ABSTRACT
No doubt, information has been made easier to access since the existence of internet back in late 90’s. Since then, internet play much bigger role in our daily life. Our dependencies on internet is no less than to other utilities such as electricity and water. We need it almost every minutes if not seconds in our life. It serves as a medium of communication among millions of human being to stay connected and share information regardless to gender, race, geographical location and political background. Activities among internet users may be worth as little as USD1 to billions of USD. With this demand and involvement, internet has evolved dynamically from just a method of communication to more important medium of exchanging information, dealing with multi billion dollars worth business value. Information as a key asset in the business world is highly valued by anyone who knows what that piece of information can benefit them thus, information generally is neither something cheap to obtain nor is made available freely out of the thin air. However, newly evolving method of seeking information called “crowdsourcing” has made information much cheaper to obtain if not free. But then, what is “crowdsourcing”? What is the relation to the internet and information technology? What are the advantages it brings to the society? Is there any challenges of “crowdsourcing”? This essay will discuss and elaborate in details on concept, characteristics, advantages, challenges and future trends of crowdsourcing.
INTRODUCTION
Jeff Howe, a well-known inventor of the term “crowdsourcing” when it was first use in his article appearing in Wired magazine (Howe, 2006), defined “crowdsourcing” as “the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call.”