Towards an integrated crowdsourcing definition

TLDR

Crowdsourcing is a recent concept with diverse practices, leading to blurred boundaries and varying definitions that sometimes classify the same examples differently. The article analyzes existing definitions to extract common elements and establish the basic characteristics of any crowdsourcing initiative. The authors analyze existing definitions of crowdsourcing to identify shared elements and define core characteristics. They present an exhaustive, consistent definition of crowdsourcing and contrast it across eleven case studies.

Abstract

‘Crowdsourcing’ is a relatively recent concept that encompasses many practices. This diversity leads to the blurring of the limits of crowdsourcing that may be identified virtually with any type of internet-based collaborative activity, such as co-creation or user innovation. Varying definitions of crowdsourcing exist, and therefore some authors present certain specific examples of crowdsourcing as paradigmatic, while others present the same examples as the opposite. In this article, existing definitions of crowdsourcing are analysed to extract common elements and to establish the basic characteristics of any crowdsourcing initiative. Based on these existing definitions, an exhaustive and consistent definition for crowdsourcing is presented and contrasted in 11 cases.