Jack Dorsey TED 2019 Interview

Overview

Jack Dorsey TED 2019 Interview was an onstage conversation with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey at the TED 2019 event and took place on April 16th, 2019. During his conversation with the head of TED Chris Anderson and current affairs curator of TED Whitney Pennington Rodgers, Dorsey acknowledged issues with the Twitter platform. However, an onstage screen hosted a live feed of questions for Dorsey about Twitter from its users, who trolled Dorsey, criticizing his leadership and his website.

Background

On April 17th, 2019, Anderson and Pennington Rodgers interview Dorsey on stage at the Ted 2019 event. During the event, they asked Dorsey about issues with and criticisms about the platform.

Anderson said, "We’re on this great voyage with you on the Twittanic. There are people in steerage who are saying, ‘We are worried about the iceberg ahead!’ And you say, ‘That is a good point’ and ‘Our boat hasn’t been built to handle it,’ and we’re waiting, and you are showing this extraordinary calm and we’re all worried but we’re outside saying, ‘Jack, turn the fucking wheel!’ It’s democracy at stake! It’s our culture at stake! It’s our world at stake! You’re doing a brilliant role of listening, Jack, but can you actually dial up the urgency and move on this stuff? Will you do that?"

Jack responded, "Yeah, yeah, yes. We could do a bunch of superficial things to address what you’re talking about, but we need to go deep."^[1]

Developments

Online Reaction

Trolling

That morning, the TED Talk Twitter account tweeted,^[2] "Do you have a question for @jack? Share it using the hashtag #AskJackAtTED. @WhitPennRod and @TEDChris are now interviewing him about concerns and opportunities for Twitter's future. Your questions may appear live on stage at #TED2019" (shown below).

Behind Dorsey, on stage, a screen hosted a live feed of questions from Twitter cataloged under the hashtag #JackAtTED. However, many trolled Dorsey's conversation, asking the CEO questions about Dorsey's controversial leadership and the platform's unpopular changes and features (examples below). Many of these questions involved the criticism that Twitter has been used as a tool for radicalization for white supremacists, Nazis and other hate groups, as well as a platform where harassment goes unpunished.^[3]

Dorsey's Appearance

During the talk, many online commented on Dorsey's appearance, particularly his beard and hat. Twitter^[4] user @BrandyLJensen tweeted, "jack dorsey looks like he was exiled from rivendell for being a sex offender." Within 24 hours, the tweet received more than 650 retweets and 7,600 likes in 24 hours (shown below, left). Twitter^[5] user @adamcbest tweeted, "Jack Dorsey looks like Theon Greyjoy after he became Reek." The post received more than 300 retweets and 1,700 likes in 24 hours (shown below, center). Comedy writer Arial Dumas tweeted,^[6] "FUN CHALLENGE: every single professional woman show up to work dressed like this." The tweet received more than 1,900 retweets and 11,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, right).

Media Coverage

Several media outlets covered the talk and the response to Dorsey, including Wired,^[1] Mashable, ^[7] The Daily Dot, ^[8] Uproxx,^[9] TechCrunch^[10] and more.

Search Interest

External References