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What is crowdsourcing?

Definition: Crowdsourcing is a decentralized approach to problem-solving by outsourcing tasks to a large number of people, paid or unpaid, instead of relying on a single source. The focus is to leverage collective intelligence, resources, and skills to achieve a specific goal.

In practice, crowdsourcing can mean recruiting various freelancers and contractors to finish a specific task rather than relying only on in-house teams or vendors. 

By doing so, companies can access a huge pool of diverse talent and expertise from all over the world and increase chances for innovation while saving time and money. 

Examples of crowdsourcing

Wikipedia is a classic example of crowdsourcing. Wikipedia is an open-source website to which anyone can contribute. Crowdsourcing knowledge and information from a large number of people are one of the main reasons why Wikipedia became the largest online encyclopedia.

Linux is another popular example of crowdsourcing, which was created through collaboration between developers and the global community.

Upwork, Fiver and other freelancing platforms are also good examples of crowdsourcing that connects global talent with employers, allowing them to find the right freelancers for their projects, at a lower cost than hiring a full-time employee. 

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Article FAQs

What is the difference between crowdfunding and crowdsourcing?
Crowdsourcing is obtaining ideas and services from a number of people, while crowdfunding is a term used to describe raising funds from many people to support a product, service, project, or cause. The goal of crowdfunding is securing financial support. It is mostly used for technology products and in the creative industries (video games, films, music).
What are the types of crowdsourcing?
Competitions, the wisdom of crowds, crowd voting, open innovation contests, virtual labor markets (freelancing), open online collaboration, microtasking, and data donation.
How does crowdsourcing differ from outsourcing?
Outsourcing means hiring an external company or individual to perform a task or project. Crowdsourcing is enlisting the services of a large number of people.
What are the challenges of crowdsourcing?
Challenges of crowdsourcing mostly revolve around quality and accuracy, protecting intellectual property rights, and managing large numbers of submissions.

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