Stream: A Water Advocacy App
Newport Coast, CA
2021, Senior, Interactive & Multimedia
Project Description: Stream is a network of action—an advocacy news app for youth to keep up with the water injustices consuming society, voice their water stories, and share the basic right of water with the world. It’s a space where journalism and artwork are combined to speak out against the water crises and scarcities in the world, creating a memorable and impactful approach to water activism. Just like how water is continuously flowing (or streaming, pun intended), news is continuously flowing, and there needs to be a continuous community of people to keep up with it.
Stream is a loop of action: first, the app provides 24/7 live updates of global water news, which users can swipe through to grasp current inequalities. There is also a live counter of deaths from dirty water and related diseases. Then, users can navigate to a community platform where they can speak out in a variety of ways, from responding to specific articles to starting a forum to foster discussion or posting artwork/writing to raise awareness. Finally, with each post they make, users are collecting water coins that they can donate to show support for the water charities they believe in, or even make a real donation right in the app.
And so, just like how water is continuously flowing, action to preserve it is continuously happening, building a “stream” of water activism all around the world.
Reflection
Reflection
While brainstorming for Stream, I recalled how inspired I’ve always been by the young people using their voice to fight for our society everyday—against the injustices, the misfortunes, the inequality. Fueled by the current power of social networks and community, I could picture the outreach that each individual could make. Researching water stories around the world has really opened my eyes to just how prominent of a problem water pollution is—a scary thought, considering how much we take it for granted. What’s more, the inequality around access to water directly parallels historical inequality. Thus, Stream was born as a journalistic and artistic approach to shine a light on these issues. Maybe then, more people will listen to what we have to say. Maybe then, our collective advocacy could help aid the countless water injustices around the world, even in our own small ways.