How to Guide

Crowdsourcing infographics - five of the best

Aug 23, 2011

By Lucinda Southern, junior reporter, UTalkMarketing

You may have noticed the debate on our global blogger network this week regarding crowdsourcing. One of our guest bloggers wrote an interesting post about the future of crowdsourcing and social media. The symbiosis between the two makes for a great business plan partnership. But, like social media, crowdsourcing is far from perfect.

This week’s top infographics describe the process, benefits and disadvantages of the practice. First, a little background. Etymology-speaking, it is a combination of the words “crowd” and “outsourcing” and was officially first coined in 2006 an article in Wired magazine. This article pointed out that the gap between professionals and amateurs are narrowing, allowing companies to utilise the knowledge of the general public.

Early examples of crowdsourcing can still be found though, for example imploring the community to submit examples of words and their uses (a 70 year project, entailing over 6 million submissions and resulting in the Oxford English Dictionary).

The debate is still open. The advantages of crowdsourcing remain: economical necessities and wider catchment audiences are just a couple of them. Similarly, the negatives highlight the lack of professionalism you open yourself up to when not using professionals. Look no further, these five infographics will tell you all you need to know about the history and where you stand on the debate.

Crowd Power