TED, the famed non-profit best known for its TED Talks, which have included well-known leaders such as Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the recently-fallen Pope Francis. Now, TED has premiered a revolutionary new, engaging short-form video feature in their app—“TED Shorts”—and we’re here for it. As it happens, this launch comes at a critical time for the app. Now, it is experiencing a significant reversal of fortunes in terms of downloads, particularly as rumors of a potential TikTok ban escalate.
With over 30 million downloads globally, the TED app has built a substantial user base since its launch in 2010. Of the US population, 1.2 million download the app in 2024. This is a 17% drop from last year, when it had reached 1.2 million installs. Despite this downturn, TED aims to engage its audience with TED Shorts, providing a personalized feed of curated videos based on individual interests and trending topics.
The new short-form video feature is expected to make the platform even more engaging by using artificial intelligence to customize content specifically for each user. This change further TED’s mission to curate a deep, rich community of users around TED. Unlike most apps, it doesn’t simply tolerate tap-heavy interaction—it wholly embraces it in its design and execution.
Maia, a spokesperson for TED, emphasized the need to adjust to users’ needs in today’s rapidly changing digital world.
“In an era of fragmented attention, people are actively seeking more thoughtful, less overwhelming ways to connect with new ideas, and with each other.” – Maia
The TED app is essentially a portal to TED Talks and millions of pieces of other educational content. In addition to fun animations that help explain complicated concepts, it has a creative range of podcasts surrounding issues such as business, climate change and health. TED Shorts is part of a larger strategic shift TED as an organization has made. It’s a bid to lure and keep users, many of whom may be seeking out options after hearing about the uncertainty around TikTok’s future in the United States.
And indeed, TED holds a strong social media presence across all platforms, especially Twitter. They were the first to reach 26.1 million followers on YouTube, 2.8 million on TikTok and 8.1 million on Instagram. These social media platforms have been instrumental in helping TED fulfill its mission of spreading ideas worth sharing with communities big and small. With numbers like that plunging engagement on its app, it’s clear that TED needs to reinvent itself to stay ahead.
In keeping with the innovation strategy, Maia announced that TED will be testing new community features. These app features are designed to increase user engagement across the app, their website, and everywhere else in the world where they have a digital presence.
“We’ll explore ways to add new community features, and expand community-driven features to other TED platforms, like our website … This could expand beyond video and mobile to a cross-platform community engagement experience where our audience won’t just watch videos, but can participate in truly personalized, topic-driven digital communities on a global scale.” – Maia
This vision aims to provide a more engaging platform for potential users. It gets them in the same room together, and it inspires them to learn from one another about things they are both passionate about.