The creative capabilities of crowdsourcing
September 12th, 2009 by Sharon Harper
The concept of “crowdsourcing” has existed offline for a while now. But with the growth of online resources available, the term was coined only recently by Jeff Howe, a contributing writer for Wired magazine. Jeff defines crowdsourcing as:
The act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call.
And his blog does a solid job explaining “why the power of the crowd is driving business.”
Businesses are engaging online communities, which are increasingly formed out of shared interests and passions. There are resources available—such as Bing and Aardvark—that enable companies to solicit customer and prospect ideas directly, evaluate their ideas efficiently, and implement the best ideas as they make sense for their businesses. Martino Flynn has also worked with the Buffalo Bills and High Falls Brewing Co. to develop an integrated online campaign with a crowdsourcing component—both of which engaged customers and fans, and ultimately generated leads.
- Sharon Harper
This entry was posted by Sharon Harper on Saturday, September 12th, 2009 and is filed under Clients, MF, Sites We Like, Technology, Trend Spotting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
September 12th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Crowdsourcing, IMO, seems to be more along the lines of user-generated content. On a smaller scale, our I Tagged Genny or My Bills, My Story work fits the definition—content we could have created ourselves was opened up to the masses to complete for us. On a larger scale, Threadless and iStockPhoto—businesses which pretty much depend on the content their users feed them. YouTube could even fit the definition—without users uploading videos, it’s pretty much an empty site.
I’m not sure sites like Aardvark, ChaCha or KGB should be considered crowdsourcing. Unless a brand is specifically using them as tools supplemental to focus groups or SM2-type services. These types of sites are more one-on-one question-and-answer services. “Peersourcing” maybe. Or some other yet-to-be-defined term?
September 15th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Hi Sharon!
If you interested in crowdsourcing in business, we are co-hosting an online event (including Jeff Howe) on Thursday Sept. 17 at 9am PST to discuss how and when crowdsourcing becomes a mainstream practice for business.
For more info:
http://www.smartsheet.com/crowdwork
Attendees also receive a white paper on the future of crowdsourcing in business.
I can send you an advanced copy of the white paper if you are interested. Let me know.
Thanks!
Todd Jones