Wikipedia states that crowdsourcing is “the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community, rather than from traditional employees or suppliers.” While that is a spot on definition, it is not actually “Wikipedia’s “definition.  Wikipedia is just that – a crowdsourcing site. Where you, me, and anyone else can set up an account and submit anything we want, to any article.

I could go on right now and submit that Donald Trump was voted Vogue Magazine’s Sexiest Celebrity of 2013. Or that the Boston Red Sox have the most World Series titles in MLB history. Or, that there have been multiple unicorn sightings just north of Reno, Nevada in the past decade.

The Wikipedia definition of crowdsourcing was actually cited from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Why? Because the majority of the people who take part on this crowdsourcing site said it was.  It is widely accepted that information about a subject coming from 100 people will usually be more thorough, honest and accurate, than when the information is coming from one or two people.

This type of “power of the people” has not only been seen successful on the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, but on other sites where “crowdfunding” is the name of the game. People can now support music, technology, art, film, games, photography, or really anything depending on what they want to see or have succeed in the future.

Investors in businesses, major record labels, film studios, and large corporations shell out tons of cash to create new products and projects. But thousands of startups, independent musicians, and other entities try to get their foot in the door to their industry, and struggle to afford what they need in order to make their idea work.

Sites like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Crowdfunder are all outlets for people with big ideas, to get the attention of thousands of people who may just want to support them both creatively and financially.

Recently a musician by the name of Kevin Devine was able to fund his project (two albums: one acoustic, and one with his band. “The Goddamn Band”… how can you not support that?) where he raised over $100,000 from over 1,000 people.

Backers could pledge from $1 to $4,000 where each interval of cash would get the pledger a “gift” back. From an acoustic demo of a song, to a “private 60-minute acoustic show at your house, all travel and accommodation included – you pick the setlist.”

Mr. Devine says himself on Kickstarter, “I had a thought-provoking conversation with a friend…about all the pitfalls and dangers of crowd-sourcing/funding ‘the arts,’” He says. “It’s a really easy thing to do badly, or cheesily, or in a way that can feel … compromised, hacky, undignified. “ For an artist, it’s hard to say. It can seem tacky, but over 1,000 fans knew what he was capable of, and he is now fully funded and recording his albums. Independently, Kevin Devine is able to write and record his own piece of art for the fans of his music.

With funding like this comes freedom. No big-wigs looking over your shoulder telling you what to change. The projects and products come straight from the inventors, with the engagement and the help of the backers.

Right now, you can go to Kickstarter and fund projects like a solar panel that can power devices from smartphones to laptops, handmade leather goods, or a 3D printer (almost funded $3,000,000).  You can pick and choose what you support, which products you want, and together the world can begin causing change in areas they want to succeed.

So what do you think? Will sites like Kickstarter push a company to be the next Apple? Will Kevin Devine be the next George Micheal? A boy can dream…

 

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For the past two decades, social media has enabled people to keep in touch with loved ones, to reconnect with old classmates and friends, and to research floppy trunk syndrome (if you consider Wikipedia social media,which has been a hot debate with a fellow TurnKey team member… but I won’t mentions names), all from within the comfort of your home. It has also allowed us to write about our lives and share it with people all around the world, to find true love (or fake love, if you happen to play football at Notre Dame), and to fill our spare time with videos of cats, funny babies, and Gangnam Style-esque dances!

Lately, however, social media has been gradually encouraging us to condense the way we document our day-to-day lives. Social sites like Twitter allow short interactions and fleeting insights into the way people spend their time. Whether it is people you know or people you don’t, what people want to share of their daily existence has been captured in 140 characters or less.

A new form of this condensing idea recently sparked interest across the web and landed under the wings of Twitter. Its name is, simply, “Vine”. Now, let me take a second (or six) to tell you a little bit about Vine.

Vine is a free app that allows users to record video clips and edit them into a 6-second, repeating video (think your own easy, personal GIF’s, in a way!). Since Twitter recently acquired this company, you can easily upload and tweet your video to your followers. You can also share it with your friends on Facebook, if you please.

Vine says that this app makes “capturing life in motion fun and easy” and that it’s a “shortened form of something larger.” Now, I think this app is pretty cool, but I am not yet a consistent user. It took me a little while to get interested in Twitter, because I didn’t understand the whole constant-status-update deal. 1) Who has the time to do that all day? And 2) Whoever cares enough about what I am doing at all times—besides my mother—is crazy! I’ll admit, it wasn’t until a friend of mine forced me to sign up for a Facebook account about 6 years ago, that I ever really had interest in getting one.

To me, there are clear pros and cons to Vine and other apps like it. To start, Vine is very simple to use. That, right there, is probably the most important part. Second, it is a great tool to give people a quick insight into where you are, whom you’re with, and what you’re doing. It truly is a “shortened form of something larger.”

The Brooklyn Nets hopped on the Vine train right away, posting a video of a few of their players warming up. A picture is worth a thousand words, but a video of Kris Humphries actually finishing a dunk is worth, well, 2 points. Actually, I’ll give him an and-one following his divorce with Kim Kardashian.

