Crowdsourcing is a rapidly growing business in Russia - a tool based on the use of the potential and resources of the crowd. This means that tasks are performed not by professional workers, but by amateurs - enthusiasts who receive a symbolic reward for their work or do not receive at all.
The foreign term crowdsourcing originated from the famous American writer and journalist Jeff Howe. It was he who invented this new word, formulated and explained the principle of its action. To understand what crowdsourcing is, you should refer to the English dictionary (crowd - "crowd" and sourcing - "use of resources"), literally translated into Russian this term means "use of crowd resources" for solving social problems. Where the performers are volunteers, and the activity itself is carried out using information technology.
A striking example of crowdsourcing is the Yandex. Toloka project. Any person (Internet user) can complete certain tasks, since their implementation does not require special skills, only time and desire are needed. The only limitation is the age of the performers, since most of the assignments are 18+. However, Internet users set these frameworks for themselves.
Types of crowdsourcing
There are several types of crowdsourcing: social (public), political, and also in the field of business. Grigory Asmolov is considered to be the initiator of social crowdsourcing in Russia. He initiated the creation of the site "Virtual Market", focused on helping people in emergency situations. This platform receives information from messages, links, photos and videos posted by users on the Internet. This service is able to unite people who need help with those who are ready to provide it.
The most successful crowdsourcing project in the public sector was the campaign for choosing the logo for the 2014 Olympic Games. The All-Russian competition for the mascots of the Games in Sochi was launched in 2010.
Leading companies and brands are actively using crowdsourcing in the business environment. The Coca-Cola and Pepsi companies have more than once launched the largest contests for the selection of the best design and appearance of products. Google, Microsoft, Toyota, Samsung are ardent supporters of crowdsourcing technologies.
Crowdsourcing classification
They also distinguish a classification by types of problem solving:
- content creation;
- vote;
- collection of information;
- testing;
- fundraising (crowdfunding).
Think of the well-known Wikipedia. She is a crowdsourced content creation project. Millions of Internet users fill this popular site with information for free.
Global companies and multinational corporations use voting as a type of crowdsourcing to develop and improve brands.
Sberbank has been actively using crowdsourcing since 2011. During the period from 2014 to 2017, thanks to the "resources of the collective mind", large projects have been developed, including a mobile application.
The main function of crowdfunding, which is a type of crowdsourcing, is to attract financial resources to support both legal entities and individuals. It is used by young companies, creative teams, entrepreneurs and politicians.
