As time has passed, crowdsourcing has been the root of many changes within the ways in which companies approach creating content. Crowdsourcing is the practice of engaging a group for the same goal. It’s all about obtaining tools and services needed for ones business from a large amount of people instead a small common group. These groups tend to solve problems in different industries. According to the article The Rise of Crowdsourcing it speaks about istock photo, a site where amateur photographers, students, dancers, engineers and more can share their work on a marketplace for everyone to see and use for the work for an affordable price. With this, we see how today there is no differences between a professional or amateurs. At this point, thanks to crowdsourcing we can see the connection all photographers have. In the New York Times article Crowdsourcing to Get Ideas, and Perhaps Save Money, we see how crowdsourcing can be put for the use of anyone and can become a guide for starting their own practice. In the case of Lee Mayer the founder of Havenly, she used crowdsourcing to kickstart her company to test pricing, products, and website design. As mentioned in the article, The Blurring Line Between Amateur and Professional it states “The 20th century media industries divided us into two distinct classes. There were professionals who produced content, and were paid for their trouble. And there were amateurs who consumed content and paid for the privilege. This is such a deeply-ingrained part of our culture that Murray doesn’t even state it explicitly: he’s a professional writer, and so he’s entitled to more than $75 when the New York Times runs his op-ed.” with this, we see how today there is no difference between professional and amateurs. Whether its being a writer or photographer big named companies would rather go to the more affordable route to work with in the long run.
Feb 27
Class Activity: Aleksandra & Briana
Hey guys so tomorrow, Briana and I will be presenting about crowdsourcing & user-generated content. We plan the presentation to be about 10 minutes, and we have 2 group activities which will take around 20 minutes. See you then!
Feb 27
Class Activity: Media and Political Campaigns Evaluation
By Jacqueline Minelli & Brittany Aufiero
- What was your activity? Please be specific on what you asked the class to do and what you hoped it would accomplish.
The topic of the activity Brittany and I created was about the media and political campaigns. It was separated into two parts. The first part of the activity, we broke the class into groups to discuss the different outlets where they receive their political news. We had them rank these outlets based on the frequency they use them and how trustworthy they felt the sources were. Then we had each group discuss their sources and why they felt certain ones were more trustworthy than others. We found that the top two outlets each group picked was social media and digital news. The second part of the activity Brittany and I held elections. We were both candidates running for president. We broke the class into two groups. Brittany represented the Republican party and I the Democratic party. We had the class think of ways to help us gain more supporters for our campaign using social media, mobile media, etc. Then each group presented their strategies for helping us get more voters. What we accomplished was to have the class think about how they receive their political news and think about which sources are reliable in getting trusted information. We had them use their creativity to think of strategies to help us gain more support in our campaigns.
2. Did you think it was successful?
Yes, overall I think it was successful. We presented the class with a slide show that deepened their knowledge of media and political campaigns by our research and examples. As well as our activity allowed the class to break into groups to discuss their ideas. The groups presented us with great strategies for getting us elected. I was very impressed with the groups and their feedback.
3. Did it achieve your implied goals?
Yes, we achieved our goals. The class seemed to all understand the topic and were engaging in the discussion. We had everyone share their ideas by breaking into the groups and presenting them to us.
4. What did you learn from the experience?
We learned from the experience that the class uses social media the most to learn about the news but uses trusted sources from digital news and print news to get more accurate information. Also, we discussed how political campaigns are changing due to the use of media.
5. How would you take this project further as a research tool and what results would you hope to achieve?
I would take this project further as a research tool by having more studies that were conducted like the one mentioned in the article comparing 2014 to 2010. By having a larger group of people involved it would provide us with better information. I would hope the results would show more young people getting involved due to social media. Social media is used by the young and old generations so hopefully it would show an increase in participation in political campaigns. One way I have seen this so far is when an election just happened all over social media people were posting filters with “I voted” or “did you vote” as a caption.
