crowdsourcing

noun

crowd·​sourc·​ing ˈkrau̇d-ˌsȯr-siŋ 

: 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

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

Recent Examples on the Web

The future of open innovation and crowdsourcing isn’t an either-or proposition. —John Winsor, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024

His work focuses on the optimal methods of designing and managing teams, collective intelligence, crowdsourcing, and digital business transformation, including the role of AI for the future of work. —Harvard Business Review, 16 Oct. 2024

The key for a successful crowdsourcing project is finding people who care about the topic and are willing to talk. —Asia Fields, ProPublica, 1 Oct. 2024

Then there’s crowdsourcing and collective intelligence. —Andrea Nicholas, Forbes, 25 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

crowd entry 2 + outsourcing, gerund of outsource

First Known Use

2006, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

crowdsourcing

noun

crowd·​sourc·​ing

ˈkrau̇d-ˌsȯr-siŋ

: the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by seeking contributions from a large group of people and especially from the online community