Journal Article

Discussing blockchain applications in TED Talks: A fashion wave approach to understanding the blockchain phenomenon

Gautschi, Heidi, Viscusi, Gianluigi, Bonazzi, Riccardo

2023

Overview

Since its first appearance as the infrastructure supporting Bitcoin, blockchain has received different waves of attention from practitioners and academics. Besides the degree of interest, the attention to blockchain has often focused not merely on its own potential and characteristics but on its applications field. However, looking at its application and deployment in domains other than cryptocurrency or the nascent non-fungible tokens (NFTs), blockchain technology does not seem to be widely adopted or is still in its early stages. Given this, we are interested in how managers and the general public are informed about new technology other than through academic papers or the specialized press. In this paper, we analyze how blockchain has been presented by speakers invited to give TED and TEDx Talks to identify the most common terms used to present blockchain in these talks using a multi-methods approach (qualitative analysis and big data analysis) and see if the discourse surrounding blockchain has shifted over time. The results of this study show how the different perspectives brought by broadcasters like TED often overshadow a technological innovation like the blockchain in its evolution and application by the fact that the focus is instead shifted to products and services built on it. Also, this study shows how different degrees of attention and expertise are associated with each fashion wave of new or emergent technology innovations.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Advisors / Blockchain / Broadcasting industry / Communication / Community / Computer and Information Sciences / Conferences / Consulting firms / Crypto-currencies / Cryptography / Data analysis / Digital currencies / Economic aspects / Economic Information Systems / Ekonomiska informationssystem / Engineering and Technology / Forecasts and trends / Information systems / Innovation diffusion / Innovations / management fashion waves / New technology / Non-fungible tokens / Open access / Qualitative analysis / Science / Science communication / Social networks / Social Sciences / Supply chain management / Technological change / Technology / Technology application / TED Talks