Ideas Worth Sharing

Sometimes it seems like people care about silly things.

With the internet becoming oversaturated with content thanks to the likes of SEO writers and the influx of bloggers and influencers, it’s hard to figure out what people really care about. Putting your finger on what people are thinking about, caring about, and sharing ideas on can be difficult. Especially if you’re looking for something deeper than the latest recipe from Tasty on Facebook or an Odyssey article about why you should ignore your ex.

Obviously people have unique preferences. Their personal worries affect what they care about, as do their environmental influences, and personal preferences. But the truth is that people who are raised in similar circumstances or who live in similar environments sort of cling to the same ideas and things. Pet lovers talk about pets, non-profit volunteers talk about their philanthropy and so on and so forth. We spend time talking and thinking about the same things which means a handful of common topics have risen to the surface that we care about collectively as humans.

And no, it isn’t politics or the upcoming royal wedding.

When it comes to contemporary thought leadership, it’s clear there are a few topics that reign supreme. Topics like communication, technology, health, and even art are the topics people truly care about - that’s why it’s no surprise these topics are the most viewed TED Talks of the last 16 years. Dubbed “ideas worth sharing”, the most popular subjects for TED Talks really help us dig deeper into the greatest concerns of contemporary thought leadership.

Even though the media shows politics as a cause of a lot of personal grief, it’s pretty clear there are a variety of other topics on the minds of some of the brightest and best of their industry. Authors, professors, psychologists, and researchers are the most common speakers of these TED Talks, which does happen to make sense if we’re worried about our ability to communicate.

Our ability to communicate and share our ideas helps both broaden our horizons and motivate each other to think deeper, to think more. Inspirational speeches and motivational speakers, like those we see and listen to on TED Talks (for example) are critical in helping us as humans overall begin to share our ideas on a broader scale.

Inspirational speakers have been growing by the numbers. Of course, if we’re worried about our ability to communicate this makes sense. If you’re ready to motivate and inspire, consider what people really care about.