Today at the #Promise conference in New York, TED’s June Cohen moderated a panel with GE’s Ed Downing and Ogilvy’s Evan Slater. Downing shared how GE uses social media to have an authentic conversation with the public, and to break old brand images (e.g., grandma’s GE dishwasher) by introducing new projects like the Smart Grid.

Ogilvy’s Evan Slater said smart companies are being forced to shift from policymakers to social enablers. Giving people the opportunity for discussion makes way for proactive reactions by corporations. He warned that social media is not a panacea for corporations, though. We quickly think toward technological solutions, he said, but forget why we are fundamentally using them.

Ultimately the panel agreed that, like TED, the power of social media lies in individual storytellers, and their stories can help develop a socially responsible relationship between people and corporations.