WEB MARKETING SCIENTISTS

Crowd control - information sourcing to the max

News article written by iQuantum

The brilliance of the Internet is having the world at your fingertips. You have immediate access to real time news occurring on the other side of the globe, virtual tours of places you have always wanted to go, and you can buy and plan everything from a hotel stay to Christmas presents. Two of the most popular activities to do online are research, and interaction with others. So it makes sense if you combine the two, you are going to love the results. This is exactly what 'crowd sourcing' is - a term coined in 2006 in a Wired magazine article by Jeff Howe.

Defining it

Crowd sourcing occurs when businesses make use of the free, wide audience that the Internet gives them, and uses that audience to gain ideas, a product or service, or feedback - things that will ultimately lead that business to profit. It is typically opening up an idea that would normally be performed by one or a few people to a large group of people (or anyone on the Internet, as is becoming common). The obvious benefits of the concept are that you as a business have numerous volunteers (often into the hundreds, if not thousands) to help you solve a problem, you save money, and you get to pick and choose what you want out of many offers, all at your time and leisure. It is an efficient and quick way of sourcing talent.

One million dollars for one idea

A prime example of crowd sourcing that is occurring at the moment is Netflix's online contest. Netflix, an online DVD rental website, is offering one million dollars to whoever can build a system that will accurately predict how much someone will love a movie based on their movie preferences. Thousands of entries have started, giving Netflix exactly what they were after - great talent working for them without any wastage of time on their side. In this lies the beauty of crowd sourcing - a business has access to a global network of talent, and your average Joe has the opportunity of a life time as long as he has a computer and a nifty idea.

It's not just the individual businesses that are taking advantage of crowd sourcing. Entire websites have been created that are dedicated to connecting the business with the potential worker. CrowdSpring, for example, advertise themselves as a 'market place for creative services'. For a small fee you post what you want (a website or a logo, perhaps), how much you'd be willing to pay, and what sort of look you're after - and CrowdSpring guarantees at least 25 entries or your full money back. They call it 'spec work', for 'speculation' - people offer their services but there is, after all, only one winner that 'lands the job'.

The ideas game

Don't go thinking this crowd sourcing business is only within the creative sphere like design and photography, however. Websites like ideasconnection.com offer businesses the chance to put their unsolved problems to the masses. Professional facilitators, mediators, researchers, scientists and general experts are all there vying to be the one that resolves your dilemma. This is the world wide web at its most useful - sitting in your office, you have access to thousands of people from all over the world who are willing to help you solve - well, anything - at a price.

Crowd sourcing is not always as easily definable and organized, either. If you want to get down to it, crowd sourcing could include those large organizations that offer you the chance to 'name the newborn zoo animal' or, the most recent Australian example that comes to mind, 'name the new type of Vegemite' - where there were more than 50,000 entrants that saved Kraft time and money spent on creating a name themselves. Businesses are making use of the crowd, and the best way of doing that is through the medium that connects everyone, everywhere - the Internet. So have you got a business problem or idea that needs some assistance? Put it to the masses, and gain the benefits.