Sore on Crowdsourcing:
An interesting take on "Crowdsourcing", a word I’ve probably used too many times, from my friend Tara Hunt.
‘Crowdsourcing’ is usually about benefiting one source…the
company or individual asking for the advice/ideas. Unless the ’sourcer’
can build something into the process that makes certain it rewards
individuals contributing in those ‘crowds’. Open Source communities are
actually awesome examples of valuable contributors finding rewards
organically – access to better jobs, ability to turn their expertise
into consulting gigs, wide influence in the community itself, which
will lead to speaking gigs, teaching gigs, writing books, etc.
I’ve been a long opponent to the term ‘Crowdsourcing’
as it invokes the image of an unpaid group of volunteers giving ideas
for free while a corporation rakes in endless profits from them. It
speaks to the further exploitation and general suckage of customer
goodwill. I don’t think it is related to it’s positive cousin, Open
Source. Open source is the term used to describe the state of the
source code: can you see it? Is it hidden? Outsourcing is a closer
relation, describing the act of saving money by hiring employees from
low cost labor markets…only ‘Crowdsourcing’ goes one step further and
doesn’t pay the labor at all. Sounds like a sweet deal, right?
Crowdsourcing is another short-term way of thinking about how one
can benefit from the relationships one has in communities. Over the
longterm, any Social Capital one had will be whittled away from
exhausting this free-labor force. Beware of catchy buzzwords, because
they are usually all razzle dazzle and no substance.