Out with the in crowd: constructing the individual in a crowdsourcing environment

Abstract

Originally introduced as a strategy for lowering outsourcing costs and improving corporate efficiency, crowdsourcing has proven to be much more about dialogue within communities than the implementation of management technique. This paper suggests that the true potential in crowdsourcing and its derivatives, i.e. crowdfunding, is found in the way this phenomenon is able to engage individuals in the collective construction of identities. These collective identities emerge through dialogue (Bakhtin, 1981) among the participants in the on-line environment. Following Bakhtin’s theory of dialogism, we explore the ways in which three examples of crowdsourcing have facilitated dialogue, in stark contrast to the monological method reflected in the scientific management approach of the original outsourcing model.