PIN IT TO WIN IT

The more I delve into digital technology, I more I realize how much there is to learn. This week I have been introduced to a new term in the social media and technology arena--crowdsourcing.  Crowdsourcing is not a new idea as it has been around for a few years. I have actually participated in crowdsourcing; I didn't know the terminology. Have you used beta software and reported problems back to the company? Have you contributed to a Wikipedia article? If the answer is yes, you have participated in crowdsourcing!

 Jeff Howe and Mark Robinson coined the term crowdsourcing in 2006 in an issue of Wired magazine. As they described, crowdsourcing represents the act of a company or institution taking a function once performed by employees and outsourcing it to an undefined (and generally large) network of people in the form of an open call.  We all know what outsourcing is, but crowdsourcing takes the idea further.  Instead of hiring workers in India or China, a company puts out a call for assistance, enlists their help with a problem, and pays a fee for the selected solution. Threadless is one such company. They put out a call for t-shirt designs, and their community of followers vote on selected designs. The winning designers receive $1500 (2006 figure) and $500 worth of gift certificates and t-shirts. Great idea! Threadless does not need a design department nor the equipment that goes with such a department. They operate with a smaller number of employees and get fresh design ideas daily. Their website boasts as of September 20, 2013: You've helped us pay $8,774,411 to over 1,200 artists worldwide. WOW! Imagine being able to boast that your design was selected for production and may be worn worldwide. This is a great way for beginning artists and designers to have their work noticed.

iStockphoto is another industry that has benefited from crowdsourcing. According to their website they began in 2000 to provide royalty-free photos. As we know, photography from professional photographers can cost $$$, but iStockphoto's do not. They began offering free pictures but later devised a payment plan that offers credits to use in purchasing photos at a nominal fee. According to their About Us page, anyone, anywhere can join us for free, find the digital media they need and sell original content of their own. This is crowdsourcing--an open call for contributions using a network of interested people. Anyone can apply to contribute material; check out their FAQ page for details on the application process and their payment schedule. Again, this is a great way for amateur photographers to sell photography and to have their pictures used around the world.

Have you seen the Dorito's Crash the Super Bowl Contest? This is an all call for creative consumers to make a Doritos commercial to be played during Super Bowl XLVIII. The company is asking for a 30-second commercial to feature the red or blue bag Doritos chips. Lots of prizes are offered to include money,  a trip to the super bowl, and the winning commercial will be aired. The rules to the contest are in a 16-page informational piece. This is a great opportunity for all creative consumers. For the winner and finalists, this could be a starting point for a lifelong career.

All of these are great opportunities for amateurs and for the companies. The companies save money and the amateurs have an opportunity to get noticed in a field in which they are interested. I can see the positives of using such a system, but negatives can also be seen. If I am a professional photographer, I would not be happy with iStockphoto's concept. Photography equipment is expensive as well as the training. Digital cameras have taken me out of the picture (no pun intended), and iStockphoto hinders my attempts to make a living. Another negative could be the time and employees needed to wade through all the submissions--whether t-shirt designs or photos. Someone has to sift through to find what is appropriate or desired. How is plagiarism prevented or found?  In the end, who owns the product and can the designer still include the design in a portfolio as a work sample? These are questions I have, and I haven't found the answers yet. But I do see many positives for both companies and creators.

Where does "PIN IT TO WIN IT" come in? Pinterest, of course! My favorite digital playground is Pinterest! Pinterest can be used as a crowdsourcing tool, especially for market research. In Pinterest Knows Your Customers Better Than You the author gives several examples of how to use Pinterest for research. One example describes a boutique clothing store owner using her personal account to pin clothing she was thinking about putting in her store. The number of re-pins gave her an idea of what might sell and what might not. Genius! Holding a contest on Pinterest is a great opportunity to see which products or ideas are popular. Nancy Messieh has several other ideas for promotion and research:

• Host a contest. Ask followers to pin photos of themselves using your product. The best picture wins a prize.
• If you are considering adding a new product, pin pictures of the new products and ask followers to re-pin their favorites. The number of re-pins gives you an idea of which product might be successful.
• Pin photos of your products and ask users to re-pin their favorites. Then randomly pick a user whose re-pining gained attention. This gives you, the shop owner or business owner, an opportunity to see what gains the most attention.
• If you are in a service industry, ask followers to pin pictures of themselves serving others through ways your group suggests or endorse.  

Like me, you are probably thinking of several more ways Pinterest can be used for crowdsourcing for your company. That's what makes Pinterest so much fun--we have a platform that can be used in so many different ways to support and promote our interests.

What I am learning through blogging about digital technology is that nothing is static--if something stays the same, it will fade away. Digital technology that evolves with its users will be with us for a while.