Inside Word: What Crowdsourcers Can Learn From ‘American Idol’

There’s been debate recently about how businesses can effectively use crowdsourcing—generally defined as outsourcing a task usually associated with one person to a group. LinkedIn, for instance, faced a backlash last month when it asked members if they would be interested in translating some of the site’s content into other languages. Many said no. In a blog post, Yeung presents American Idol as a model for effective crowdsourcing. American Idol lets viewers choose which contestants they want to stay on the show—but only after the choices have been filtered down—and the judges have given their own points of view. More than 100 million votes were cast during this year’s season finale.To Learn More Click Here