The advance toward a more connected, united, compassionate world is in peril. Some voices are demanding a retreat, back to a world where insular nations battle for their own interests. But most of the big problems we face are collective in nature and global in scope. What can we do, together, about it? In a […]
Who would have thought when you left those high school math problems behind that you would one day be encountering algorithms on a daily basis? Zeynep Tufekci might have guessed; now an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina’s School of Information, Tufekci’s first job as a teenager was as a computer programmer. So […]
Technology fuels social movements and opens up opportunities for political change. But at the same time, technology can radically compromise our privacy. In Session 2, speakers explore both potentials, with surprising conclusions. Below, recaps of the talks in this session. In 2011, a single email launched a worldwide movement against wealth inequality. Yet three years on, Occupy hasn’t delivered on its utopian […]
In 2011, a single email launched what became a worldwide movement calling out wealth inequality. Yet three years on, Occupy hasn’t delivered on its utopian promises. Why? In opening Session 2 at TEDGlobal 2014, techno-sociologist Zeynep Tufekci talks about the shortcomings of social movements galvanized by social media. To be sure, online networks have had a profound […]
How do our individual online lives influence the larger structures of society? We begin this session with a multi-faceted look at how digital platforms help shape movements, and how the call for change can transform into something with staying power. From there, we shift to a discussion of surveillance and the need for privacy—an issue […]