Using the general public to do research or other work, which may or may not be paid. For example, Amazon.com's Mechanical Turk www.mturk.com) enables people to enter a task description and an amount they will pay for its completion. A body of workers (the Turks; the crowd) peruse the job list and fulfill the tasks. InnoCentive www.innocentive.com) enlists scientists worldwide to do research for pharmaceutical, biotech, agribusiness and other companies. Awards are issued for solutions that best meet requirements.
Elicit the Crowd
The term may also refer to user-generated content. For example, if a natural disaster strikes an area, locals can capture and upload images before a professional news crew arrives. In addition, rather than hire a professional poll taker, using a Web site or blog to ask the public for an opinion may often be the fastest way to generate comments and suggestions. See user-generated content, Mechanical Turk and Google Answers.
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