David Bridges
Recently, Bristol Post reported that an anonymous tech philanthropist has come forward to invest in Bristol, U.K., after watching the city’s mayor – Marvin Rees’ 14-minute TED Talk on climate change. This interesting piece of news proves that TED Talks have fulfilled the mission of generating engagement on “ideas worth spreading.”
From pressing global issues of poverty and food insecurity to the minutiae of everyday life, such as struggles with social media and coping in the digital age, TED has continually featured diverse speakers across various disciplines that address these topics. Many popular TED Talks serve as fascinating eye-openers on the age of tech and the impact of social media on various facets of life.
Social media expert, public speaker, and award-winning digital marketer Bailey Parnell delivers a thought-provoking talk on the unintended consequences of social media on mental health. She offers strategies on how to craft a better user experience online and concludes her talk with a focus on solutions rather than problems.
Parnell starts by talking about a no-work vacation that proved to be an inflection point in her life. She sees social media as a neutral tool and lastly, centers attention on the need for preventive and coping strategies to combat its dark side. Her powerful voice and gripping presentation inspire action and hers is an enlightening TEDx Talk on social media.
Dr. Cal Newport is a professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University, and he begins by talking about the onset of Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook while at college and quickly moves on to the two primary goals of his presentation.
Dr. Newport emphasizes that he’s better off without social media, and he tries to convince audiences that there is no substantial reason to embrace it. According to him, social media is mere leverage for fundamental technologies of the 21st century, and one that brings with it multiple harms. The talk is an eye-opener on the ugly side of the internet, and his viewpoints are substantiated in movies like The Social Network, among others.
At 2017’s TEDxAshburnSalon event, the-then Loudoun County High School senior, Ryan Thomas, presented an action-oriented approach to deal with the hyper integration of social media into everyday life. He began by urging viewers to purge social media as a way of reclaiming their identity.
Whilst Thomas acknowledged the wonders of social media marketing, he emphasized that technology actively hinders users to live in the moment. His thoughts are echoed by several movies that got the phenomenon of the internet right. Thomas speaks concisely, at a mellow pace and his talk offers benefits to users contemplating signing off social media for a while now.
In her TEDxYouth@Buffalo talk, Williams-Franklin Foundation awardee Amber Quinney offers a youth-centered approach to social media usage. She draws attention to its multiple benefits and emphasizes that she isn’t anti-social media.
The key takeaway from Quinney’s talk is that there has to be a positive purpose for using social media. She urges users to stop seeking social validation online and consider cutting back on the tech from time to time. She offers helpful tips to navigate social media use healthily, thereby leaving a lasting impression.
Strategic digital marketer, Kristin Gallucci, passionately engages the audience on the experience of art and history being replaced by their digital representation as a result of social media. She talks about social media’s negative impact on social issues using the term – Slacktivism i.e. the failure of social media awareness to translate into real change.
Gallucci’s commentary on people choosing ‘Instagram-worthy’ locations over real experiences and relationships is echoed in various movies like The Social Ones that tackle the toxic influencer culture. Her words inspire action on developing a healthy relationship with social media. Gallucci highlights the importance of real human connections and urges listeners to use social media as a support to build real relationships and not lose them.
Movies like The Social Network and Younger couldn’t have existed before social media and offer commentary on its all-pervasive impact on users’ lives. They shed light on privacy concerns and the darker side of big tech and share thematic relevance with 2019 TEDxCasey speaker, Farzana Qasimi’s talk.
Qasimi encourages her audience to use social media tools for good and shed the need to impress anyone. She urges users to be conscious of who they associate with on social media and emphasizes that checks and balances are vital in its use. Qasimi’s persuasive approach and effective use of pauses ensure that listeners are hooked until the very end.
Social media historian Allison Graham heavily employs irony to drive her point home. Using facts and stats in her presentation, she talks about the impact of social media on socialization.
Graham opines that humans have become asocial, thanks to the growing impact of social media, and its high exposure. She creates a strong point in her conversation by quoting the 2013 study by analyst Mary Meeker that says users touch their phones 150 times a day. Graham worries that adults and children are becoming increasingly distracted and says, “I think we’d all live a little better if we had hands to hold rather than keys to click.” Graham urges the audience to take a pause, and explore the actual world that exists outside Facebook and Twitter.
Professor in Information Technology and Operations Management at Southern Methodist University, Dr. Ulrike Schultze delivers a fascinating talk on how social media shapes users’ identities. She describes the human-technology entanglement as a co-constitutive relationship, in that, humans construct technology and vice versa.
Using inferences from her research into identity work in the social virtual world Second Life, Dr. Schultze concludes that social media leads to the creation of multiple, interrelated identities. She wants users to think about what identities they are creating online and how technology, especially social media, is shaping users’ behavior and personalities. Dr. Schultze offers academic insight on the effect of social media on identity construction, and her talk is a great way to expand the knowledge base on the said subject.
On April 1, 2022, Haileybury UK pupil, Siena Westcott-Toi, spoke about finding the ideal balance with social media. She mentions how social media originated as a way to connect with people from all over the world and gradually led to issues of cyberbullying and societal pressures.
Westcott-Toi deems herself worthy of addressing people because of the innumerable things her social media fast taught her. She offers a balanced view of social media usage and describes the technology “…as a vessel to communication.” Westcott-Toi stresses she successfully created a healthy relationship with social media that didn’t overtake her life. She rightly urges listeners to take some time off it in order to find their ideal balance and the right way to communicate with themselves.
A Year Offline, What I Have Learned – Paul Miller
American technology journalist Paul Miller begins by saying he pulled the plug on social media for a year because he felt overwhelmed by emails.
Whilst Miller reiterates he owes his livelihood to the internet, he felt he wasn’t accomplishing much by tweeting and absorbing the vast sea of information online. He mentions publishing his internet hiatus in The Verge, getting into the nitty-gritty of becoming more present and emotionally available as a result of being offline. Miller’s talk is unique because he speaks from experience, and what’s more, he delves into the flip side of being offline. He realized that leaving the internet wasn’t going to fix his problems, and it was he who had to find his balance with it in order to take control of his life.
Sophie Langley
Tessa Everly
