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Crowdsourcing
Before I decided to write this post, I called one of my Web 2.0 savvy friends and asked her if she knew what “crowdsourcing” is. Although I knew the answer, I wanted to ping her in hopes she didn’t know which is usually a good sign that a blog post will have broad appeal. When she responded, “yeah that’s what you do at a concert,” I knew I had something.
For those of you who may think it is something you do at a concert, crowdsourcing is a hip, new term that essentially means outsourcing a traditional task/project to an undefined large group of people (e.g. the world) in the form of an open call. When you think of Web 2.0 and its inherent mass collaboration power, crowdsourcing is a subset of this collaboration in that it is directed towards a single initiative in response to a direct request. The term was coined by Jeff Howe in a 2006 Wired magazine article. Although the term has been around for two years, it doesn’t appear to have achieved the mass recognition even though it is all about the masses.
In February of this year, Spreadshirt, the etailer and manufacturer of customized clothing, launched its new logo which was the result of a global crowdsourcing contest. The winning design was chosen from 2,800 entries submitted from 45 countries. Let me tell you, there is not a design firm on the planet that would give you 2,800 logo options. They would have terminated you after 50 and forever referred to you as ”the client from hell that couldn’t find a logo they liked out of 50 freakin’ designs.”
A few other examples of crowdsourcing include:
- When Steve Fosset’s plane went down, 50,000 people scoured high res satellite images from Digital Globe via Amazon Mechanical Turk. Unfortunately, the plane was never found.
- Earlier this year, Texas announced its plan to install 200 cameras along its Mexican border and invited anyone with an internet connection to become virtual border patrol agents.
- Galaxy Zoo, a user-generated science project, lets anyone document and classify a million galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky.
When I sat back and started to wonder where crowdsourcing is going to take us, I started to get a nose bleed, so I stopped. I’ll leave that pontification up to the self-annointed geniuses who have already figured out Web 4.0.
While crowdsourcing has no shortage of discussion points when it comes to economic, social and ethical implications, you gotta admit it is very cool and a heck of a lot safer than “crowdsurfing.” Just ask my 18-year-old daughter who ended up with a concussion for six months after she was dropped from six feet while crowdsurfing at a concert. Don’t ask.
What do you think about crowdsourcing?
June 4th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
This is such an interesting topic, Kel. Your examples remind me of the SETI (Search For Extra-terrestrial Life) screensaver I used to run on my Mac that would ambiently process reams of data from various radio telescopes in hopes of finding some kind of distant alien signal.
The concept of so many home users processing data while their PCs idled was impressive to me.
However, now we have the collective intellect of the users themselves. Participants are plugging-in their brain power, creativity, and passions rather than just passively offering a little CPU time for number-crunching.
Combining both ideas, I wonder if we will see a time when these intentional Web 2.0 outlets become more integrated into our daily environments. Or, does that sound a little too Blade Runner? (Cue the Dr. Who music…)
June 4th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
rma, you bring up a lot of great points & questions. seti was definitely out there not only in its approach, but in its objective. when people talk about web 2.0, most of these people immediately go to user-generated content (ugc) as the single association. one of the less talked about attributes of web 2.0 is really harnessing the wisdom and resources of crowds. where ugc is approaching its teenage years from a maturity perpsective, harnessing the wisdom of crowds is still a newborn. i can’t even begin to wrap my head around where it will go, but i have no doubt it will be exciting. bring it on!
June 4th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Years ago when companies started having intranets I worked as an engineer in the compound semiconductor industry. When I jumped from one job to another much more challenging position and wondered if I would have what it takes, my father (w/PhD in Physical Chemistry) said that “no engineer knows how to do everything, a good engineer is one that puts their ego aside and knows to utilize the talents around them.”
That got me far in my career and in life in general.
Back to the topic and point, once intranets were introduced I thought that it would be a great way to collaborate on issues, experiments, development, etc.. To post a problem and get a reply from another engineer somewhere else in the organization that had more experience than you about the subject. Of course, in that limited use, you would still have those who decided not to put their egos aside and not everyone would take advantage of this new approach. When it did work however it was a fun and exciting useful tool.
This is one early, albeit limited, example and I can think of many that would be very useful ways to tap into the resources to expedite or even just get new and objective perspective on anything from building a shed, to development engineering to writing a song with collaborators who all come from different backgrounds & experiences… even cultures…
Today’s internet, the web 2.0, is a world of ideas merging… it’s an exciting time and if one puts ego aside and opens the floor for others to throw their two cents in, who knows what could happen that otherwise might never…
June 5th, 2008 at 10:43 am
geo, your dad sounds like a smart man. the list of things i don’t know is exponentially greater than the things i do know. it’s so important in any situation to check your ego at the door and look to leverage the brilliance of others. crowdsourcing certainly takes this to a level we couldn’t have even imagined when we were all giddy over the introduction of intranets. not sure where it will go from here, but i can’t wait to see…
kel
June 5th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Crowd-sourcing is also about “authenticity” and real “open-mindedness”. That is something that Web 2.0 brings to the table. No more spin!! First hand knowledge, insight and opinion is important and enables real groundswell to take hold. Web 2.0 enables a voice for the “crowd” and ensures honesty and integrity; but even more exciting, a platform for the little intraverted guy with great ideas that has not been heard…. you gotta love that !! Too many times those with the most ego, charisma or loudest voice get the attention - who knows what the new Web 3.0 and 4.0 wil bring but for certain it goes beyond having a just a voice - it will be a platform for influence.
Fun, fun, fun !!
June 5th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
deb, amen sista’! i so agree. anything that allows for a level playing field when it comes to equalizing share of voice is always a good thing!
June 6th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Cool post. Lot’s of new attempts to Croudsource customer support, esp. in technology, which is sorta like having your cake and eating it too. Imagine Apple’s best and most loyal customers also helping them cut customer support costs. Enter total world domination. - BC
June 6th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
ben, i can’t help but hear doctor evil from austin powers blurt, “mooohahaha” when i read your post. funny!
June 7th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
Lovin’ this one. I immediately thought of GOOG’s new favicon design…don’t like it? Submit your own: http://www.google.com/faviconideas/
The world is local and it’s awesome.
June 8th, 2008 at 11:02 am
sonciary, that’s great insight. one of the best examples i have heard. can’t even begin to imagine where this will be in five years.
k2