Crowdsourcing and User Generated Content
How is crowdsourcing changing the way that companies approach creating content?
Besides reading the selected readings to understand the term crowdsourcing I had to look up the definition. According to the Dictionary feature on Google search, “Crowdsourcing is the practice of obtaining information or input into a task or project by enlisting the services of a large number of people, either paid or unpaid, typically via the Internet.” At first I had the term mixed up with outsourcing but I quickly learned it is different. Crowdsourcing has been around for years now and the internet is inundated with thousands of people and their user-generated content. People can still make a living depending on the industry but sometimes there are some issues when crowdsourcing plays a very negative role in people’s personal businesses and within companies. There are so many companies that hire freelancers who will work for free. There are thousands of people every day who want experience and if the company is willing they will do it for free. Therefore, the change has come when crowdsourcing has helped companies save money by using people’s user-created content for free opposed to paying highly trained professionals.
In the article, The Rise of Crowdsourcing, the author states, “iStockphoto, which grew out of a free image-sharing exchange used by a group of graphic designers, had undercut Harmel by more than 99 percent. How? By creating a marketplace for the work of amateur photographers — homemakers, students, engineers, dancers. There are now about 22,000 contributors to the site, which charges between $1 and $5 per basic image.” (Howe, Pg 2) I remembered when these different stock photo sites emerged online and anyone in this field ran to these sites to buy stock photos. I didn’t know that there was anyway else to buy photos and probably most people thought the same way. The stock image freelancing professional knew that he couldn’t compete with a $1. But then how does his business of charging non-market rate photos of $100 stay afloat? It almost doesn’t.
Crowdsourcing can even affect writing opportunities. There are thousands of professional writers who are paid for their work but nowadays even an amateur can get the same type of recognition as a paid writer with their submitted work. There are dozens of media websites that allow writers to write for them for free. It may not be the best quality work but most times it makes the cut. In the reading, The Blurring Line Between Amateur and Professional, (McArdle Pg 1) the author argues that a professional writer complained about his pay for writing an op-ed piece complaining but since crowdsourcing this is the type of pay that is given when magnates can get articles for free. It was stated, “there is no shortage of people-some of them quite knowledgeable and talented-who would gladly write for the Times op-ed page for free.” Unfortunately, crowdsourcing will continue because you simply can’t beat it.
