"VOF Week 1: ( Web 2.0 tools at a glance)

By Brenda Zulu

I like Web 2.0 applications because of their nature to aggregate content. I also like the fact that there is a lot of interactivity online because of Web 2.0. One is able to get feedback from many people in different places. Web 2.0 platforms are able to store different documents and files which could also be retrieved from any place in the world as long as there is an internet connection. I remember when my laptop crashed I had put pictures of my sisters wedding on Flickr of where I happily retrieved them for her.

Web 2.0 is exiting because unlike the traditional media, there is unlimited participation from the society on a subject matter which is based on trust. There is also easy storage which can be found using a search engine with the help of tags. It should also be noticed that Web 2.0 has helped me find lost friends and this is terms of social networking such as Face book, Tagged. In blogging as journalist i have been able to locate my friends and relatives whom I have not known their where about and contact details. Thus I have used web 2.0 tools for communication purposes. I have also able to chat and talk in real time with them using Skype, Facebook chat facilities, yahoo messenger; Google talk etc which is cheaper than calling them on their mobile phones especially that in Zambia, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is still not allowed.

Solutions that Web 2.0 applications have been able to bring to the global women’s movement include the ability to communicate to a wider audience. For Africa, we still have very few women who have access to the internet because of issues of language and access to the internet which is still expensive.

Web 2.0 brings an opportunity for the global women’s movement to be able document its activities. Using Web 2.0 tools the movement can create an online network to which many people can subscribe. I however think that there is need for women’s movement to learn how to behave in cyberspace especially with presence of vast Web 2.0 tools. There is also need for translation for people who might not know the languages that would be used. There is also a need for the global women’s movement to consider using converging Web 2.0 technologies with traditional media and also Mobile applications. This is important for Africa as many women in Africa have access to the mobile phone and radio than the internet.

Web 2.0 has empowered me in that my work and has helped to brand me in cyber space. I have also found writing opportunities, taught people, presented papers and trained people because of having knowledge of Web2.0 tools. I have covered conferences and aggregated content for other organizations because of my ability to blog and knowledge of content management skills. It has also helped me in being organized by the use of social bookmarks.