How Web 2.0 Empowers Us Through Personal Interactions To Induce Positve Changes

The most exciting facet of new media is the ability to take your story, experiences, and visions and share them in a way that is totally personal in your own words. This allows for a more in depth, closer to the source approach than traditional journalism. New media also allows for that personal connection between readers, friends, and followers by allowing dialogue through comments and interaction between readers. This unique dialogue made possible through the Web 2.0 platform is so powerful because open communication and interactive dialogue invites awareness. Awareness is the first step to any positive change. We must first become aware, informed, and then empowered to make a difference by sharing our stories and taking proactive steps to manifest our visions of peace, health, safety, and equal opportunities for the betterment of all.
I believe Web 2.0 will bring even more awareness and change to many issues around the globe in the next few years and beyond. Beyond Facebook, Twitter, and You Tube, we now have social activist groups like Change.org that can actually raise awareness and give the public a chance to voice their opinions and sign petitions that have the potential to make positive changes in our world. This past June, I followed and signed a petition asking Secretary Hilary Clinton to make a public statement in support of the Saudi women requesting their “right to drive.” The Saudi women got what they asked for, and Secretary Clinton publically supported the women, reinforcing the fact that social change comes from within a society, not from without.
I hope to use the tools available to me through Web 2.0 to inspire all people in the United States, and around the world, to stand up for their civil rights. I want to encourage these young minds to study the stories of those who passed before them. I want to empower youth to know their rights, claim their rights, and realize that freedom is not free, it is priceless. Our rights that have been fought for so many years are continuously in danger of being taken away or sold out. They cannot be taken for granted; they must be understood and respected if they are to be upheld.
I can attest to this because in the year 2010 I was wrongfully terminated from my employment through violation of my civil rights by means of blatant gender discrimination. It is a humiliating, hurtful, devastating experience to go through. It was also a blessing in disguise. Now, through my story, I can be of service. I can use my words to inspire another, who will inspire another, who will be of service to another. Isn’t that what we all really came here to do anyway? I had to learn some tough lessons through painful avenues. Despite the pain and confusion, I am finding strength, support, knowledge, wisdom, and peace in the process.

Read more about our story through links below.
http:// www.genderjustice.us
http://033e9e2.netsolhost.com/drupal/news

G.E. Cooper