Web 2.0 : A reality in Women Empowerment

The first time I used Internet, I remember I was around 8 years old. The image comes to me as clear as water. It was a normal Friday; I was playing with my best friend at her house and as she had a new computer, so with this excuse she showed me how did chat rooms worked and how we needed an email account in order to use a chat messenger. This was the first time I saw a live conversation with someone from a country that was literally “in the other side of the world”.

I know I was lucky enough to grow up in a generation where Internet and Web tools have been a part of our society. And right now, when web 2.0 breaks our physical barriers more than ever, the opportunities we have to get our voices heard and be a part of a team where interacting with people from different regions is very achievable. The possibilities are just infinite.

Years later, when I entered university I decided I wanted to be a journalist in order to represent the voice of people who might not have enough tools to express it to the world. And thankfully, this is the degree I am currently studying in order to get a “journalist” title – and a career. After attending classes and reading different publications, I got to understand that the Internet plays a key role in this field. And it was then when I discovered citizen journalism.

I believe that women empowerment can be achieved through Web 2.0 when female citizens know how to use a computer and have a will to tell their own stories. They become local journalists. This gives a very interesting and unique perspective for the issues they are trying to communicate, as they are the ones who transmit and write the stories directly to the public, without any intermediary. They write what they feel and see in their surroundings and this gives us a perspective about their own vision of the world.

When women are responsible for their own representation, and with they become able to create their own path, then change appears. And development becomes a reality.

For me, web 2.0 is a very powerful tool as I have been involved in different online publications for a few years now (some of the publications I have worked for, are mentioned at the end of this text). This lets me explore and understand my community, reach women that would like to get their voices represented and become a part of the mutual understanding that has to be achieved in order to promote peace and equality in my country, and in the world.

Global Voices: http://globalvoicesonline.org/author/andrea-arzaba/

TH!NK 3. Developing World Platform: http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/blogger/arzaba