A ‘fireside chat’ on April 23 will highlight the challenges facing the Facebook platform and impact on business users.

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As part of an expanded events and educational program, West Hartford Coworking will present a fireside chat with David Ryan Polgar – a pioneering tech ethicist, global speaker, and founder of All Tech is Human – moderated by University of Hartford Communications Professor Adam Chiara.

This important and timely discussion will take place on Tuesday, April 23, at West Hartford Coworking, located at 967D Farmington Ave. in West Hartford.

The upcoming fireside chat is a rare local opportunity to hear from a internationally-recognized expert in tech ethics about the future of social media. Polgar’s commentary has been featured on ​CBS This Morning,​ ​BBC World News​, ​SiriusXM​, ​Fast Company​, ​LA Times​, ​San Francisco Chronicle,​ and many more, while recent speaking engagements have included​ Harvard Business School,​ ​Princeton University​, ​The Next Web​ (Holland), ​FutureNow Conference(Slovakia), and ​TechChill​ (Latvia).

Polgar’s work has been pivotal to the recent push towards greater consideration of ethics in technology, being cognizant of the unintended consequences of tech innovation, and challenging what it means to be human in the digital age.

His organization, All Tech Is Human, is holding upcoming ethical tech summits in San Francisco, Seattle, and Manhattan.

“Facebook Tomorrow: Where Social Media Is Headed and How It Will Impact Your Business​” will explore how social media platforms have upended how people get their news, communicate with each other, and transact business. But with mounting social pressure for moderation and regulation, alterations to their ad-based models will certainly follow, impacting how businesses are seen and engaged with.

“Right now there is a lot of uncertainty with where social media is headed,” said Polgar, who has maintained his West Hartford residence while building a global profile. “At the same time, being involved with a broad and diverse collection of organizations, policymakers, academics, advocates, and thought leaders has given me a window into how we can tackle the thorny societal and wellbeing issues social media has brought to the forefront. I am looking forward having a meaningful dialogue about the dramatic shift that is occuring, and what this may mean on a practical and local level to the many individuals and businesses that rely on social media to both communicate and run their businesses.”

Polgar was recently interviewed on FOX 61, speaking about the upcoming fireside chat.

The impact of greater Hartford small- and medium-sized businesses is of particular interest to the event’s host, Annisa Teich, co-owner of West Hartford Coworking and founder of The Small Business Collective. “SMBs are heavily reliant on social media platforms to reach and engage with current and prospective customers,” said Teich. “With every little algorithm change or tweak to their advertising policy, small businesses can and have experienced a dip in visibility or drop in ad efficiency and so it’s no wonder there is a sense of tension among local businesses, as if they’re constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. But real regulation would be like a tectonic shift. It’s important for businesses to understand what may be on the horizon so they can better prepare.”

To register for this and other upcoming events, visit ​www.wehaworks.com/events. More information about the speaker David Ryan Polgar can be found at ​www.TechEthicist.com, and information about Adam Chiara can be found at ​​www.AdamChiara.com.

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