The Power of the Number 2.0

I grew up in a time when to get help and support involved meeting someone face to face or at the very least by making a phone call. Not a problem if the help you were wanting was in relation to a chest cough that had lasted several weeks. A little less so if you were wanting support for domestic violence whilst living in a small community. Web 2.0 changes this.

What excites me most about web 2.0 is its ability to make the world a smaller place; to bring concepts, topics and situations to life via human, real-life interactions and examples; and to put the power of information into the hands of those that would otherwise not have that opportunity.

Web 2.0 provides solutions to the global women’s empowerment movement by providing support and advice, allowing women from all walks of life to share, building self esteem and allowing women to remain anonymous whilst still having access to support. For example, here in the Netherlands there is an “Expat Ladies” group on Facebook. The group provides a central, safe place for women to share experiences (both positive and negative), receive support and ask for advice. This in turn helps to raise their self esteem by knowing that they are not alone, by having new strategies to try and by being able to share from experiences they have successfully negotiated.

The tools of web 2.0 are not just empowering to others but also for me. I no longer have to wait for my articles to be “chosen” by a publication or change my story angle to create a more lucrative pitch. I don’t have to worry about articles getting killed as publication and promotion are well within my hands. I can learn from others, connect with new people, receive and provide support and help to share experiences that are outside of the box.