Come on In......The Power of Crowdsourcing

 

                                                                                                     Photo by Walt Simonson

                                                                                                                            

THIS week's readings included a section on crowdsourcing.  I soon realized that although I was not familiar with the term, I was very familiar with the concept. In addition, I was not only familiar with the concept, but had used it earlier in the week and wasn't even aware! 

 

 EXHIBIT A: DECK STORAGE BOX

Two weeks ago I purchased some new cushions for our outdoor furniture because the ones that came with the furniture originally had seen better days. Since we have 3 dogs that would think they were play toys, we decided that we needed somewhere to store them.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

I proceeded to google (yes, it is a verb here) "patio storage boxes", and was overwhelmed by the options (and the prices!). We proceeded to go to online sites that we were familiar with such as Wayfair, Overstock, Amazon, Home Depot, Walmart, and Lowes. We were not impressed with the selection at Lowes and Home Depot, so we focused on the other retailers. There were hundreds of options, but being able to search by capacity was a life saver. From there, we started looking at price points and then the reviews. We spent hours reading and comparing what others thought about various options, paying special attention to the negative reviews. Finally, we settled on one from Walmart (not my typical go-to) even though some reviewers had said it was hard to put together, we were happy to see they had one in stock at the store and decided to take a chance. 

 I will be happy to report that it was NOT hard to put together (well, my husband said it was not!), and so far we are thrilled with our purchase. 

Which makes me think of how crowdsourcing has changed over the years. I remember my parents asking neighbors and friends what they thought of a product, and then proceeded to the store to make their purchase. The feedback they received was only from people they knew, and the places to purchase were limited too. Now, I can read what Wanda in Waco or Joe in Jersey thinks about their deck box, mixer, brand of shampoo, or latest best-seller. Do you do the same, or do you disregard the reviews?

 

Rheingold, H. (2012). Net smart: How to thrive online. MIT Press (MA).