Social media is an undeniable force in today's world. These talks highlight its impact -- from big history-defining moments to the silliness we’ve come to expect.

One of the big goals of a TEDx event is to spark conversation – and this shouldn’t be exclusive to your live event! Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are vibrant online forums for your guests and others to discuss the topics and ideas you’ll be sharing before, during, and after your event. Plus, it’s one of the most effective ways to ...

With the advent of the Internet and social media, news is distributed at an incredible rate by an unprecedented number of different media outlets. How do we choose which news to consume? Damon Brown gives the inside scoop on how the opinions and facts (and sometimes non-facts) make their way into the news and how the smart reader can tell them a...

Attention: everybody wants some -- social media, tech companies and more. Watch these talks to better understand the ways these entities try and get on your radar.

Our hyper-connected lives have been rewired for the digital age. These talks explore how the Internet and social media are shaping our relationships, personal lives and sense of self.

Insights and advice to escape the echo chambers of social media, newsfeeds and everyday conversation so that we may get a better, less rose-tinted grasp of the world and people around us.

Media and advertising companies still use the same old demographics to understand audiences, but they're becoming increasingly harder to track online, says media researcher Johanna Blakley. As social media outgrows traditional media, and women users outnumber men, Blakley explains what changes are in store for the future of media.

Does quitting social media make you an unemployable Luddite? Computer scientist Dr. Cal Newport doesn't think so. In this eye-opening talk, he debunks three objections commonly offered up as rationale for keeping that all-important Facebook account.

Bryan Kramer believes that social media is so popular because it allows us to control our personal brand: aligning the perceptions others have of us with our perception of ourselves. Concluding with a live Twitter experiment to test the true reach that sharing can have, he makes a case for the use of social media, and -- in the process -- illumi...

While news from Iran streams to the world, Clay Shirky shows how Facebook, Twitter and TXTs help citizens in repressive regimes to report on real news, bypassing censors (however briefly). The end of top-down control of news is changing the nature of politics.

Wael Ghonim helped touch off the Arab Spring in his home of Egypt ... by setting up a simple Facebook page. As he reveals, once the revolution spilled onto the streets, it turned from hopeful to messy, then ugly and heartbreaking. And social media followed suit. What was once a place for crowdsourcing, engaging and sharing became a polarized bat...

Susan Etlinger promotes the smart, well-considered and ethical use of data.

As the director of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab at the University of Maryland, Jennifer Golbeck studies how people use social media -- and thinks about ways to improve their interactions.

James Surowiecki argues that people, when we act en masse, are smarter than we think. He's the author of The Wisdom of Crowds and writes about finance for the New Yorker.

In a funny, rapid-fire 4 minutes, Alexis Ohanian of Reddit tells the real-life fable of one humpback whale's rise to web stardom. The lesson of Mister Splashy Pants is a shoo-in classic for meme-makers and marketers in the Facebook age.

Ken Goldberg works reflect the intersection of robotics, social media, and art.

Del Harvey works to define policy and to ensure user safety and security in the challenging realm of modern social media.

In a world filled with sound bites and paparazzi-snapped photos, there are still storytellers determined to create media with meaning. From feature films to citizen journalism, their work is worth spreading.

Monica Lewinsky advocates for a safer and more compassionate social media environment, drawing from her unique experiences at the epicenter of a media maelstrom in 1998.

A humanist in Silicon Valley, Tim Leberecht argues that in a time of artificial intelligence, big data and the quantification of everything, we are losing sight of the importance of the emotional and social aspects of our work.

What motivates you to share your personal information online? Alessandro Acquisti studies the behavioral economics of privacy (and information security) in social networks.

Social media has become our new home. Can we build it better? Taking design cues from urban planners and social scientists, technologist Eli Pariser shows how the problems we're encountering on digital platforms aren't all that new -- and shares how, by following the model of thriving towns and cities, we can create trustworthy online communities.

"Climate doom-ism," or a pessimistic outlook on the future of the planet, rivals climate denialism in holding up the fight against climate change, says activist Zahra Biabani. Illuminating how hope combats inaction, she takes us inside the world of eco-friendly content on TikTok -- and shows that we all have what it takes to make real change.

Do you like curly fries? Have you Liked them on Facebook? Watch this talk to find out the surprising things Facebook (and others) can guess about you from your random Likes and Shares. Computer scientist Jennifer Golbeck explains how this came about, how some applications of the technology are not so cute -- and why she thinks we should return t...

Explore some cultural phenomenons from across the globe. Some touching, some silly — and all very intriguing.

At the onstage introduction of Twirlr, a new social-sharing platform, someone forgets to silence their cell phone. And then ... this happens. (Song by Scott Brown and Anthony King; edit by Nathan Russell.)

A look at how the offline harm of online abuse is real and widespread with potentially severe consequences.

Dr. Erin Marie Saltman manages Facebook's counterterrorism and counter-extremism policy work for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

"Lies are more engaging online than truth," says former CIA analyst, diplomat and Facebook employee Yaël Eisenstat. "As long as [social media] algorithms' goals are to keep us engaged, they will feed us the poison that plays to our worst instincts and human weaknesses." In this bold talk, Eisenstat explores how social media companies like Facebo...

TED Talks that make sense of this brave, new, virtual world.