Welcome back to “My World of Communication!”
This week we focused on crowdsourcing, along
with the topics of politics and the global impact of emerging media. First the Internet, then the World Wide Web,
and now crowdsourcing has become increasing popular in the 21st century, and has had quite an impact on how we produce, share, and receive content.
So,
how about a little history lesson surrounding the topics of emerging media and crowdsourcing and to start off this week’s blog?
The
World Wide Web first took off in 1993. It was April 30th, 1993 when CERN declared
that WWW technology could freely be used by anyone. Shortly thereafter, in the mid
1990’s, commercial sites and search engines came on the scene. Within a few
years, by 1998, the web had about
750,000 commercial sites. So many individuals and companies saw the potential
of the internet and the web, and they plugged in. As a result, crowdsourcing
came into the picture. In 2006, Jeff Howe coined crowdsourcing to outline a new technique for collaborating on tasks and projects by sourcing people. What exactly is crowdsourcing?
When
a business or individual is in search for unique content, ideas, or services
outside of their designated agent (employee or the like), they will sometimes
turn to online sources for help. Crowdsourcing is a very common online practice. Merriam-Webster defines is as “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 suppliers.” In my opinion,
crowdsourcing is what budget (or even window) shopping is to many people. It gives us the ability to have a variety of options to choose from before we make our final decision. It is having a wealth of creativity, ideas, collective intelligence, and knowledge collaborate; and, using all of that collective creativity in order to create the best finished product. Both businesses and individuals love it! We love the idea of variety, and saving time and money on something of quality and creativity.
Click here to watch this short 2-minute, 30-second video clip that briefly explains
crowdsourcing.
Crowdsourcing's advantages are numerous. It relies on collective engagement and allows for
co-production, which can make a project or task a little easier to manage. It
expands into the online community. It brings together multiple, creative minds.
It provides collaborative and thoughtful ideas. It allows businesses and
individuals to negotiate that they may produce quality content. Crowdsourcing is
a great practice that has transformed how we communicate and share information.
How can crowdsourcing be used?
Crowdsourcing is multi-purposeful. It can be used in a variety of ways and in every field. Its currently used for testing web usability; reporting traffic information; recruiting key officials and executives; managing funds; designing logos, websites, and fashion; and so much more.
How can crowdsourcing be used?
Crowdsourcing is multi-purposeful. It can be used in a variety of ways and in every field. Its currently used for testing web usability; reporting traffic information; recruiting key officials and executives; managing funds; designing logos, websites, and fashion; and so much more.
Many companies have even created platforms to offer different crowdsourcing services. You
can check out some of the most popular crowdsourcing websites by visiting the
following links:
- CrowdSpring (www.crowdspring.com)
- 99Designs (www.99designs.com)
- Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com)
- Odesk (www.odesk.com)
- MinuteWorkers (www.minuteworkers.com)
- InnoCentive (www.innocentive.com)
- Mechanical Turk or mTurk (www.mturk.com)
Remember, crowdsourcing
can be used by everyone. Join the crowd!
However, when using it, you have to be sure to filter through what is relative and pertinent to you and what is not, like any other online information.
It's been fun! Visit
back next week at www.myworldofcomm.blogspot.com, and feel free to subscribe to receive my blog posts via email.
You gave interesting aspects of crowdsourcing. I like your idea stating that crowdsourcing is what window shopping is to many people. Indeed-- crowdsourcing is a wonderful opportunity for companies living in this digital age. See, older generations used brainstorming, agreed on one idea, and then proposed it to the public. It was a one way communication with no or little feedback. Today, because of the adoption of the two-way communication, the brainstorming sessions are extended to the large public, and consequently, are more efficient. For example, who can be the best judge of a product than the consumer? As you said, crowdsourcing brings together multiple, creative minds. I could add, it gives a voice to each mind that is concerned by the well-being of a product, a cause, or even a vision. When we take a look at a site like Wikipedia, for example, we realize that its users share the same vision-- they want the information to be out there. Clearly, because of the contribution of each and everyone of them--knowledgeable or not-- cultures, words, people, or countries are now known. Also, crowdsourcing improved something that we really need which is the access to procedures and ideas. For example, you do not need to be the best photographer in town to own that wonderful picture that best illustrates your work. You do not need to be a highly trained designer to create decent flyers for your businesses, or even the next Steven Spielberg to post a video on YouTube. Almost everything is more accessible now because of crowdsourcing sites. As you said, all we need to do is figure out what is relevant and pertinent for us. Great post.
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