Crowdsourcing

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What Does Crowdsourcing Mean?

Crowdsourcing is a process through which a task, problem or project is solved and completed through a group of unofficial and geographically dispersed participants.

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Crowdsourcing is a joint process development or problem-solving technique that requires help from a network of people, or crowd. This network is usually connected via the Internet or through a specific website.

Techopedia Explains Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing generally is an outsourcing technique that employs freelance, volunteer and paid human resources to complete a particular task. Crowdsourced labor often works remotely.

Crowdsourcing works when a business or individual, also known as crowdsourcer, advertises a problem or project on a related website and invites subject matter experts and the general public, known as the crowd, to propose a solution or participate in finishing the task. The participating members are paid remunerations or are complemented with recognition once the problem is solved or the task is completed.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.