The Web 2.0 social media world is a fantastic place to participate, sample, and ask for creative input from your audience. Crowdsourcing is according to the crowdsourcing wikipedia: “the act of taking a task traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people, in the form of an open call.” The Ideastorm logo courtesy of Ideastorm.com
Architecture of Participation
According to Tim O’Reilly, the man behind the definition of Web 2.0, Web 2.0 is built on an “architecture of participation.” Consequently, crowdsourcing is a fantastic method to tap into the vast resource that is human capital on the Internet, discover new ideas for products or services, and measure your message. This concept hinges on one idea: harnessing collective intelligence.
Harnessing Collective Intelligence
Tim ‘OReilly posited in 2005 that “The central principle behind the success of the giants that lead the Web 2.0 era appears to be. . . that they have embraced the power of the web to harness collective intelligence.”
Crowdsourcing: Dell’s Ideastorm.com
A great example of mining for ideas on products, services, best practices, policy, and a number of other business concepts is Dell Computers’ crowdsourcing site ideastorm.com. Dell’s tagline for ideastorm “Where Your Ideas Reign.”
Dell’s Ideastorm.com is responsible for the following:
- Users have generated 11,581 ideas at ideastorm.com
- 325 ideas have been implemented by Dell
- Top ideas
- Recent ideas
- Popular ideas
- Implemented idea list
Conclusion
Any entrepreneur, small business, large corporation, or job seeker can utilize “crowdsourcing” for their own purposes. One added benefit of crowdsourcing is the fact that it is an entry point for any job seeker or entrepreneur looking for opportunities. If an individual showcases their expertise and talents they have a solid chance of being noticed and opening the lines of communication with their intended targeted audience(s).
