The internet gets a lot of bad rap.
Regularly we seem to forget how it has truly revolutionised the way we consume; the way we work; how we spend our leisure time; how we communicate; how we live. Yes, a lot of the negativity surrounding the internet is truly just. The internet has given way to another medium to bully, umpteen new ways to commit crime, and another way to steel our time. I mean, how many of you have been in the middle of a conversation with someone and suddenly they take out their phone and start to read a Facebook message or reply to a tweet - that's just rude and makes my blood boil. To some, the internet has become corrosive. However, to most the internet is awesome and has undoubtably been a revolutionary tool - especially for women.
Many of us have heard the fact that there are currently fewer large companies run by women than by men named John. This is crazy and a fact that obviously needs to change but it's still incredibly difficult for women to be taken seriously in the higher ranks of big business. However, the internet is beginning to change this. Well, maybe not in the realms of big business as much but rather in the business in general.
Through blogs and video blogs (vlogs) and Etsy and Ebay women have an enormous platform to create their own businesses. Only a few years ago blogs and vlogs were almost non-existent or they were dismissed as something unimportant, just another internet fad. But my gosh how have blogs and vlogs exploded into our daily culture. They are now a staple of everyday life for many internet users across the globe. What shall I cook for dinner this evening? What shall I wear today? What book should I buy next? I need some new make-up, what should I get? I need some financial advice, where can I get a few tips on saving? I'm thinking of starting a new business but don't know where to start? I want to get fit, where can I find some information about health and fitness? All of these questions can be answered by reading or watching one blog or another. It is amazing. It's like having millions of magazines at your fingertips but they are all FREE. I mean, you don't get anything for free these days!
Many of the women writing and producing these blogs have created extremely successful businesses out of what started as a hobby they enjoyed in their spare time at home. Now, people like fashion, beauty and cultural blogger Leandra Medine of Man Repeller has turned what was once simply a blog into a fashion business with numerous employees, clothing collaborations and recognition from some of the businesses most respected figures. Also, she is frickin' funny. Ella Gregory of Coco's Tea Party blogs full time and works with brands such as Boden and Ralph Lauren to name just a few.
Vloggers like Tanya Burr and Zoe Sugg have transformed what was simply them just making a few videos in their bedrooms to now running multi million pound businesses including multiple book deals, beauty ranges, brand deals with some of the biggest companies in the world, national fashion magazine covers ... the list goes on and on.
Writers like the wonderful Emma Gannon of Girl Lost In The City and Laura Jane Williams of Superlatively Rude have landed book deals after people recognising their writing ability and the stories they have to tell through reading their incredible blogs. Not only has the internet allowed for the women in front of the camera to create successful careers but women have been rocking it behind the camera too. The likes of Charly Cox of Style The Natives is a writer, producer, blogger and digital consultant who has worked with the likes of Burberry, Russell Brand and Youtubers such as Jack's Gap and Casper Lee. The internet has created these opportunities for women to excel on their own terms; it is allowing women to create; is is allowing women to achieve; it is allowing women to rule.
There is such a wealth of talented women in the world (obviously, duh.) and blogs provide many with a platform that they might not otherwise have. Through blogs, twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook people's work can reach thousands if not millions in a matter of minutes. Businesses can be created with little initial monetary investment but with a hell of a lot of hard-work. Women are creating so many new and successful businesses from the comfort of their own home where they might not have had the chance to do without blogs and vlogs and online selling platforms like eBay and etsy.
The internet is awesome.
