for young people to spread the values of togetherness, tolerance, and peace within a society. However, this also presents challenges such as the proliferation of hoaxes, hate speech, and radicalization tendencies in the virtual world. On the other hand, local traditions as cultural wisdom hold significant potential for strengthening religious moderation, such as the values of solidarity, mutual cooperation, and brotherhood. This research aims to analyze the role of digital youth in the preservation and digitalization of local traditions as a means of internalizing diverse moderation values in the technological era. This research is a conceptual study that uses a descriptive-analytical approach. The analysis results show that digital youth have a strategic role in preserving local traditions thru digital media as a means of internalizing religious moderation in the land of Lamaholot-East Flores. The digitalization of traditions offers an opportunity to broaden the reach of cross-cultural and religious tolerance values, while also addressing serious challenges such as cultural commodification and the degradation of spiritual meaning. Based on these findings, it is necessary to strengthen digital literacy rooted in local wisdom, foster synergy between sectors including religious figures, educators, and indigenous communities, and develop authentic and reflective digital content to ensure the relevance of local traditions as a foundation for moderation in the digital age.