The Ripple Effect

Web 2.0 aptly displays the ripple effect at work. It is amazing how an idea generated from one part of the world can be put to use at the opposite end. To me, the most fascinating thing about Web 2.0 is the limitless possibility of it. It is amazing what we can achieve when the barriers are off and Web 2.0 does exactly that. It's an opportunity to get my voice heard; a space to say exactly what I think; provides opportunity to organize around issues that matter to me; and if you are like me and live away from home, it provides that vital connection to those far away, eating away the distance and making you feel just a bit less lonely.

I think that women’s groups are increasingly becoming aware of just how vital Web 2.0 can be to their programs and large women led and focused groups have emerged online. However, these groups are usually led and run from the global North, giving women and women groups from the South less of an opportunity for critical engagement, emphasis on critical here! Apart from this, it’s a fact that what matters to humans differ, especially where resources are scarce, and so of course some vital emerging issues never get taken up or given audience. With Web 2.0 it is easier for women to raise awareness about such issues, and where the matter is urgent; having direct access to such a platform is invaluable.

Reading through this week's course materials, I came across Ushahidi and the amazing uses that tool is being put to. That got me thinking; we are having elections at home come 2011 and although I live away Ushahidi is an opportunity to be actively involved in this phase of my country's history. A volley of emails via Facebook (Web 2.0 at work again) and a couple of hours later we have a group set up to deploy Ushahidi as a tool to monitor the upcoming elections, and have been asked to submit a proposal for funding. Wow! Web 2.0 makes it happen super fast.