“Crowdsourcing” – when I first looked at this word it seemed completely foreign to me. But after watching “YouTube - Jeff Howe - Crowdsourcing" I realized this is a concept, which I have known all my life. Only now it has a more technological edge to it.
It reminded me of football betting. The bookie moves the point spread left and right based on how the crowd is betting. The final spread is the crowd’s prediction of the game’s outcome. One can say that is gambling using Crowdsourcing!
After having these thoughts I read "The Myth of Crowdsourcing - Forbes.com". Then I started to wonder - is “Crowdsourcing” using the crowd to find the best solution or is it finding the most intelligent person in the crowd who can give you the best answer?
I think the essence of Crowdsourcing is putting forth a problem in a diverse crowd to come up with a collective unique solution. Otherwise, it is just hunting for talent. I know that some problems could be too complex for a person who isn’t knowledgeable in a particular field. But, even so, can’t the unknowledgeable crowd still put forth diverse ideas, which could lead to the final solution?
The book “The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter than the Few”, by James Surowiecki explains in an interesting way how groups are better at solving certain problems. The link provides a good audio sample of the book.
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3 comments:
Great summary - I like how you brought everything together.
I agree that "many are smarter than a few". Obviously, crowdsourcing has its boundaries and cannot be applied in instances where you need a direct answer from an expert (e.g. a doctor). Nevertheless, for an open-ended, creative questions crowdsourcing can be a perfect solution to get out-of-the-box answers.
great insights ... ideas can stem from anyone/anywhere/anytime, putting your problem/situation out there seeking collective intelligence certainly improves your chances of finding a solution.
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