Empowering Women's Growth with Social Mining
“The success of every woman should be the inspiration to another. We should raise each other up. Make sure you’re very courageous: be strong, be extremely kind, and above all be humble.” - Serena Williams
These and more are the characteristics we find every day on women from our community and it’s exactly this strength, commitment, energy and courage that drives us to pursue our goals and mission with ever greater tenacity and perseverance.
We all know that International Women’s Day celebrates the economic, political, and cultural progress achieved by women around the world. This recognition is based on a universal principle that is free from divisions, whether ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic, or political. Rights for which women have fought so hard and continue up to these days.
This year 2023, the theme of International Women's Day is "DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality". The theme focuses on how technology and innovation can be used to advance gender equality and empower women, and it recognizes the potential for technology to break down barriers and create opportunities for women in all areas of life. That’s what we, at DAO Labs, believe and work on: give opportunities to everyone, no matter their gender or status, and we intend to do it through social media.
As a matter of fact, in a world that is becoming increasingly connected, social media has emerged as a powerful tool, not only for communication and information dissemination, but also to generate a new income stream.
At the forefront of this new technology are Social Miners, individuals who use social media to uncover and disseminate social issues, as well as to have more and new job opportunities.
In this article we would like to inspire you through the experiences, insights, and perspectives on being a woman and a Social Miner in different countries. I'm Irene Marcianò, Marketing Lead at DAO Labs and I had the huge pleasure to make an insightful interview, inviting three of the finest female Social Miners from different parts of the world - Kelly (@ckoreenful) from the Philippines, Deborah (@Fola4e) from Nigeria, and Ozlem (@MetaverseJR) from Turkey. They embraced Social Mining to empower and improve themselves and their lives, as well as to have the possibility to achieve social, educational and investment opportunities, and gain extra income for themselves and their families.
Who are they? A short presentation
Kelly's Story: A Dedicated Teacher and Social Miner
Kelly is a 23-year-old teacher and social miner from the Philippines. She is passionate about her job and enjoys working with children. Kelly also dedicates her time to volunteering at her church, where she helps with various community outreach programs. Being a Social Miner helped her to become more open, outgoing, and expressive, which has helped her overcome shyness. As a woman and social miner, Kelly feels that she can contribute to the growth and development of society.
Deborah's Story: A Church Secretary, devoted mother and wife
Mother of 2 children, Deborah works as a Church Secretary in Nigeria. She thinks that when you see a woman, you see Influence, comfort and support. As a social miner, she feels able to input and express these attributes on the Social Mining platform and everyday living in order to make impacts and also benefit her personal life.
Ozlem's Story: A talented mom who reinvented herself
Ozlem is a 50-year-old woman from Turkey, who did different professions in life, previously in banking (portfolio management) but later she had to adapt to various jobs, including housekeeping, when left alone with her son. She thinks there’s nothing difficult for women, they are capable of handling multiple tasks simultaneously, and social mining is one of the most suitable and even the safest methods for our women to earn a living. As a Social Miner she greatly contributes as a graphic designer.
The Interview
After briefly presenting our three special guests, let’s go deeper into their lives and carefully read their inspiring and eye-opening testimonials.
Kelly, Deborah and Ozlem, how does the fact of being a Social Miner improve your social circle, your economic condition, your life in general? What are the benefits of embracing Social Mining?
Kelly
“Social Mining somehow changed my character on how to occupy my mind with positivity over meeting new people that I am working with. I’m also having this personal need to do things that I can sort of and put great impact on many people and even personal needs.
The benefits of embracing Social Mining was that it makes you come out of your comfort zone, makes you more comfortable with your discomforts and empower you. It widens your scope of understanding towards economic and community concerns and other stuff like that.
And as for my life in general, Social Mining helps me to be more Efficient and Productive.”
Ozlem
“First, you should ask yourself: What does Social Mining mean to me? Is it a job I can earn income from, or is it an opportunity to develop myself and my social circle?
When I started social mining my only goal was to earn a regular income. But, after understanding and embracing Social Mining, I realised that I was earning income and seizing serious investment opportunities in the medium and long term. In addition to material gain, I also saw positive development in my creativity and ideas.
Those around me also noticed all these positive developments. However, they are so unfamiliar with the system we are in that it was pretty challenging to explain what I was doing and how it was turning into income. The only thing my social circle understood was that I was making money by doing something on the computer.
In conclusion, my friends, money has a critical place in our lives, that's true... but if you can discover yourself and what you can do, you will have a chance to earn much more, and that's what social mining will bring you.”
Deborah
”Social mining makes room for creative thinking, association and partnership. As a social miner, I did not have the confidence to express all these things, but now, my confidence has improved, ability to relate well with others and also my creativity too.
