"VOF Week 1: (Web 2.0 - a Tool for Change)"



Nadia Fatah is an eighteen year old Saudi woman. She thinks she may be a lesbian, but has nobody to turn to in traditional Saudi culture. Web 2.0, for Nadia, has made all the difference. It provides Nadia with an anonymous window to learn, from others, that she is not an anomaly. Nadia can begin to understand her body, her thoughts and her urges without fears that, in the past, would have led her to shun herself. Web 2.0 provides her with an international support system with, firstly, information and, secondly, understanding, love and care.



For women like Nadia, Web 2.0 is like an amplifier. Many of us still do not have the ability to use our voices and raise our concerns, thus the anonymity that Web 2.0 provides is divine. It allows us to utilise the web as a platform for communication, whilst also providing an opportunity to “harness collective intelligence” (O’Reilly).



Before the wrath of nature separated it, the world was once united. Now we stand divided by our cultures, despite the desperate actions of technology attempting to reunite us. The proliferation of technology has brought us within seconds of each other, however, if we are truly honest with ourselves, this advancement seems to have only aided economic development; there seems to be only a minute trickle down effect on cultural and social diversity and development. Web 2.0 purports to be that platform progression, through the personalised exchange of information across millions of natural, imagined and created barriers. It combats the limitations that Web 1.0 has. No longer is the internet only a tool for corporations, but now individuals can add to the chain of development and thus reshape the world.



Web 2.0 is about communities. I am a woman and I am a member of the Web 2.0 community… the community that is attempting to change the world. It is the ability to effect such change that excites me and that empowers me to do more.

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