Comments on: If Crowdsourcing Fails, How Does Democracy Prevail?

By: khairul

khairul — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 14:26:20 +0000

i love your article..

By: Tonya Van Dijk

Tonya Van Dijk — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 04:31:11 +0000

Voting is just voting. By itself it is not a form of crowdsourcing as there is no collective action – it’s the independent action of individuals who are expressing an opinion. However, the means by which Obama raised funds for the Presidential election by using online communities to organize collective action could be deemed a form of crowdsourcing (or crowdfunding) as the actions of individuals were organized into a collective movement. There is a lively debate on what can be defined as crowdsourcing what should not be crowdsourcing so it comes down to what definition you believe. In contrast, a narrower definition stipulates that it is only crowdsourcing if individuals self organize to jointly contribute to produce or to solve a problem as a group.

Kind regards,

Tonya

By: Alex Bornkessel

Alex Bornkessel — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 13:38:42 +0000

Tonya,

Great post! Thank you for sharing Beth’s wise words with us. In general, voting can be used as a form of crowdsourcing. I also appreciate how Beth asks people: Is crowdsourcing new? and drives home the message that it is not. This is where I feel my specific question in this post comes in.

My question is: Is voting in the presidential election a form of crowdsourcing? And if so, how do we protect it from the pitfalls of crowdsourcing (and help democracy prevail)?

Best,
Alex

By: Tonya Van Dijk

Tonya Van Dijk — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:39:37 +0000

Is voting a form of crowdsourcing?

Zoetica CEO Beth Kanter classifies voting as one of the four models of crowdsourcing. To know more about her insights, read more at http://crowdsourcing.org/l/958.