TED Launches Quora-Like Platform for Intelligent Discussion | Hacker News Reader

TED Launches Quora-Like Platform for Intelligent Discussion

mashable.com

46 pointspitdesi11 comments

Announcement on TED blog http://blog.ted.com/2011/02/16/announcing-ted-conversations/

Direct link to TED conversations http://www.ted.com/conversations

I'd rather see TED team up with another discussion forum (like Quora) insted of creating their own walled garden of conversation. Offering a way to talk with TED speakers on an already popular service sounds a lot more sustainable.

From the recent developments we have been hearing from Quora, maybe it is TED that is trying to break down Quora's walled garden. I am impressed that TED went out on their own, just hope they try and keep it as open as possible.

1) The platform has little, if anything, to do with Quora. It's just to piggyback on its hype. Just like saying that the platform is for

2) "Intelligent discussion". Would any forum aim for unintelligent discussion? PR.

They've also managed to make the front-end worse than Quora, which is no small feat. The typography in particular makes me grit my teeth.

What a dud.

4chan

Dude, chill out. TED never said anything about Quora. It's mashable which is making a connection. So, I'm not sure where your criticism is coming from.

Moreover, TED doesn't need to piggyback on Quora's hype, TED can stand on its own. In fact, if anything, this article will make more people who didn't know about Quora will make them look at it.

Re 2) - I think the opposite of focused "intelligent discussion" may be casual discussion rather than unintelligent. I'm sure we can all spot both kinds here on HN.

Where does sophistry fit into your model? How about crackpots writing long dissertations about alleged government nanotransponders secretly implanted in dental fillings? I wouldn't call those casual, but the label of "intelligent discussion" doesn't quite seem to apply.

> 2) "Intelligent discussion". Would any forum aim for unintelligent discussion?

Yes, actually. YouTube, for example.

That's not their goal, but it's the inevitable result of the way their comment system is structured: they only show the last few comments, there's no or minimal threading, the user base is huge, and the moderation is ineffective. YouTube is a forum for unintelligent conversation, by its very design.

Interesting. Want to see how this goes. TED is awesome, so I have decent hopes for it.

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