ChumBonus: Who Do You Know?

The term crowdsourcing was coined by Jeff Howe in an article he wrote for Wired magazine in 2006, though the concept has been around for some time in one form or another really.  If you think about it, the want-ad is really a form of crowdsourcing, predating even the Internet!  Check out this ad posted on Google Groups from 1994.  Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon.com in 1995 was well aware of the power of the crowd even then.  And with the rise of Internet connectivity since then, the power of crowdsourcing has grown wildly, allowing companies to tap into this wellspring of creativity and innovation in new and exciting ways.

[Source]

One excellent example, as mentioned in Howe’s article is the popular site iStockphoto— a site which gives photographers a place to show off their work, selling pictures and obtaining royalties in the process. Its entire catalog is member generated.  And another example, and one that readily comes to mind for many is everyone’s favorite online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, which taps the power of the commons to deliver accurate information on almost any subject you can think of.

Last year Netflix cashed in, or out rather, on a crowdsourcing project they began in 2006 by asking for improvements in the way their system recommended movies to its users.  A team of seven successfully answered the call and were awarded $1 million.  This is a prime example of how companies are leveraging the knowledge and ingenuity of the crowd for results which they may not have obtained by more conventional R&D methods and expenditures, or by staying within the confines of their own company.

Earlier this year crowdsourcing (read about it here and here) was put to amazing use in aiding the recovery efforts in Haiti after the devastating earthquake which struck there.  Using social media, texting, and satellite imagery analysis, volunteers, not only on the ground, but from all over the world were able to help direct the need for supplies to proper locations, and rescue workers to sites of potential survivors.

[Source]

And just last week, Microsoft unveiled a new crowdsourcing platform for politicians and candidates to aid in engaging the public and promoting discussion on issues at the community level.  Crowdsourcing is everywhere.

In a post two weeks ago we highlighted the crowd call of StumbleUpon for a programmer that had a very tempting referral bonus attached to it.  Crowdsourcing is a powerful tool, not just for companies, but for all of us.  It harnesses the power of our new found connectivity and shrinking world and can enable us all to help in finding new ideas and relevant solutions for today’s complex world.

ChumBonus is proud to be leading the way in applying the power of crowdsourcing to finding jobs.  By tapping the power of the crowd (your friends), and offering great incentives on top of that, ChumBonus is not only helping folks find jobs, but also lining the pockets of the potential referrer, and that could be you!

      Tweet this      Tags: Crowdsourcing, crowdsourcing jobs

This entry was posted on Monday, April 26th, 2010 at 7:57 pm and is filed under Crowdsourcing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.