TheWayoftheWeb

Content and Digital Marketing Specialists

Crowdsourcing

What’s in a crowdsourcing….

By

I was going to write an eloquent and heartfelt post regarding everything that’s wrong about the attempt by Golley Slater to rebrand by a hamfisted attempt at ‘crowdsourcing’ – another example why really we should be stricter about how the term is used, and why co-collaboration should probably replace it.

But then I spotted the always interesting Andrea Phillips had beaten me to is on her blog, Deus Ex Machinatio. Worth reading the post if you’re interested in ever trying to actually achieve something productive using crowdsourcing mechanics, and also if you’re interested in transmedia and game design/mechanics etc.

So I’ll get back to working and trying not to lose myself in playing with Google +. Despite being touted initially as a ‘Facebook killer’, it actually seems more and more people are coming round to thinking of it as a potential rival to Twitter in the curation of streams of content. Similar to how Twitter might have evolved lists, or how Tweetdeck used them to create a more workable interface at scale.

 

Open chance to talk at TED

By

This is rather cool. If you’ve never sampled the TED talks, I’d recommend having a look, as they definitely live up to the motto of ‘Ideas worth sharing’ on a huge range of topics, including creativity and marketing. And now there’s the chance for anyone to audition their own idea for a TED talk by April 25th.

There’s more details on the TED blog, but basically you upload a one minute video to Youtube or Vimeo, and then enter via an online form. And if you’re a finalist and can make your own way to New York you’ll be in the first ever public audition to either end up on the TED website, or appear at TED2012.

There’s not a long time before April 25th, but the one minute video is meant to be all about the idea and a sample rather than the finished product – and I’d imagine the typical person submitting will have already been thinking about the idea they think is worth sharing for a while now, but this gives them a chance to get it out there.

 

Crowdsourcing creative writing on Twitter

By

For every criticism of the presumed mindless nature of Twitter conversation, it’s just as easy to find it being used in an interesting and useful way.

For instance, published author Jeff Kirvin wasn’t sure of the way to kill a character in his current work, so he put the question out on Twitter. (HT Steve Rubel). And out of the suggestions he received he found some that might work, and enough to get him thinking more (Read more interesting details on brainstorming with the hive mind).

Not only is this an example of Twitter aiding creativity, which is a counterpoint to the idea that microblogging kills writing and full-length blogging, but it also shows an example of someone who isn’t hiding his work away until it’s complete – because, after all, the people tweeting suggestions aren’t likely to suddenlly find the drive to crank out 50,000+ words. So why worry about sharing some details and asking for some suggestions?

More on Digg – will business kill the community?

By

It’s been interesting following recent events concerning Digg, especially considering my previous posts outlining the personal and idealogical problems I have with Digg, and the alternative ways available to get crowd sourced news.

I just read a great summary post by David Chen on Mashable, ‘Digg’s recent bans and the limits of crowdsourcing‘ which is a comprehensive look at what David calls ‘building a flawed system’, and the lessons learned – as well as looking at why Digg has banned top users, and how the business strategy is changing.

It reminded me of something I’d noticed recently. Here’s a graph from Compete, comparing Digg (blue line), with an alternative social content site, Mixx.com (red line).
Now, while it’s obvious that Digg is massively ahead at the moment, it appears to have levelled off significantly – and at the same time, notice how Mixx has grown around the same time as the Digg banhammer started making an appearance?

Now look at Mixx in detail:
Anyone else see something kickstarting some growth around Apri/May 2008?

Hmmmm.
What to do when you are banned from digg. - Mixx

Two things spring to mind. One is that Digg has vocally supported the community, and allowed top users a longstanding reign over the rest of the site – which means changing things, particularly without a clear warning, is always going to lead to problems – the question will be how big the problems will become?

And secondly, so many web services which seem to embrace, support and provide a Web 2.0, social media type approach, actually fall down on the Customer Service which is preached by those using them. I’ve always found Digg support to be incredibly varied, but always anonoymous. And the fall back is always on ‘the best for Digg users’ without ever explicitly saying what that means.

Other social news aggregations and voting sites like Reddit have also seen some growth, although in Reddit’s case, it may be down to other factors, such as opening up their service to Open Source installations.

But the fact that the high profile, long term devotees of Digg could be powering the rise in a close rival (in terms of the type of service provided) could prove to be a very interesting case study – if the very people Digg banned turn out to be able to power the rise of a challenge.

An intriguing new Twitter profile…

By

First update of the week is a little bit of Twitter oddity. Following on the heels of Downing Street and Tower Bridge (Sample update: I am opening for the SB Lady Daphne, which is passing downstream), is a new Twitter account, Stopped Clocks.

It’s dedicated to locating and documenting all examples of public clocks which have ground to a halt in the UK as the first stage in getting funding to fix them.

And the reasoning behind it?

“We don’t like seeing stopped clocks, so we hope that one day we can get them fixed. More than that, stopped clocks are immensely sad things, they represent a disconnect with our past and our heritage so by drawing attention to them we hope that it makes people think about this, and pitch in to help.”

One of their earlier Tweets show they’re embracing new media to help bring the past back online:

“the whole project depends entirely on crowd sourcing, so twitter is perfect“

Start growing your business today Contact Us