Apart from financial buoyancy, Social Mining opens people to the opportunity to invest in their future. As a social miner, I'm assured of keeping both short and long term financial goals, while making positive impacts.”
You are from 3 different parts of the world: Turkey, the Philippines, and Nigeria. You're a woman, in your country. What challenges do you have, and what kind of issues do you face connected with gender inequality, lack of employment, or low salary, for example?
Kelly
“As a Woman in the Philippines, we tend to feel discriminated against in different ways, for example when some other guy or even another woman used to put weight on us by telling us we are not enough or useful for everyday's life.
Somehow, when it comes to employment, the government sees to it that women are treated right in a workplace. Jobs hiring are open and available to women and actually, most jobs hiring requires women to operate. But cases of harassment and invasion of privacy are present.
When it comes to salary concerns, everyone receives a minimum range regardless of your gender. But the issue is, daily living expenses range are higher than what we receive for being an employee. The salary rate here in the Philippines can't really cover the bills and expenses of an average employee.”
Deborah
In Nigeria, the challenges women face mostly in getting a good employment is sexual harassment. Before you see a lady, attaining a well-paid job, she must have been given her body to be there, at least it happens to 5 out of 10. It has really made some women give up hope of building their careers, so they settle for other low-paid jobs. Another is belittling the ability of a woman to deliver outstanding results, through her intelligence, women are seen to be less intelligent, on the contrary, women are strong, super intelligent and smart.
When it comes to low salary, the economic situation of the country has really affected the standard of living, which has become so high in the country, so a low salary job in times like this is really difficult for a woman.
Another challenge is the lack of obtaining an education. Some cultures till date, prevent their female children from getting an education, though some women in the country have been able to make their marks without an education, but the percentage is low, we cannot totally rule out the importance of being educated. This prevents them from even stepping out of their box, preventing them from seeing the outside world.
Personally, as a woman in my country, I am a wife, a mother of two and I work as a Church Secretary. All of these are heavy individually. I'm grateful to God for my husband, who is a social miner on this platform. He introduced me to Social mining, and he opened me up to opportunities and encouraged me, believing in me that I can produce good results. So, in Nigeria, with all of these challenges, there are still a few good ones out there. Hope is not lost at all. And I believe that by God's grace and help, women will continue to have a voice in the country.”
Ozlem
“Besides being a woman, I have experienced the challenges of being a single mother. Being a woman in Turkey is really tough. Regardless of your generation, the previous generation has suppressed the current one, so we couldn't fully develop ourselves.
My parents had a modern-looking but conservative head structure, and that's how I was raised, too. The main concern in such families is not to go outside the traditional thinking system of the environment. We call this environmental pressure:
* According to traditional morality in Turkey, you should not be the dominant party if you argue with a man at work. You should also choose the words you use carefully. You must not use misunderstood words.
* There has to be a limit to having fun in a family environment. Every woman, whether single, engaged, married, or divorced, must adjust to the limitation of having fun in these environments.
* We are talking about modern society, but from time to time a married woman who earns more income than her husband or has a higher position in her career experiences very serious problems in her marriage and home.
* Unfortunately, there can be problems even in a corporate firm. The simplest examples are maternity, death, sickness leaves, or the promotion system.
These problems have never ended and they won't end at this rate. As a woman, I want to request my fellow women and also to gentlemen:
You believe in love at first sight, often ending in disappointment. Getting to know and understand a person doesn't happen at first sight, and it shouldn't. Please get rid of your prejudices. Make an effort to know and understand the person in front of you. Don't see them as helpless or approach them with pity.”
Conclusion
Despite the progress made in recent years, discrimination against women and the gender gap in employment still persist in many countries of the world. According to studies, women are still far from achieving gender equality in the world of work and, in many parts of the world, they are trapped in low-skilled and lower-paid jobs than men.
Women empowerment is essential in creating a more equitable and fair society. International Women's Week serves as a reminder of the work that still needs to be done to ensure gender equality. Empowering women means providing them with the tools and resources they need to succeed, such as education, employment, and financial stability.
Women have so much to offer and we are constantly at work with the hope that conditions can improve more and more and that women could really have equal opportunities to express themselves in every context of life.
Social Mining can play a crucial role in empowering women, who can take an active role in shaping their economic and social futures. As a matter of fact, through Social Mining and their personal abilities and talents, women can gain extra income and then financial independence, as well as build new skills, and expand their network of contacts.
I would like to end up with a timeless quote from a woman and scientist who made herself, who struggled to assert her ideas and discoveries, at a time when the opinion of women had no weight at all:
“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” – Marie Curie