When I was a kid, watching Nickelodeon and playing outside seemed to consist of most of my time. Then, the computer entered my life. From these early interactions with technology, I began to see the power that any type of technology can have on improving and impacting people’s lives, especially young people.
Technology was an inspiration for me. It allowed me to dream, to imagine, and to believe that we could use technology and its advancements to create the world that we wish to see.
I believe that technology can be used as a force for good. Period. We each just have to be willing to use it towards that.
To me, it’s not surprising that with innovation comes a new way for the world to develop solutions to positively transform our society. As I became a teen, I started seeing so many of my peers dealing with issues that can come with growing up.
Navigating all of the issues, especially at a young age can be hard. It’s something that I have personally dealt with and found that technology provided me a way to spark using my ideas and thoughts to change the world.
Unfortunately, since we as a society have almost become numb to the revolution of technology, many young people often find destructive ways to heal and to deal with the things that are coming their way through it. As a result, I understand why parents worry that their children and teens spend too much time on social media and on the computer.
Seeing this to be a growing problem, I wanted to change this.
It was this spark that has inspired me throughout my journey with RIZZARR, because I believe that it is possible to create an online world and a social platform that aims to inspire young people to use their lives to make an impact. Technology can especially be used as an opportunity for kids and teens to express themselves in a better way… in ways that allow them to use the issues and situations that they are facing to solve them.
Although parents might be afraid of too much screen time, I hope that they will believe, especially through RIZZARR, that technology can be used for good and can used by young people to tap into their creativity of creating solutions to make our world a better place for tomorrow.
The continuous revolution of technology will be with the next generation, and the improvement of the world will come with them using it.
Image courtesy of Flickr.
Ashley M. Williams is the founder and CEO of RIZZARR, a social publishing platform for Millennials. She has a background in journalism. Ashley worked as a Multimedia Journalist for USA TODAY Network's Nation Now where she hosted and produced a show for the network called Long Story, Short. Prior to working at USA TODAY, Ashley worked at WBAL Radio and NBC News. Before joining NBC News, Ashley worked in South Africa as a digital reporter and producer for Cue Television as well as a print reporter intern for Grocott's Mail Newspaper. After working in South Africa, she was granted a columnist position with Africa.com. Her columns sparked a series for the site called, My Journey, My Africa, which allowed readers to post stories about their experiences in Africa. Ashley has received many honors, including the 2011 Student Journalist of the Year Award from the National Association of Black Journalists; the Pat Tobin Scholarship from the Black Journalists Association of Southern California; a Hearst Journalism Award Nomination. She graduated with honors from the University of Southern California, earning a B.A. in broadcast and digital journalism as well as minors in international relations and Spanish. She is spokesperson for the National Eating Disorders Association and a member of the National Association of Professional Women.
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