Crowdsourcing is a term coined by Jeff Howe who described it as an open call by a company to a large group of individuals who are invited to partake in a task that would under traditional circumstances be performed by employees of the company.

Facebook with its worldwide user-base has turned to crowdsourcing to translate Facebook into other languages such as German, French and Spanish amongst others. An application is used to translate bits of the site which is then voted upon by other users for approval. Here are some interesting statistics:

Facebook harnessed the power of a crowd (users) which in the end benefits both parties. Facebook gets a different version of their site at a low cost and the users get to view the site in their own language. Instead of hiring a team of translators Facebook decided to involve its users in the process.

What needs to be taken into account is that their are no direct benefits for participants and they participated out of their own free will.  Some might view this as an exploitation of labour but nobody is forcing anybody to do anything. What motivates these individuals who partake in these crowdsourcing tasks? Maybe just a personal need for something, a sense of fulfillment or joy at what they do?

1. Facebook’s Crowdsourcing Translation Reward System
2. Crowdsourcing Example – People Participation in Crowdsourcing Platforms
3. Crowdsourcing Definition by Jeff Howe