Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing is a way for corporations or organizations to obtain information for a project or task from a large audience for free or paid using the internet. The internet has become more popular through the years and it is easily accessible with the touch of a finger. Companies have changed the way that they approach creating content. They have started using the internet to reach a larger audience for cheaper. Companies spend hundreds of dollars for each experimental group they bring in. It is cheaper for them to ask their larger audience and use their opinions for free rather than paying someone for their participation in the project. Timothy B. Lee wrote about the time Charles Murray was only paid $75 for his Op-Ed by the New York Times. Lee argues that the New York Times did not have to pay Murray to use his  Op-Ed, but rather use an Op-Ed submitted by a random individual. Amateur writing seems to be more appealing to the everyday audience. Individuals experience these types of writings constantly like blogs, tweets, and youtube reaction videos. People enjoy the amateur writing rather than the professional writing because it is more relatable. Professional writing is more geared to the facts of the company and their products while amateurs use their own honest opinions to get their point across. The brand Oreo used crowdsourcing to determine how their celebration logo for their 100th anniversary should look. As a result, more people decided to share the Oreos facebook page during that specific campaign. Crowdsourcing is inexpensive to these companies and allows the consumers to feel involved in decisions. In the future, I feel that crowdsourcing will be used by majority of the companies because it is fast, efficient, and the results are instant without having to spend extra money. People like to participate in projects held by companies/ organizations that they like regardless if they are getting a reward.  Claudia Menashe mentions the iStockphoto site where photographs are sold for cheaper. This website allows amateur photographers to be paid a couple of bucks for their photos rather than the professionals being paid hundreds for one picture. Crowdsourcing allows normal people to be apart of a bigger picture for an affordable price.

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