VOF Week 1: Knowledge is Power

Introduction
I never knew how powerful the media could be until I joined the Pulsewire Group in February 2009. This was the beginning of my journey with Web 2.0. I find the Web amazing in that the river of knowledge being created is not from the top down approach we are used to but is created by each and every voice that comes into contact with he web until the river becomes a single flowing river of knowledge on women's issues.

In Web 2.0 , i have found that we are all free to tell our stories the way we, the people involved understand them and the way we want to tell them. Under the Web we have all become experts at writing, story telling, advice giving, information giving and social networking which is a remarkable development in any woman's life. There is no requirement for one to have been a media person or a write to inspire others. I find this to be very encouraging to women who have long wanted to tell their histories but have not had the platform to do so because of educational, social, economic and sometimes even political prerequisites. web 2.0 has made it possible for us to connect at the click of a button and iam proud to say that I have already been able to share a part of my lilife through my journal with Pulse Wire online, an opportunity which I would otherwise never have had had it not been for Web 2.0. I have also learnt a lot from the content pooling, aggregation and sharing aspect with regard to different cultures, challenges and successes faced by different women in the different continents of the world through the articles and comments made through Web 2.0.

Most of us women are scared to death to share our real life experiences in the media due to fear of stigmatization and fear of being labelled indecent names and being shunned by our communities and our own close families. Web 2.0 has provided us with that rare opportunity to bare all and put our issues as women on the table for all to see and debate with some pride without fear of victimization. Through reading and commenting on articles presented in the different groups such as Pulse Wire Web 2.0 is contributing towards building our self esteem and confidence to be the future voices of ourselves and our communities in the media in our different countries.

Conclusion:
In conclusion I can safely say that under the new media and the Web 2.0 the lone voice will no longer be so alone but will become very loud with the support of the network . All I can say is that Iam proud to be part of the future voices and look foward to my voice being the louudest.