How Effective Is Crowdsourcing Really?

How Effective Is Crowdsourcing Really?

               Crowdsourcing is an effective way to get a desired outcome from a collaborative effort. Its approach can look very different, but at its core, it all seeks to achieve the same general result; a better outcome than the individual or organization could have produced on its own. Merriam-Webster defines crowdsourcing as “the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people and especially from the online community rather than from traditional employees or suppliers”. (Merriam-Webster, n.d.) There is irony in the concept of crowdsourcing as being positive. Before the internet and the onset of crowdsourcing the idea of an individual soliciting at an establishment was considered a nuisance. Some businesses went as far as placing ‘No Soliciting’ signage at their businesses; the word always carried a negative connotation. However, in the contemporary world, you have ‘GoFundMe’ pages and the like, where people openly solicit for money and other things. It has many different uses and comes in just as many different variations. Businesses use it to gauge interest in upcoming projects to help narrow down the right decisions to increase the bottom line. Law enforcement uses it as a force multiplier in aiding in the capture of missing criminals. Politicians use it to determine the principal issues within a certain demographic that it should focus on in order to achieve victory at the polls. High school prom committees use it to determine the theme for the year’s upcoming prom. It can be a useful tool. However, when a topic is sourced to the ‘wrong’ crowd, the results can be far from desired.

Crowdsourcing Drawbacks

Individual experiences and opinions could be viewed as a positive because it lends itself to a more diverse response based on personal experiences. The other side of that is when personal bias comes into the picture; we all have them. “Asking the crowd though, isn’t always best. Their views can be colored by bias, influenced by other members of the crowd, or skewed by self-selection. A recent study of crowdsourced hospital ratings on Facebook, Google, and Yelp, for example, found the sites are not very good at measuring clinical quality or patient safety.” (Bloomberg Cities, 2019) Information coming from people trying to be helpful is appreciated, but the accuracy and competence comes into question. A Herox article titled, ‘The Top 5 Crowdsourcing Advantages and Disadvantages’, lists confidentiality, plagiarism, intellectual property rights, amateurs, and potential for failure as the top 5 cons. (Bakire, n.d.) Of all the articles and papers that I have researched for the topic, amateurs have been the common denominator. Many organizations are woefully unaware of the experience levels of those sought out for these collaborative efforts and the mistake can cost time and money. According to Mark Rigby, author of ‘New Research Finds that When it Comes to Crowdsourcing, less is More’, “…people with intrinsic motivations, those who engage in a task purely because they enjoy it, and people with extrinsic motivations, those who perform a task because of the offer of a reward or prize, often submitted the most appropriate solutions”. (Rigby, 2019) Successful crowdsourcing efforts consist of individuals who can be considered subject matter experts, and/or there is some sort of reward motivating the efforts of participants. Short version, people who are paid for their efforts tend to give you better results.

Crowdsourcing to the Rescue

A Wall Street Journal article titled, Ukrainians Try Crowdsourcing to Catch Russian War Criminals, talks about how an organization in Ukraine, the Justice Initiative Fund, is utilizing crowdsourcing to its benefit to obtain justice for crimes of war committed against their countrymen and women. It’s actually quite brilliant. The organization is looking for help targeting war criminals from Russians. ““We expect Russians to provide information,” Mr. Aseyev said. One hangover from the Soviet era is a proclivity to rat out personal or professional adversaries, so some tips could come from within the Russian military and intelligence offices. War criminals’ wives and girlfriends are also prospective tipsters; the Justice Initiative Fund is betting that Russian soldiers who commit atrocities on the battlefield also behave violently in their own homes. The reward money adds another incentive to inform on a colleague or lover.” (Melchior, 2022) The crowdsourcing has been effective in terms of involvement in locating offenders, but the citizens must be patient for resolution, as many of them are outside of the Ukrainian government’s jurisdiction. This example illustrates strategic communicators using the technology provided to tap into a larger community in search of the shared desired outcome of justice.

Crowdsourcing as Directed Brainstorming

Crowdsourcing can be a Godsend for those in the public sector. When dealing with the public, problems tend to multiply, and everyone’s problem is worse than their neighbor’s; patience is in short supply. Leaders often request the help of those that they are in service of. ““Instead of assuming City Hall has all the answers, crowdsourcing acknowledges that residents know best what the problems are where they live,” said Stephanie Wade, who runs the innovation teams program at Bloomberg Philanthropies. “And residents often have ideas for solutions that the ‘experts’ may not have thought of.”” (Bloomberg Cities, 2019) The beauty of crowdsourcing is that it taps into the problem at the street level. In the example cited above, the residents of the city know what their problems are, and they have probably spent more time trying to find a solution than anyone hired by the city. Unique solutions can be stockpiled and analyzed to find best fit and implemented with the blessing of those that it will affect the most. In a sense, crowdsourcing is democracy at work; it can be viewed as governing from the ground up. Politics can seem daunting but in a crowdsourced environment, the differing levels of expertise can serve as a teaching tool. Those that understand can simplify and get others involved, in some cases people that would not otherwise be interested in following the issues of society. It can induce political involvement. Overall, it is a beneficial tool and one that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

 References

Bakire, Heather. (n.d.). The Top 5 Crowdsourcing Advantages and Disadvantages. Hero X. Retrieved September 25, 2022 from https://www.herox.com/blog/972-the-top-5-crowdsourcing-advantages-and-disadvantag#:~:text=The%20Top%205%20Disadvantages%20of%20Crowdsourcing%201%201.,Amateurs%20...%205%205.%20Potential%20for%20failure%20.

Bloomberg Cities. 2019. Explainer: What You Need to Know About Crowdsourcing. Bloomberg Cities. Retrieved September 25, 2022 from https://bloombergcities.medium.com/explainer-what-is-crowdsourcing-9dc2914e1845.

Melchior, Jillian Kay. 2022. Ukrainians Try Crowdsourcing to Catch Russian War Criminals. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 25, 2022 from https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukrainians-try-crowdsourcing-to-catch-russian-war-criminals-justice-initiative-fund-bucha-bounties-atrocities-tipsters-stanislav-aseyev-prison-11663505923?mod=Searchresults_pos1&page=1.

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Crowdsourcing. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved September 25, 2022, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crowdsourcing.