/tacanderson

The Web version of my junk drawer

  • Me
  • My GTD Hack
  • New Comm Biz
    • Edit
    • Delete
    • Tags
    • Autopost

    Unique Like Everyone Else

    The Myth Of Crowdsourcing... Or Misunderstanding Crowdsourcing?

    from the it's-the-latter dept

    A bunch of folks have sent in this silly opinion piece at Forbes, claiming that crowdsourcing is a myth. The reasoning? Because there are individuals in the crowd. Except... um... did anyone say anything different? Of course there are individuals, and the point of crowdsourcing isn't that everyone in the crowd is equal, but that they each get to contribute their own special talents, and something better comes out of it.

    via techdirt.com

    So yeah, I couldn't have said it better myself.

    • 30 September 2009
    • Views
    • 1 Comment
    • Permalink
    • Tweet
    • 1 response
    • Like
    • Comment
    over 2 years ago Amybeth Hale responded:
    Saw this thought process a lot in high school too. The "individualists" who all looked the same - emo, apathetic, angst, and all hating the world in unison. It always made me chuckle to think they believed they were unique when in reality they were all the same.

    IMHO being unique and an individual doesn't mean marching to the beat of that different drummer that everyone else hears, it means hearing your own music and dancing do it, regardless of what others think. It could mean being the preppy kid at a grunge-fest. It could mean being the conservative in the Pacific NW (smile). It could mean being the man who actually wants to get married and have kids, or the woman who would rather pursue a career than a family. Or it could be the woman who wants to put her all into raising her family even though some chastise that choice because they think she "has more to offer". These are the people who will all have their voice heard in a crowdsourcing situation. They are all individuals. And it's what makes this place so interesting to begin with!

    I think you could apply Pareto's principle of 80/20 here. Sure, not everyone is going to participate in crowd sourcing, and I think it's a good assumption that 80% of the contribution will come from 20% of the participants. But that's still darned good, statistically speaking.

    I love crowdsourcing. I don't get tons of participation every time, but what I do always get are unique perspectives, which is what I was after in the first place :) I don't think it's a myth at all, and I certainly don't think it kills incentive of the inventor, because it allows them to take pieces of feedback from many places to craft and perfect ideas. And the pursuit of excellence is what all good thought leaders are after to begin with, whether the ideas from from within or from outside input.

  • Tac Anderson's Posterous

    Post-Social. Futurist.
    Digital anthropologist.
    Gen X. Geek.
    Expat from Seattle, living in London.
    Husband of Jen. Father of 3.

    This is a collection of notes, thoughts and pics that I've created, collected and then scattered across the Web.

    Find me:
    Twitter: @tacanderson
    New Comm Biz
    /tacanderson

    Archive

    2012 (27)
    April (1)
    March (7)
    February (11)
    January (8)
    2011 (166)
    December (16)
    November (6)
    October (12)
    September (20)
    August (18)
    July (52)
    June (8)
    May (6)
    April (10)
    March (6)
    February (5)
    January (7)
    2010 (156)
    December (8)
    November (5)
    October (10)
    September (10)
    August (20)
    July (14)
    June (7)
    May (16)
    April (22)
    March (12)
    February (13)
    January (19)
    2009 (343)
    December (21)
    November (21)
    October (44)
    September (41)
    August (67)
    July (66)
    June (18)
    May (6)
    April (20)
    March (16)
    February (23)

  • About Tac Anderson

    Post-Social. Futurist.
    Digital anthropologist.
    Gen X. Geek.
    Expat from Seattle, living in London.
    Husband of Jen. Father of 3.

    This is a collection of notes, thoughts and pics that I've created, collected and then scattered across the Web.

    Find me:
    Twitter: @tacanderson
    New Comm Biz
    /tacanderson

  • Get Updates

    Follow this Space »
    You're following this Space (Edit)
    You're a contributor here (Edit)
    This is your Space (Edit)
    Follow by email »
    Get the latest updates in your email box automatically.
    Loading...
    Subscribe via RSS

  • Follow Me

      TwitterFacebookLinkedInFlickrYoutubeScribd

Theme created for Posterous by Obox