Feb 26
Digital and Reality Television
In this advanced technological age, traditional television is becoming less and less relevant to the modern viewer’s experience. While in the past, audiences were required to arrange their lives around television networks and pre-scheduled broadcastings, the typical viewer experience is becoming transformed by the presence of streaming services and click-and-buy On Demand access to content. Author Lori Kozlowski notes this dramatic shift in her article “The Future of T.V.: Digital, Traditional And Something In Between”, where she states, “As we see various mediums mesh, merge, and blur — we are left wondering what business models look like for multi-channel networks, online video companies, and traditional television networks.” Because viewers have become so accustomed to having access to content whenever they want it, businesses are forced to reevaluate the methods by which they interact with these audiences. For instance, to compete with the commercial-less appeal of Netflix and Hulu, some traditional television providers have begun to include premium, ad-free channels at a discounted rate. Targeted advertising may also become a feature in the near future, mimicking what has become standard for internet advertising. In her article, Kozlowski describes the possibility of commercial content becoming tailored to the digital footprint of each household. If this were to happen, companies would be likely to pay even more money to have their products and services promoted on screens in homes everywhere.
As described in the article “Review: Smart We Live in Public Probes Web Genius’ Hubris” by Hugh Hart, the documentary We Live in Public (directed by Ondi Timoner) explores the potential for reality television through footage from experimental live TV events which took place in 1999 and 2000. In what has become known as the Quiet Experiment, web pioneer Josh Harris orchestrated a community of people who had agreed to be surveilled 24/7 in exchange for free room, board, and food in a basement bunker in Manhattan. During the experiment, chaos ensued as people took their behavior to extremes. Their awareness that they were being watched motivated them to exaggerate and escalate their actions, until the experiment had become too dangerous to continue. The Quiet Experiment serves to highlight the ways in which performance culture influence human communication; when we know that we are being recorded, and that our behavior is subject to public scrutiny, we are apt to adopt personalities that we deem suitably entertaining, rather than those which are true to ourselves. Oftentimes, we see this paradigm firsthand on reality television shows in circulation today. Big Brother, for instance, subjects the contestants to near-24/7 surveillance (excluding bathroom breaks and showers to preserve modesty). The constant broadcasting of the participants’ actions serves to increase the stakes for the audience, as well as fosters a digital relationship between the participants and viewers. Because viewers at home can access these live feeds, they can become attached to and develop a fan relationship for cast members, which means they are more like to tune into the weekly episodes.
Feb 26
Crowdsourcing
Melanie Beltran
MCS 244
February 17, 2019
Crowdsourcing changes the way that companies approach creating content by selling goods and services that equally appeal to consumers. Technology has only advanced over the years and has both benefited and hindered businesses by trying to attract consumers. In the article, “The Rise of Crowdsourcing” states, “Technological advances in everything from product design software to digital video cameras are breaking down the cost barriers that once separated amateurs from professionals. Hobbyists, part-timers, and dabblers suddenly have a market for their efforts, as smart companies in industries as disparate as pharmaceuticals and television discover ways to tap the latent talent of the crowd. The labor isn’t always free, but it costs a lot less than paying traditional employees. It’s not outsourcing; it’s crowdsourcing.” Cameras at an affordable price have the same abilities and features that professional cameras have (usually photographers use). Its only geared consumers to purchase the affordable camera as opposed to the expensive professional ones. In the article, “The Decline and Fall of Tech on Digg,” popular stories have declined over time for the company Digg. Popular stories like gaming and entertainment were once at the top in 2006, have not trended as much as they used to. The competitor, Slashdot, have increasingly great numbers. Digg’s audience has migrated to Slashdot and other sites that are beneficial to them. In the article, “The Blurring Line Between Amateur and Professional,” states, “The 20th-century media industries divided us into two distinct classes. There were professionals who produced content and were paid for their trouble. And there were amateurs who consumed content and paid for the privilege.” Since the media is constantly evolving, trends are never the same and have different effects on people. It has become unpredictable. This article also states, “Seasoned journalists and credentialed experts have to compete for attention with Daily Kos and RedState.com. Media companies begin asking whether they really need to pay for content when so many people are willing to produce it for free.” It is so much easier for an amateur to profit as opposed to professionals. The line between amateurs and professionals is truly blurred because nowadays anyone a profit with or without experience or tools earned.
