Definition of crowdsourcing
: the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people and especially from the online community rather than from traditional employees or suppliersOnline crowdsourcing strategies that induce masses of people to solve a task, such as locating far-flung items or alleviating world hunger, work best when financial incentives impel participants to enlist friends and acquaintances in the effort, a new study concludes.— Bruce BowerThese sites take advantage of the phenomenon known as crowdsourcing, or turning to the online masses for free or low-cost submissions.— Katie Hafner
Crowd sourcing used to be used as a competition, where a company would have employees compete to find answers to questions. Companies might put ads in the newspaper, challenging readers to find an answer to a difficult problem. Crowd sourcing was also used by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when they began their genealogy research in 1942. But it wasn't until around 2009 when internet platforms were developed that made it possible to get large groups to view a problem and try to come up with the answer.
I recently contributed to a GoFundMe page to help with Bahamas relief. This is a great way to get the crowd involved. In just 24 hours my friend raised $36,000 to help the Bahamas. This could never have been done without crowd sourcing.
One more example is Next Door. Many of you are involved in this web site. This is a small group that helps each other. Find a lost dog, hire a plumber, or solve a neighborhood problem are all possible with the help of the crowd.
Security and privacy is a problem with crowd sourcing, but I feel that the pros far outweigh the cons. I think of the first episode of Diagnosis, when an obscure researcher in Turin, Italy made the diagnosis on the illness of a girl in Las Vegas, and ultimately found a treatment plan. Without the wisdom of the crowd, this young woman may have never found a diagnosis. The internet can do great things!
Crowd sourcing used to be used as a competition, where a company would have employees compete to find answers to questions. Companies might put ads in the newspaper, challenging readers to find an answer to a difficult problem. Crowd sourcing was also used by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when they began their genealogy research in 1942. But it wasn't until around 2009 when internet platforms were developed that made it possible to get large groups to view a problem and try to come up with the answer.
I recently contributed to a GoFundMe page to help with Bahamas relief. This is a great way to get the crowd involved. In just 24 hours my friend raised $36,000 to help the Bahamas. This could never have been done without crowd sourcing.
One more example is Next Door. Many of you are involved in this web site. This is a small group that helps each other. Find a lost dog, hire a plumber, or solve a neighborhood problem are all possible with the help of the crowd.
Security and privacy is a problem with crowd sourcing, but I feel that the pros far outweigh the cons. I think of the first episode of Diagnosis, when an obscure researcher in Turin, Italy made the diagnosis on the illness of a girl in Las Vegas, and ultimately found a treatment plan. Without the wisdom of the crowd, this young woman may have never found a diagnosis. The internet can do great things!
No comments:
Post a Comment