Crowdsourcing: Social Media Freelancers

Crowdsourcing
What Is Crowdsourcing?
Crowdsourcing involves obtaining work, information, or opinions from a large
group of people who submit their data via the Internet, social media, and
smartphone apps. People involved in crowdsourcing sometimes work as
paid freelancers, while others perform small tasks voluntarily. For example, traffic
apps like Waze encourage drivers to report accidents and other roadway
incidents to provide real-time, updated information to app users.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
 Crowdsourcing is the collection of information, opinions, or work from a

group of people, usually sourced via the Internet.
 Crowdsourcing work allows companies to save time and money while
tapping into people with different skills or thoughts from all over the world.
 While crowdsourcing seeks information or work product, crowdfunding
seeks money to support individuals, charities, or startup companies.
 The advantages of crowdsourcing include cost savings, speed, and the
ability to work with people who have skills that an in-house team may not
have.
Understanding Crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing allows companies to farm out work to people anywhere in the
country or around the world; as a result, crowdsourcing lets businesses tap into a
vast array of skills and expertise without incurring the normal overhead costs
of in-house employees.
Crowdsourcing is becoming a popular method to raise capital for special projects.

As an alternative to traditional financing options, crowdsourcing taps into the
shared interest of a group, bypassing the conventional gatekeepers and
intermediaries required to raise capital.

Crowdsourcing usually involves taking a large job and breaking it into many
smaller jobs that a crowd of people can work on separately.
Crowdsourcing vs. Crowdfunding

While crowdsourcing seeks information or work product, crowdfunding seeks
money to support individuals, charities, or startup companies. People can
contribute to crowdfunding requests with no expectation of repayment, or
companies can offer shares of the business to contributors.
For example, popular crowdfunding platforms include Indiegogo and Kickstarter,
both online platforms in which individuals can contribute a small amount of
money and collectively bring a new business idea or product to fruition. Platforms
like Kickstarter make money by charging a small platform fee, whereas some of
the best crowdfunding platforms specialize in helping creatives (Patreon),
investing (StartEngine), the real estate industry, nonprofits (Mightycause), or
even startups trying to raise capital (SeedInvest Technology).Especially as
recent years have seen grassroots activism ramp up, communities have used
platforms like GoFundMe to support families affected by police brutality or other
violent attacks. If crowdfunding sounds like an intriguing option, read more on
the best alternatives to Kickstarter for your cause.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Crowdsourcing

The advantages of crowdsourcing include cost savings, speed, and the ability to
work with people who have skills that an in-house team may not have. If a task
typically takes one employee a week to perform, a business can cut the
turnaround time to a matter of hours by breaking the job up into many smaller
parts and giving those segments to a crowd of workers.
Many types of jobs can be crowdsourced, including website creation and

transcription. Companies that want to design new products often turn to the
crowd for opinions. Rather than rely on small focus groups, companies can reach
millions of consumers through social media, ensuring that the business obtains
opinions from a variety of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Oftentimes,
consumer-oriented companies also benefit from getting a better gauge of their
audience and creating more engagement or loyalty.But that being said,
crowdsourcing isn't a magic bullet for companies that hope to lighten their
workload while pursuing the next shining star of an idea. Many times, someone
will have to sift through all the ideas being pitched, fundraising goals can fall
short in all-or-nothing type funding platforms, and the right crowd can be difficult
to find or engage.
Pros
 Crowdsourcing brings together communities around a common project or cause
 Efficient way of solving time-intensive problems
 Deeper engagement by communities, who resonate and build loyalty to the

product or solution
Cons
 Results can be easily skewed based on the crowd being sourced
 Lack of confidentiality or ownership on an idea
 Potential to miss the best ideas, talent, or direction and fall short of the goal or
purpose
Examples of Crowdsourcing
Companies that need some jobs done only on occasions, such as coding or
graphic design, can crowdsource those tasks and avoid the expense of a full-
time in-house employee.While crowdsourcing often involves breaking up a big
job, businesses sometimes use crowdsourcing to assess how multiple people
perform at the same job. For instance, if a company wants a new logo, it can
have dozens of graphic designers assemble samples for a small fee. The
company can then pick a favorite and pay for a more complete logo package.
Fast Fact
Uber, which pairs available drivers with people who need rides, is an example of
crowdsourced transportation.
Crowdsourcing FAQs
What Is Real Estate Crowdsourcing?
Real estate crowdfunding allows everyday individuals the opportunity to invest in
commercial real estate, purchasing just a portion of a piece of development. It's a
relatively new way to invest in commercial real estate and relieves investors of
the hassle of owning, financing, and managing properties.
How Does Amazon Mechanical Turk Use Crowdsourcing?

Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) is a crowdsourcing marketplace that
businesses can use to outsource parts of their jobs, everything from data
validation to research to content moderation. Anyone can sign up through their
Amazon account to be a Mechanical Turk Worker.1
Does Netflix Use Crowdsourcing?

Yes. Netflix uses crowdsourcing to help improve its entertainment platform. Most
notably, in 2006, it launched the Netflix Prize competition to see who could
improve Netflix's algorithm to predict user viewing recommendations and offered
the winner $1 million.2
The Bottom Line

Especially as the nature of work shifts more towards an online, virtual
environment, crowdsourcing provides many benefits for companies that are
seeking innovative ideas from a large group of individuals, hoping to better their
products or services. In addition, crowdsourcing niches from real estate to
philanthropy are beginning to proliferate and bring together communities to
achieve a common goal.

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Crowdsourcing

 Crowdsourcing is the collection of information, opinions, or work from a

Crowdsourcing is becoming a popular method to raise capital for special projects.

Crowdsourcing vs. Crowdfunding

Advantages and Disadvantages of Crowdsourcing

Many types of jobs can be crowdsourced, including website creation and

 Crowdsourcing brings together communities around a common project or cause

 Efficient way of solving time-intensive problems

 Deeper engagement by communities, who resonate and build loyalty to the

 Lack of confidentiality or ownership on an idea

How Does Amazon Mechanical Turk Use Crowdsourcing?

Does Netflix Use Crowdsourcing?

The Bottom Line

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