crowdsourcing

noun

crowd·sourc·ing | \ ˈkrau̇d-ˌsȯr-siŋ

Definition of crowdsourcing

: the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people and especially from the online community rather than from traditional employees or suppliers Online crowdsourcing strategies that induce masses of people to solve a task, such as locating far-flung items or alleviating world hunger, work best when financial incentives impel participants to enlist friends and acquaintances in the effort, a new study concludes.— Bruce Bower These sites take advantage of the phenomenon known as crowdsourcing, or turning to the online masses for free or low-cost submissions.— Katie Hafner

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Other Words from crowdsourcing

crowdsource transitive verb crowdsourced; crowdsourcing

But many people don't know the story behind Legos—how the company, on the verge of collapse, crowdsourced its future by polling its most hardcore fans, or how the little blocks have exploded to become a major force in education … — Smithsonian

Examples of crowdsourcing in a Sentence

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The hope is that through the power of crowdsourcing, users around the world can get help with their undiagnosed, misdiagnosed or uncured medical conditions, not dissimilarly from El Moussa’s fateful connection. — Madison Roberts, PEOPLE.com, "Tarek El Moussa Opens Up About How a Stranger 'Helped Save' His Life by Diagnosing Cancer on TV," 18 June 2019 Playwright Phelim McAleer, who along with his wife Ann McElhinney has produced several conservative films financed by Internet crowdsourcing, says the answer is obvious. — John Fund, National Review, "FBI Lovebirds Is D.C. Satire at Its Best," 16 June 2019 For example, Crawfordsville has two colleges, and crowdsourcing may determine that OurBus only needs to stop there on the days before and after the end of a semester. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "New ‘crowdsourced’ bus service between Chicago and Indianapolis will try to fill gap left by Hoosier State train’s demise," 27 May 2019 Meanwhile, friends and family of the climbers began an urgent crowdsourcing campaign to help cover the mounting search and rescue costs. — Andrew Bisharat, National Geographic, "Hope dims for climbers missing on the 'Killer Mountain'," 6 Mar. 2019 The company is seeking input from consumers to help name the e-bikes, offering $10,000 for the top submission in a crowdsourcing campaign, and $1,000 each to nine runners-up. — Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, "GM is now making e-bikes, and it needs your help naming them," 2 Nov. 2018 With any crowdsourcing platform, take the reviews with a grain of salt — and watch out for fake reviews. — Rick Steves' Europe, The Seattle Times, "Book smart when looking for lodging in Europe," 25 Sep. 2018 Just as streaming services have expanded the distribution channels, funding options have multiplied with private-equity firms, grants and crowdsourcing. — Benjamin Din, WSJ, "A Renaissance for Documentaries," 2 Sep. 2018 But like political betting markets, such donation trends have the advantage of crowdsourcing. — Chris Stirewalt, Fox News, "No, free market conservatives are not becoming Dems," 31 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'crowdsourcing.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.