Crowdsourcing is when large groups of people input information for a company or individuals personal or business use. For example, polls on instagram. Crowdsorucing is changing methods of labor on the internet. One example of this is anybody can get a job, this means that what professionals have gone to school for, amateurs can learn on the internet and even master the art too. “One consequence is that the line between professionals and amateurs is blurring. And as the line blurs, the professionals find their once-stable professions turned upside down. Seasoned journalists and credentialed experts have to compete for attention…insiders warn of the grave dangers that await us if society doesn’t restore the insiders to their previous, privileged position in society.” I think what this quote is trying to get at is anyone can do anything, and professionals are threatened by that.

Bryan Romeo

Crowdsourcing has been changing methods of labor on the internet in one very particular and drastic way. It unites many people to contribute their knowledge and expertise towards a specific topic and as a result this lowers the cost of most services and goods. Certain companies are responsible for essentially taking “advantage of the networked world” and obtaining significant profits from it. The article “The Rise of Crowdsourcing” by Jeff Howe accurately depicts what crowdsourcing is and the effects it has on freelance and independent contractors. Harmel and his services essentially became obsolete after the creation and success of websites such as iStockphoto, Shutterstock, and Dreamstime. The effect of crowdsourcing was to such an overwhelming degree that it “had undercut Harmel by more than 99 percent”. This also reminded people like Harmel that their products are “no longer scarce” and don’t command the prices they once did. At the same time, crowdsourcing caused a change in the economy which allowed for people with a hobby or deep interest in something to make a meaningful contribution despite them not being the conventional corporate or government employee. This can be seen particularly in the case of Ed Melcarek and his contributions to “working on science problems for corporations” such as InnoCentive. However, these contributions by well versed and perhaps by people who share a passion for a hobby, blurs the lines between amateurs and professionals. Ultimately despite amateurs being able to contribute; they don’t have the legal and academic qualifications which professionals do.

One of the numerous advantages of the growth of technology and digital media is the ability to crowdsource. In simple terms, crowdsourcing is the process of gathering information from individuals or organizations in order to gain commodities or services such as ideas, votes, and microtasks from a small or large group of people. Crowdsourcing is a terrific approach for individuals or businesses to learn what consumers want and are seeking for in the marketplace. Large corporations, such as PepsiCo, frequently use crowdsourcing to develop new drinks or potato chip varieties, they are using crowdsourcing to allow customers to voice their opinions on new flavor introductions. Crowdsourcing, in my opinion, is a terrific approach to receive feedback on products or services that firms or people want to present to the public, and it can save time and money on failed launches. You will know what to launch to the public and what people are looking for in the consumer market if you crowdsource.

Crowdsourcing involves obtaining work, information, or opinions from a large group of people who submit their data via the Internet, social media, and smartphone apps. People involved in crowdsourcing sometimes work as paid freelancers, while others perform small jobs voluntarily. Moreover, it is changing methods of labor on the Internet as “well-established crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo dip into people’s pockets, crowdsourcing taps into their brains. Experts say that turning to the masses can even yield sharper answers than other methods.” Also, while reading the article “Crowdsourcing to Get Ideas and Perhaps Save Money,” talks about the importance of crowdsourcing and how it has replaced focus groups to get data-driven results. Chris Hicken, president of UserTesting, states, “It’s faster and a lot cheaper. Innovation is going so fast that we need faster answers.” It was quite difficult and required planning when looking back on how we retained data from a specific subgroup. Nonetheless, with these new methods, individuals are one touch away from the vast environment of the Internet. Furthermore, another interesting article from this week’s required reading was “The Rise of Crowdsourcing.” An interesting point that I took was the aspect of how even huge companies like P&G are using crowdsourcing to make better predictions to improve their consumer-focusing brands, genuinely evoking the importance of this tool. Additionally, Amazons take on this tool creating their own (Amazon Mechanical Turk), which gets in the topic of ghost workers in which people are hardly identifiable and “perform tasks computers are generally lousy at—identifying items in a photograph, skimming real estate documents to find identifying information, writing short product descriptions, transcribing podcasts.” This has generated a lot of talks on employee labor exploitation. Nevertheless, it has provided another sense of labor and a way to earn money for others on the Internet.

My search engine named would be “Filtered.com” . The reason I finally was able to choose my search engine name is because of the many filtered options my search engine would have, for example I would allow users when searching the web for relevant resources about a particular topic they are researching for I would allow them to choose between journals , blogs, or news articles as well as studies. when choosing the filter that best suits them it will only show the credible information desired opposed to extra links that are not relevant or that are missing crucial factors like evidence and an author. I would allow users to also save a filtered feature where clicked links will not show up again and the links that they clicked and liked can be added to a separate folder or tab so that they can continue to find more information and have an easier way to go back to the viewed links. My search engine would also allow users to design their accounts and set up a colored background for when they are on our search engine using their account, different filters and backgrounds can be used to personalize your account making my search engine name hit both definitions of the word “filters” to stand out and be unique

My ideal search engine would have lots and lots of filters so I can easily find something instead of endlessly scrolling looking for a specific article or webpage to find the answer I’m looking for. The search bar would be in the middle similar to Google. I would include a dark mode, for sensitive eyes. Basically the Filterd (it’s spelled that way) search engine is similar to Google but with much more advanced filters that are more accessible on the initial search bar. For example let’s say I’m trying to search for a certain quote, I want the Filterd to have a filter to search the quote throughout the entire internet.