You can also be artsy or funny with Vine! In a way, it feels like a stop-motion video. I stumbled upon a Vine video of two men having a staring competition, and since it is a 6-second, ever-repeating video, I waited hours for a winner and ended up falling asleep before the battle was won.

Here is where I am critical: We have seen books “go digital”, and photography “go Instagram”. Now something as a beloved as home videos are “going Vine”—I was happy with stagnation at YouTube for a while. Like I said, the “shortened form of something larger” is great, but with Vine, we will never get to see the full picture, or in this case, video.

Another problem I see with Vine stems from that which we refer to as “selfies.” We all know what those are. It started with teenage girls on MySpace, and has become popular on Instagram. Some people love themselves so much that they feel the need to post 20 photos a day of them sitting in a car, then at a desk, then eating a salad, then with their cat, then in their new outfit, then in a mirror, then close up, then at a low angle, then at a high angle, then at a side angle, and then … well, you get the point. I feel like Vine will be another outlet for this, but on repeat! I do know it is my choice whom I follow, and I will definitely take that into consideration if Vine takes hold.

This is where I shall leave you! My question is: Will Vine really catch on? Is it the new Instagram in video form, or is it something that will come and go? As with any technology, it’s there for everyone to use, and the way in which we do so is what defines its future. I am just glad that Vine was not around when I was a child … It would have made it a whole lot easier for my parents to share embarrassing videos of me with my girlfriends.

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Hey, everyone!

January has been a big month for us, as we’re sure those of you who frequent the TurnKey Blog have noticed. We welcomed two new team members, Alan and Dylan, and have been working super hard to put together some exciting plans for the TurnKey community this year (psst… stay tuned!). We hope that 2013 is off to a great start for each and every one of you, as well.

As some of you may know already, I run the social media here at TurnKey. In my Twitter and Facebook adventures, I couldn’t help but notice that January was also a fairly eventful month on the social scene. There was a big response to the article I wrote regarding Instagram’s Service Agreement amendment a little while back, so I wanted to dig up some similar news to chat about this time around. I was trying to figure out which topic I wanted to cover, but then I realized: why pick just one when there are so many good ones to choose from? Here is a round-up of my personal favorites from the social side of the tech world this month:

3. GOOD

I spy…a new social network? Thank goodness, because we obviously didn’t have enough already. No, but on a serious note, GOOD has a lot of potential.

From what I can tell, GOOD is an online community with users (businesses, organizations, independent groups, and just people riding solo) who possess progressive initiatives and are working to do some good in the world. With a GOOD account, you have access to three components that make up the network. The first is a site-run news-feed of sorts, where relevant stories, articles, websites, etc. are published in several categories. Similarly, the second component is a community-run news-feed  where GOOD initiatives can be searched for, shared, and discussed. The last GOOD puzzle piece, and—in my opinion—the most interesting, allows community members to post a goal. The other users can then contribute their ideas about how to reach the goal, and to vote for the ones they support the most. The winning goal is then awarded some kind of aid to see the initiative through to completion.

Good.is is an interesting concept in general, and there are a multitude of reasons why I think we should all join, or at least keep an eye on it. At the top of that list, however—especially as a member of the TurnKey Internet team—is the fact that I believe any initiative to make the world a better place should be of the utmost importance to us all. As the TurnKey Internet team member responsible for Social Media, what could be more fun to watch and help advance than a social network devoted to making the world a better place? Not much else, is what.

Check it out, guys: www.good.is

2. Wikivoyage

I’m honestly surprised someone didn’t think of this sooner. Although, when you think about it, someone, somewhere most likely did, and just didn’t have a Wikipedia-sized foundation to build off of. Regardless, how cool and useful does Wikivoyage sound?!

First things first. If you are unfamiliar with Wikipedia, I am so sorry to hear that. But to fill you in: Wikipedia is a free, online encyclopedia, collaboratively written by its community. You can read more about it on the Wikipedia page about Wikipedia. BOOM. INCEPTION. Anyway, Wikivoyage is a brand new online travel guide brought to us by the same people who brought us Wikipedia (which is The Wikimedia Foundation, by the way). What’s really awesome is that it’s for the readers, by the readers, just like Wikipedia! It just left beta, so all of you lucky ducks with vacations in your near future should definitely break it in for the rest of us.

1. Facebook Graph Search

I’m not sure about you, but when this story started peppering our newsfeeds and the news/blog sites I frequent, my immediate reaction was, “well, it’s about time…” Facebook rumors are always flying around, and chatter of this-or-that project that its developers are fine-tuning is ever-abundant. A while back, however, I caught wind of a Facebook search engine, and actually put some stock into it. Sure enough, this month, Facebook rolled out a “Graph” announcement.

Check out Facebook’s “About” page for a complete run-down on the Graph feature. I found the “Building Graph Search” video to be particularly informative, if you find yourself a little short on time or interest. Regardless, I have high expectations for Graph, and think that Google, Bing!, and other leaders in the search engine world could potentially find themselves getting a run for their money. This could also end up becoming another Little Engine that Could Have (like Google+, in my opinion) but only time will tell. What do you predict is next for Facebook? Mark my words, I think it will be Facebook Maps.

 

So what do you think? Did I overlook something bigger or were these at the top of the list for you, too? Was any of this news to you? As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts…

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