{"id":3173,"date":"2012-02-24T11:21:14","date_gmt":"2012-02-24T16:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=3173"},"modified":"2012-08-24T06:56:48","modified_gmt":"2012-08-24T11:56:48","slug":"sourcing-from-the-crowd-a-look-at-crowdsourcing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2012\/02\/sourcing-from-the-crowd-a-look-at-crowdsourcing\/","title":{"rendered":"Sourcing from the crowd: a look at crowdsourcing"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post examines crowdsourcing, its advantages and disadvantages, and suggests how it will change the world in years to come.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In recent years, \u201ccrowdsourcing\u201d is one of the new words that has entered our lexicon. We might have an idea what it means from the context in which it is used, but may not truly understand the impact that it is having, and why people are so excited about it. This post offers some insight into crowdsourcing, its advantages and disadvantages, and its likely impact in years to come.<\/p>\n

What is crowdsourcing?<\/h3>\n

Simply put, crowdsourcing is a means of outsourcing tasks that normally would be undertaken by a few persons (e.g. an employee), to a large group of people (a crowd). Persons are invited to participate through an open call or invitation, and those who have opted to participate typically establish online communities through which they create, collaborate, innovate, etc.<\/p>\n

Over time, crowdsourcing now typifies group-directed initiatives, which can be divided into four categories:<\/p>\n