Crowdsourcing is the process of collecting work, information, or opinions from a big number of individuals who submit their data using the Internet, social media, or mobile apps. Crowdsourcing allows businesses to save time and expenses while gaining access to people with a variety of skills and perspectives from all around the world. Some individuals are paid for their produced content while others are not. Crowdsourcing is changing the methods of labor on the internet. An article that discusses these effects of crowdsourcing and crowdfunding is “The Rise of Crowdsourcing” by Jeff Howe. Howe explains crowdfunding when he states, “companies have been looking overseas… for cheap labor. But now it doesn’t matter where the laborers are… as long as they are connected to the network.” These technological advances are breaking down the cost that in previous years separated professionals and amateurs. Due to crowdsourcing, the methods of labor are changing because companies can get labor for a lot less than paying a traditional employee. An example of this is when Howe mentions a deal for the sale of photographs for a museum but the deal was called off because they found crowdsourced photographs for $1 from iStockPhoto. There’s benefits to crowdsourcing because you can receive labor a lot cheaper but is negatively impacting business and professionals who are losing revenue. Another example that touches on this cost breakdown is the article, “The Blurring Line Between Amateur and Professional”. He mentions in previous years professionals produced content and were paid and amateurs paid for it and consumed it. Previously technology limited amateurs to get paid because there was limited access. Timothy B. Lee mentions how due to crowdsourcing there isn’t a limit of people and there’s knowledgeable individuals who wouldn’t mind writing for the New York Times for free.
Oct 06
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