Crowdsourcing - The Next Big Thing In Social Networking
Nov19Written by:
2010/11/19 08:29 AM 
Social Networking has been around for years and years. Way before the internet. The internet and websites such as Facebook, Twitter, have just put another dimension to this basic human need. But I believe that the next best use of Social Networking on the Internet is Crowdsourcing
What is Crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing is a buzzword coined by Jeff Howe in 2006. It is also known as:
- Fansourcing
- Crowdcasting
- Open sourcing
- Open innovation
- Crowdfunding
- Mass collaboration
- Collective customer commitment
- Wikinomics.
There are many various definitions but the basic idea is to tap into the collective intelligence of the public at large to complete business-related tasks that a individual/company/organisation would normally either perform itself or outsource to a third-party provider.
Crowdsourcing has also been around for a while, way before 2006. Basically your open source community made good use of Crowdsourcing. Open-source software developers learned long ago, asking a pool of people to create something can be faster, cheaper, and more accurate than by attempting to do the same themselves or some third party.
Crowdsourcing can vastly improve productivity and creativity while at the same time minimise labour and research costs. Using the vast resources available to us via the Internet to solicit feedback from willing, active and passionate community.
Some uses of Crowdsourcing
So how can you benefit from crown sourcing and who or what has used it before? Well as I said, any open source community is really the pioneer and greatest use of Crowdsourcing today.
Open source computer operating systems, such as Linux and Google's Android, the big rival to Apple's iPhone, are written and refined by members of the public.
Another good example of such collaboration is Wikipedia, which allows users to write and edit entries for its online encyclopaedia.
Some of the Technologies that might be employed during your Crowdsourcing efforts are:
The new kid on the block
Well things are about to get easier with the launch of a new and exciting service.
Evly.com. Cape Town – South Africa, evly.com will be launching the first crowdsourcing social network that utilizes a custom built drag and drop website builder available for free to any registered user. Evly is an online network of crowdsourcing communities where users can create advanced crowdsourcing websites in a few clicks to bring people together to constantly solve new challenges.
Evly.com’s tag line is: “Build, Gather. Solve Anything”. They regard themselves as the first crowdsourcing social network of its kind that allows you to connect with a global community to solve anything!
Evly websites will function much like the group or fan-pages on other social media websites like Facebook, Xinga. But what makes evly.com different is that evly provides users with their own unique website and the ability to grow a network based around their particular interest or need.
Evly will also provide advanced crowdsourcing and social networking features which will enable website owners to easily manage and grow their own community.
“Evly provides the tools that enable general users and large brands to achieve various objectives: the platform allows community engagement, the ability to source answers to any possible question, fund raising for various ventures, and the gathering of market research through analysis of comments, feedback and voting.”
CEO of CrowdTech, Eric Edelstein, proposes that the future web will be centred on goals, objectives, purposes and challenges. “evly.com allows interaction with a purpose rather than people just interacting for the sake of it! Companies and individuals from all across the globe are now beginning to see that they can solve problems by tapping into a larger knowledge base, at a fraction of the price and in a much shorter time through the Internet.”
Launching on Monday 22 November 2010, so get there quick and register at Evly.com
Here are some great uses for evly.com:
- Maps and traffic information
- Open Source Projects
- Recruiting
- Web Usability Testing
- Fund raising
- Music Groups
- Company Branding
- Product Marketing
- Product / Fashion Design
- Any wacked out Ideas
See you there.
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