Crowdsourcing is becoming increasingly popular amongst a variety of organizations. From nonprofits to government agencies, the crowdsourcing model aims to move away from stowing problems behind closed doors, to turning to the public for better solutions.
Before we dish out the 4 awesome crowdsourcing plaftforms we love, we’ll give you a quick rundown of what ‘crowdsourcing’ is, and how it affects us – the public.
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Think of crowdsourcing like this: instead of teachers deciding what the class field trip is going to be, suggestions are open to the entire class. Every class member has a say as to where they’d like to go and why. Class members can agree, disagree, the idea is to collect as many suggestions as possible, then make a decision, one that will benefit everyone, especially those who are directly affected [students] by the school trip.
The term ‘crowdsourcing’ was first coined by Jeff Howe in his 2006 Wired article, The Rise of Crowdsourcing. Howe explains that because modern electronics have become affordable and readily available to everyone, the gap between the “professionals” and the “amateurs” is rapidly shrinking. This is levelling the playing field so that everyone can have a voice and that voice can be heard.
Interestingly, it’s only in recent years that organizations have begun using the Web to crowdsource. It was always a possibility, but only now has it become an accepted alternative.
Today, more and more organizations and governments are reaching out to the public, “the crowd” to jointly overcome the
obstacles and challenges that affect everyone. This has radically increased transparency at the political and corporate level, encouraging the big players and small players to work through processes together, by drawing from a big pool of knowledge.
Let’s take a look at four interesting crowdsourcing platforms you should know about…
One Billions Minds
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One Billion Minds is one of the biggest free and open crowdsourcing platforms available on the Internet that encourages anyone from university students to business leaders, to sign up and contribute their solution for a variety of problems in Science, Technology, Design, Business and Social Innovation. One of the plus sides about One Billion Minds is that the problems aren’t specific to one organization – they are problems that Individuals, Corporations and Non Profit Organizations need help with.
Join for free and get solving with brilliant minds!
We Are Hunted
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We Are Hunted is one of the world’s leading online music platforms that uses blogs, social media, message boards and P2P networks to discover what people are saying about today’s music. To participate, simply become a member and create a playlist – boom! That’s it! Then We Are the Hunted takes what you’re listening to and shares it with other users. It’s like an interactive GrooveShark. We Are Hunted can also be found via Rolling Stone online, Spotify, and Winamp. It’s the answer to your music mind block.
NineSigma
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NineSigma was founded in 2000 and has since become one of the most advanced open innovations services, centred on providing solutions for a range of science and technology quandaries. The majority of the problems that NineSigma tackles have to do with sustainability, biotechnology/biomedical technology, as well as food and green technology. There is no cost to become a solution provider, but they do prefer people who have a background or experience in the field of science and technology.
Brainrack
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These are just a few of the online crowdsourcing platforms available to you. Open Innovators actually compiled a really cool and interesting list about the intermediary crowdsourcing platforms available for all of us to use.
Have a look through and tell us which most appeals to you and why.
Brainrack is a crowdsourcing platform that connects students with businesses seeking novel solutions from younger crowds. Companies create challenges and post them on brainrack, then students can submit their solutions privately. Only the company sees their answer, and the student with the best solution wins. Registration is free, and the cash prizes range from $50 to over $2,000.
These are just a few of the online crowdsourcing platforms available to you. Open Innovators actually compiled a really cool and interesting list about the intermediary crowdsourcing platforms available for all of us to use.
Have a look through and tell us which most appeals to you and why.
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