Are you Crowdsourcing? You might be!

Anytime I have a problem or need advice, I call my mom first. She always seems to have the answer I need. Most of the time it's questions about cooking and how to fold fitted sheets. Other times its to brainstorm for ideas for the next do-it-yourself project that I'm never going to start. Hey, I'm an adult in progress. Though my mom is a great source for information and general know-how, I am always eager to know more and seek new ideas and opinions. This is where the internet comes in. If I want to look for new crock-pot recipe's, I often find myself looking to Pinterest. Pinterest is like the Wikepedia of dream boards as all of the content is published by its users. All I have to do is enter in my search and I instantly have an endless supply of crock-pot recipe's to sort through. On Facebook, I can also illicit suggestions and recommendations from friends about some of their own recipe's or even home health remedies. If any of this relates to you then it is possible that you have contributed to crowdsourcing. Albeit, on a slightly smaller scale.

Wikepedia is probably one of the most known examples of early crowdsourcing on the internet, but the concept itself is far from new. An early example of crowdsourcing before the internet is the Planters Peanut contest. At the time, the company was seeking a new logo to help market their brand and took to the public to illicit some design ideas. I'm sure you are all familiar with the Mr. Peanut logo with his top hat and cane. This trademark was the result of that contest and the original sketch was drawn by a 14-year old boy. Til this day, Mr. Peanut is still the face of Planters Peanut's.

A lot of fast-food chains illicit customer reviews of service in a similar manner. Taco Bell, for instance, has monthly drawings for its customer's to win $500 for completing their customer survey. Unfortunately, I have never won but it's a great incentive for gaining customer input.

Through my job as a recruiter and promoter of higher education, I know that my students are my greatest resource. I take the time to get to know my students not just about their goals and aspirations but also about their challenges (work, family, etc.). If I have done my job well then there's a possibility that one student may refer a friend to our university. Because we have established partnerships that benefit those working in the community, I am always asking prospective students where they work to determine if I can save them money through one of these partnerships. To take it another step further, after building a relationship with them I will often illicit their help in trying to get a meeting with their employer about possible speaking engagement opportunities. This may be considered more of a progressive type of crowdsourcing, but it’s crowdsourcing nonetheless.

While it is beneficial to gain new ideas through external crowdsourcing, businesses and organizations should also look to gain insight internally from their employees. At the end of each term or recruitment period, the upper management will reach out to all the area support centers and staff within the university for new ideas for marketing and outreach. Since we are usually the initial face that a student interacts with, we are able to provide a unique insight into what brings a student to our institution.

Where else can we expect crowdsourcing to develop? In politics of all places. Since the democratic upset that landed Donald Trump in the presidential chair, many liberals have taken to online platforms to crowdsource a resistance of other like-minded individuals. Several experts came together to create an online handbook, now called Indivisible Guide, to help liberals take action the right way. According to one of my sources, this guide has spawned over 4,500 lobbying groups that are actively creating awareness to local members of Congress. Had this been initiated during the election instead of after makes me wonder how this type of lobbying could have affected the results of the election. No matter what your political opinions are, the internet has greatly changed the way we communicate and get information. Today, many people feel helpless in their pursuits to ignite change when it comes to politics and democracy and it appears crowdsourcing has given us the answers.

As history has shown, voices are better heard in mass and some of the greatest ideas come from the general public. Not only can crowdsourcing be used to seek new innovations and designs, but it can also be used to seek solutions. One of my friends recently took to Facebook to ask for help seeking furniture items for a veteran who had just moved to our community but didn't the means to furnish his home. Many people stepped up to offer what they had. GoFundMe is yet another crowdsourcing source that can be used to illicit monetary help from the community on a massive scale. With all that said, if you didn't know you have been participating in crowdsourcing I'm here to tell you that you might be and it's a good thing. Knowledge is priceless and crowdsourcing is free.

Thanks for taking the time to read this weeks post. Feel free to share your crowdsourcing experiences below.