The Internet and Social Conversations

Last week, I learned about TED.com, an organization formed with a unifying theme of Technology, Entertainment and Design. Its mission, paraphrased, is to bring the best thinkers and innovators from around the world to explore deeper understandings of our world and to turn this understanding into a better future for us all. I immediately thought of our Business Ethics class.

Of interest, is that TED’s annual conference invites “world class” citizens (not sure how they are chosen) in their respective fields to present for “18 minutes”. Each presenter has one year to prepare for this moment! These presentations are available, without cost, on the web site. I have only just begun to explore…

Today, I watched a video clip of Chris Anderson. He is the current “Curator” of TED.com. He spoke of his own business success and failure that led him to value “truth, curiosity, diversity…” with “no selling, no corporate bullshit, no bandwagons, no platform…” (Corporate logos, however, are throughout the site.) He said he wanted to present the most interesting people in the world in short vignettes in order to explore our interconnections and to ask important questions about life.

TED is one of many Internet communities today that challenge businesses through social conversation within global communities. This is likely to continue to increase due to a legal system that becomes “broken” once ethics are unchallenged or disguised.