Crowdsourcing has been useful to users that receive content from those that are and are not expert professionals. People have benefited from crowdsourcing because of its affordability and access. It has only made way for other competitors to offer the same benefits. Crowdsourcing has only increased over the years because it challenges companies to compete against one another to get consumers and users to buy their products and use their services on a consistent basis.
Feb 26
Crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing is defined as a means of getting tools and services needed for business from a large group as opposed to the traditional modes that have been established in the past. Crowdsourcing relies heavily on media generated from the online community and has marked a significant shift in the way media is shared, distributed, used, and purchased by businesses.
The article, “The Rise of Crowdsourcing,” shows how the practice of crowdsourcing has affected the media industry. People and groups that are working on projects are now able to obtain photos and videos at vastly cheaper rates than ever before. This is at the expense of many professional photographers and filmmakers who simply cannot compete with the prices offered by stock sites like istockPhoto, Shutterstock, and Dreamstine. Professional photographer, Mark Harmel is someone who has had to adapt to the change in the market his business has gotten less money for even more photographs due to the ease of companies to acquire photos from crowdsourcing options.
Crowdsourcing has also had its affect on the television industry as now t.v. shows are using content from viral videos to fill entire shows. This access to cheap content from the web is sparking major change in the way that television is being consumed. Ratings for shows with material from online content have been growing.
But crowdsourcing is not only affecting the media. Crowdsourcing is also now showing its impact in a range of other areas including the scientific community. One website that illustrates this is InnoCentive which provides scientific researchers with access to a broad range of information and research the same way that iStockphoto has done for images. It truly is a remarkable service as it has the potential to connect scientists more quickly and galvanize innovation in the field.
Crowdsourcing has undeniable benefits when it comes to the sharing of information. People now have access to so much more than ever before. My problem with crowdsourcing is that companies often use it to maximize their profits while not giving people proper compensation. Creatives do not want to be paid in exposure, people who put their time and effort into generating worthy content want to be adequately compensated (WITH MONEY) I also fear that crowdsourcing sometimes lessens the quality of content being used by companies like the New York Times who can definitely afford to pay people a decent amount for the pieces they provide.
Feb 26
Crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing, is changing the way companies approach creating content. One of way is doing this is by allowing entrepreneurs access to their potential market needs. In the article, “Crowdsourcing to Get Ideas, and Perhaps Save Money”, the author Constance Gutske states that before Lee Mayer decided to start up her company to test the level of success of her business she sent out thousands of surveys asking individuals if they would be interested in this services. Crowdsourcing makes Market development easier for entrepreneurs because it allows for them to target their market directly, since you are allowing your potential consumers to tell you whether or not they need the service. This method also saves you a lot money, and reduces the risk for your business to fail. The author states “While well-established crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo dip into people’s pockets, crowdsourcing taps into their brains.” In other ways, entrepreneurs can rely solely on marketing researchers to define their markets and what their needs are, However Crowdsourcing cuts out the middleman and instead go directly to generating what is in their consumer brain. “Ms. Mayer herself turned to UserTesting, which offers access to more than a million users, for ideas on Havenly’s site design. Based on the feedback, one of the things she added was a budget calculator.”
Feb 26
Crowd Sourcing – Jontae Zapata
As technology further develops and reaches as many people as possible, many professionals have to come to terms with the fact that they have to adapt with the new resources available for consumers. In The Rise of Crowdsourcing freelance photographer Mark Harmel speaks of the changes coming to the industry. Despite lowering his costs for stock photos to a “nonprofit price” he found that it mattered not due to the rise iStockphoto. On this new platform, consumers have the option of purchasing their photos for as little as a dollar. This is nearly impossible to compete with as a freelance photographer who shoots pictures as a sole income. Due to photography being the main source of income for many photographers, the hobbyists and amateurs will charge less but make a couple extra bucks here and there thanks to open resources like iStockphoto. They’re highest costs may only reach around forty dollars, while professional photographers could charge hundreds of dollars for their work. Also, thanks to applications like Photoshop people who aren’t necessarily professionals can produce professional-looking work.
