Anything You Can Do, the Crowd Can Do Better

Before watching the YouTube video by Jeff Howe on crowdsourcing and reading the rest of this week's material, I was completely clueless about the definition of the term. What exactly was this concept? An aggregated cloud of open-source material utilized by uninspired businessmen looking for ways to cut costs? There only appeared to be one logical way to get more information: Wikipedia. I then needed an attention grabbing, blog-relevant photo: Picapp.

Those two courses of action are merely a sign of changing times. The Internet has revolutionized the way we communicate, gather/disseminate information, and conduct business. The old business models are failing in light of this new behemoth of connected data cables, high-speed servers and open access. As a print journalism major, the so-called "death of print" and critiques of a dying industry are daunting at best. With small papers closing every week, it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel in this new digital era.

As frightening as change is, it is still inevitable and shouldn't be viewed with crippling fear. Crowdsourcing is just a new development trying to find its bearings in a continuous, dynamic setting. The model is merely a way for businesses to tap into a previously inaccessible network of motivated freelancers connected through the good ol' social networks of the interweb, much the way that blogs and smaller news sites are reinventing and revitalizing the journalism industry.

Jeff Howe's report on the negative impact that crowdsourcing has had on the design industry and Dan Woods' article about the "myth of the crowd" raise concerns that are typical of the model's growing pains. However, instead of raising up in ire and fear, we should be accepting of the "crowd" and learn how to apply it in a way that doesn't kill industries. The main benefit of crowdsourcing is the availability of content generators with focused, shared interests through social media provide companies with a diverse array of influences and creative potential. We are living in what I would call "The Age of the Amateur." The Internet has made professional opportunities available to millions of people, providing companies with a number of sources that are cheap, yes, but still stimulate industry-wide creativity and productivity. The crowd should not be viewed completely independent of the individual, because both take advantage of the other to create a positive, reciprocal relationship

Figuring out when "more" is actually better

When looking at Facebook and the rapid pace at which it has evolved, it is easy to say that it seems more is better. In his blog about the latest Facebook updates, Mark Zuckerberg emphasizes the need for integrating more features. Despite the addition of new and improved features to the website, the website has managed to maintain the same level of freshness and adaptation that is key to building stronger informal social networks, as outlined in the MITSloan article about the 6 Myths of Informal Networks. Two of the myths address the need for less of a focus on increased general communication between informal groups and the need for a more specialized form of communication.

In my own experiences I have found that it is not always effective to increase the amount of communication in order to create better networks. Through organizations/clubs I have joined, I have seen this concept through the tangled system of message blasting known as listserves. Most people online tend to send out messages based on whatever they feel to be the most important bit of news, and through listserves the good news tends to get mixed in with the overwhelming pile of useless information. In situations like this it is best to make sure that specific messages are being sent to the right people to make communication more efficient. No one wants their inbox to be inundated without an appropriate filter. While it is important to make sure people are informed, it is still necessary to make sure that the flow of information is not clogged and slowed down to the point that it is bottlenecked and decreases efficiency.

My First Blog Post

This blog will explore the way social networking and media are used in the modern business world as part of the Social Networking and Business course at American University. As students we'll be writing posts every week about the latest topics in this field.

On my honor, all posts on this blog are my own.