What Can Technology Do?

Web 2.0 is an incredible technology. It is not just the platform for connection, or education, though those things have clearly come from Web 2.0. The most exciting aspect of Web 2.0 to me is the capacity to spark positive social change. It is not just for the elite to have or for the poor to receive or for an average girl to utilize. Everyone has the opportunity for ownership and impact, to be heard or seen, and to make a positive difference in the world. As everyone engages, both our similarities and our differences can be shared and celebrated in ways we never even imagined. Web 2.0 facilitates many perspectives and a collective power. Technology is more than computers, cell phones, and high resolution screens, it puts a face to the female condition, it shows that we are connected at the heart, and it enables us to live to our fullest capacity.

Web 2.0 offers many solutions to the global women’s empowerment movement. Blogs, twitter, facebook, pinterest, Hollaback, Harrassmap, Techwomen, Take back the Tech, CCN coverage of breast ironing… by facilitating women with resources, life saving knowledge, a platform to be heard and seen, and a means of challenging the status quo, Web 2.0 makes the seemingly impossible possible. It harnesses the most immense power in the world, that of girl power. It transforms this power into action, outputs, and positive results, both measurable and intangible. Web 2.0 may save a life, inspire a life, transform it, or just brighten one's day. Big or small all acts of empowerment matter.

Web 2.0 has encouraged me, an unknown voice, to speak up and share my experiences as a woman, as a scientist, as a leader, as a friend, and as a citizen of the world. I have learned of apps that may keep me safer in the city, or counteract negative messages, and I am empowered. As I contribute to my first blog, it is empowering to receive a response, to know I made a contribution, to know I am not alone, to hear other perspectives, and to connect with the most amazing women I could not have otherwise known about. By hearing their stories, I am more confident in mine and by hearing how they’ve overcome, I’m less trapped by my fears. Web 2.0 offers a global sisterhood, which is very empowering. I’ve never had a sister and always longed for that connection, but I have a hope and a feeling that is going to change with Web 2.0. Web 2.0 is not just an output of Science Technology Engineering and Math, it is a seed for social change, a spark for altering the status quo, and like light or sound, and it can be shared, infinite in capacity, never diminished by the number of people who experience it, unable to be contained or captured by just one person. It belongs to the world, and it is a powerful tool.