As the article The Blurring Line Between Amateur and Professional emphasizes “One consequence is that the line between professionals and amateurs is blurring. And as the line blurs, the professionals find their once-stable professions turned upside down. Seasoned journalists and credentialed experts have to compete for attention with Daily Kos and RedState.com.” Due to the open access of the internet, there is less of a distinguishing factor between professionals and hobbyists with a bit of free time on their hands. It’s easier for people to access the free and/or low cost sites than the ones you need to pay subscriptions just to read possibly similar information from a different source. It begins to seem redundant for consumers to look to spend money and professionals are suffering to keep their livelihoods afloat. As much as consumers sympathize, money runs our daily lives and looking for new and innovative ways to save money truly eliminates many stresses the average working class individual (or family) must endure regularly. Thanks to crowd sourcing, people can save the money they worked hard to earn but those who work hard to get people to spend that money have to work twice as hard to get them to do so.
Feb 26
Crowdsourcing and User Generated Content
Living in the internet infested society we are in today, it is a lot easier to obtain any information with a click of a button. Long before Google and the computer, people and companies had to rely on book research, paying someone a lot of money to investigate or obtain the content for them, some would even have do it themselves by writing articles and photographing. Now, especially with the help of crowdsourcing, people and companies no longer have to waste their time, energy and money obtaining their materials when they can simply get then for cheap or even free.
In Jeff Howe’s article The Rise of Crowdsourcing, he writes about the simplicity of crowdsourcing and how any person, whether they’re professionals or amateur can contribute. “Technological advances in everything from product design software to digital video cameras are breaking down the cost barriers that once separated amateurs from professionals. Hobbyists, part-timers, and dabblers suddenly have a market for their efforts, as smart companies in industries as disparate as pharmaceuticals and television discover ways to tap the latent talent of the crowd. The labor isn’t always free, but it costs a lot less than paying traditional employees. It’s not outsourcing; it’s crowdsourcing.” Essentially, what Howe is saying is because amateurs and freelancers have the access to upload their content, you can download it without over spending, if not for free.
In addition to Howe, Constance Gustke‘s article Crowdsourcing to Get Ideas, and Perhaps Save Money, Gustke writes about how companies benefit from crowdsourcing. ”Harnessing the brain power of outside consultants and focus groups can be costly and time-consuming. But crowdsourcing gives companies a bigger toolbox. Companies can both test new products and develop customer loyalty…” crowdsourcing adds to the versatility of information collection.
Although crowdsourcing has its big upsides, it also has downfalls. According to Meagan McArdle’s The Blurring Line Between Amateur and Professional, because crowdsourcing is either free or non expensive, company’s no longer want to pay for digital content. ”Media companies begin asking whether they really need to pay for content when so many people are willing to produce it for free.” In other words, it’s harder for people who work in the digital media industry because of the lack of economic value. For example, a photographer wouldn’t be able to make as much of a living with stock photography due the financial and time convenience a crowdsourcing website can offer. This could potentially leave the professional broke or forced to diverge into a different specialization, if not a completely different career.
Feb 26
Crowdsourcing
According to the dictionary the definition of crowdsourcing is the practice of obtaining information or input into a task or project by enlisting the services of a large number of people, either paid or unpaid, typically via the Internet. This era revolves around the internet everything can now be done online with the touch of a button. Everything can now be accessed online such as working from home, paying bills online,and even taking classes online. The internet is the key to everything these days even companies have began relying on the internet to create content. Many companies have started using the internet to promote their businesses and reach a larger audience. A lot of social media platforms are used to promote business such as Facebook, Instagram, and twitter. In the article “The Blurring Line Between Amateur and Professional” by Megan Mcardle discusses how Charles Murray was paid $75 by the New York Times for his Op-Ed. The article makes a good point by stating , “there is no shortage of people–some of them quite knowledgeable and talented–who would gladly write for the Times op-ed page for free. Writing a good op-ed requires a certain amount of skill, but it doesn’t require the kind of serious legwork that a lot of straight reporting does. The Times could easily stop paying for op-ed submissions”.The article argues that although Charles Murray is a professional writer the New York Times should not be entitled to pay him at all. There are many individuals who would jump at the opportunity to write for times and have their work published by the times for no cost at all. Situations like these can leave several people jobless because companies are not looking spend so much money on their resources when they could have find them for much cheaper or for no cost at all.