Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you so much for having me here. My name is Emilie LECLERCQ, I am 17 years old and I am half Japanese and half French.
In Japanese, we say “heiwa”.
In French, “paix”.
In English, “peace”.
No matter the language, I think it is the most beautiful word there is.
For me, peace is a profound feeling of calmness and security, a state that enables us to close our eyes without being afraid. Unfortunately, in today’s world, fear is everywhere; we fear what is different from us, what we don’t know, what we don’t understand. We might think only children feel fear, but that’s a mistake. I even think adults are the ones who are the most afraid; only, they express their fear through other feelings considered less childish, such as hate or jealousy. The problem is, these feelings are so strong that they easily lead to terrible acts of violence.
To ensure global peace, we must end the cycle of fear, and to do so, I think it is essential to learn to know one another, especially those who are different from us in culture and background.
In today’s world, we are lucky to have social media to connect with users from all over the world. However, I have the feeling the social media we are currently using is not designed to enable us to meet people that are too different from us. When I open Instagram for instance, my algorithm will most of the time only show me content from French, Japanese or English-speaking users. This is the reason why I propose the creation of a new social media platform specifically made to meet people from other countries.
You might be wondering how this platform would be concretely working and in what ways it would be different from the existing ones. First, when a user signs up, they indicate their age, nationality and a few areas of interest or hobbies. This information would be used by the algorithm to pair them up with another user of the same age and with common interests but coming from a different cultural background. Then, through the platform, the two users would have the opportunity to chat together and build connections. There are not going to be any language barriers since there will be an integrated system of translation in the chat. After a certain period of time, the users will have the option to either switch penpals or to continue chatting with their current match.
Unlike the existing platforms, the goal here is not to keep in touch with our friends or produce content for our followers. No, the goal here would only be to get to know someone we would probably never have met in real life.
I hope this platform would help individuals get to know new cultures and not fear those different from them. This way, we can help create a more peaceful and better world.
Thank you.