Technology That Empowers Me

Recently, I’ve been having a bit of a writer’s block when it comes to blogging, journal-writing, as well as writing for school. Thus, I looked up “what to write about in a blog” on Google, came across Chris Brogan’s 100 Blog Topics, and a light bulb went off. 

The title that jumped out at me the most was “Technology That Empowers Me.” To me, I believe that all technology can be empowering, if used correctly. Along with the internet comes a wealth of information being shared between users across the globe. This information comes in a variety of mediums, such as blogs, websites, photos, games, applications, e-mails, texts, BBMs, social networking tools (Twitter, Facebook, etc.), and many more. All of these valves of information can be attained by using almost any tool, such as a laptop, desktop, iPad, iTouch, cellphone, smartphone, among others.

What amazes me, and I suppose empowers me as well, is how quickly information can be shared with anyone and anything in any small corner of the globe. This blog post, for example, can be read by someone sitting behind their computer in Jakarta, someone flipping through their Blackberry in Helsinki, or someone walking down the street with their iPhone in La Paz.

I can come up with a funny thought, punch it out on UberTwitter/HootSuite/Tweetdeck/Twitter for Blackberry/Twitter for iPhone/Panoramic moTweets/CoTweet, and have it retweeted by 17 people in a matter of minutes, reaching a whole slew of people I never could have reached otherwise. 

The fact of the matter is, there is not merely one technology that empowers me, but technology as a collective whole that empowers me, as well as everyone else in the world. I’ve got the world at my finger tips, and at the rate we’re going, I have the distinct feeling we’re going to be a whole lot more empowered in years to come.

What technology empowers you? Why?