In simple terms, it can be described as using Web 2.0 technologies to get results (for your business). An example I’d like to apply is me personally using Twitter to achieve this. I was asked if I could assist in finding a speaker for a sponsored workshop coming up at ITWeb’s Digital Life Expo.

I updated my status on Twitter to read as follows:

I got a reply from someone who was very keen and ‘in the know’. I’ve since passed this info on to our editorial director – who thought he was an excellent candidate as she had met him previously. *Update* It hasbeen confirmed that he will be speaking at the workshop.

If you want to know what Twitter is, check it out here. Basically you’re allowed up to a maximum of 140 character updates per status update. To use Twitter effectively and get the best results, you should have a very niche following. I follow people within the industry who I think I can learn from and exchange ideas with and in turn, they follow me (people follow back at their own discretion). Don’t just join Twitter because everyone is joining it. It’s not another Facebook. Nobody really wants to know that you are having a cappuccino for breakfast.

I would also like to add, that according to Wikipedia, crowdsourcing has attracted controversy and criticism. They list the following reasons:

1. Added costs to bring a project to an acceptable conclusion.
2. Increased likelihood that a crowdsourced project will fail due to lack of monetary motivation, too few participants, lower quality of work, lack of personal interest in the project, global language barriers, or difficulty managing a large-scale, crowdsourced project.
3. Below-market wages, or no wages at all. Barter agreements are often associated with crowdsourcing.
4. No written contracts, non-disclosure agreements, or employee agreements or agreeable terms with crowdsourced employees.
5. Difficulties maintaining a working relationship with crowdsourced workers throughout the duration of a project.
6. Susceptibility to faulty results caused by targeted, malicious work efforts.

I think that because I’m not a business owner, I don’t see it as being “harmful”. I’m just using my own resources to get results and I’m getting it.

For now, it works and I’m happy to use this medium.

See also – Mass Collaboration