Ideas worth spreading

The power and the danger of online crowds

548,098 views | James Surowiecki • TED2005

James Surowiecki pinpoints the moment when social media became an equal player in the world of news-gathering: the 2005 tsunami, when YouTube video, blogs, IMs and txts carried the news -- and preserved moving personal stories from the tragedy.

James Surowiecki pinpoints the moment when social media became an equal player in the world of news-gathering: the 2005 tsunami, when YouTube video, blogs, IMs and txts carried the news -- and preserved moving personal stories from the tragedy.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

About the speaker

James Surowiecki

James Surowiecki

Finance journalist

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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.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.