BusinessInsider.com reporter Dave Smith recently experienced social virtual reality – not the videogame kind anybody who has demo'd VR has experienced, where you find yourself in some exotic activity like standing on top of a skyscraper or snorkeling by Australia's Great Barrier Reef. And Smith says, "social is the killer app of virtual reality," likely why Facebook acquired Oculus Rift for $2 … [Read more...] about Growing empathy: How VR could augment our humanity online
How brave commenters are growing the power of Lewinsky’s talk
"Together, we have the power to protect the most vulnerable among us." There never was a truer, more urgent call to the world's social media users. It's from Nadia Goodman, TED's social media editor, in a blog post about the digital aftermath of posting the video of Monica Lewinsky's TED talk in the TED site. [This is a followup to my post on Sunday about the talk, which has gotten nearly 2 … [Read more...] about How brave commenters are growing the power of Lewinsky’s talk
Social circles, more than social media, cause stress: Study
Social media itself doesn't increase our stress levels, but our social lives can. We knew that, right? Caring about others can cause us stress when we see them suffering, and that's one of the things social media does: expose our friends' challenges. We can probably extrapolate a few things about our children's experiences from the Pew Research Center's survey of 1,801 adults that explored … [Read more...] about Social circles, more than social media, cause stress: Study
Monica Lewinsky’s talk going viral: A sign
At some point yesterday, shortly after TED posted it, Monica Lewinsky's 2015 TED Talk had about 198,000 views. One day later, as of this writing, it had gotten 644,394. I believe the reason for this is not just because we're encouraged ourselves when someone has the courage to turn horrific public humiliation into social change. It's also because of the timing of Lewinsky's talk. "There are two … [Read more...] about Monica Lewinsky’s talk going viral: A sign
Thank you, Ashley Judd: Of fixing online hate & harm
Thanks to #AshleyJudd (you may've noticed that her Twitter handle became a hashtag this week), online harassment, bullying, hate and misogyny got the kind of exposure that could actually bring positive change to this global network of ours. It could do that because Judd is not only an intelligent, articulate, high-profile warrior against hate, she's a warrior for healing. As a human race, we will … [Read more...] about Thank you, Ashley Judd: Of fixing online hate & harm