cybersociety wk 9

The rise of crowdsourcing

By Jeff Howe

In this article, the writer opens with how a project director at a national health museum was looking for photos to be published. She decided to use preexisting images, also known as stock photography.

So I googled the definition of it and it turns out to be “professional photographs of common places, landmarks, nature, events or people that are bought and sold on a royalty-free basis and can be used and reused for commercial design purposes” (stock photo)

I guessed it basically means that its like an online market for photos that can be sold for a copyrighted fee and that is cost effective as well compared to hiring a professional photographer.

The example that was given “iStockphoto” boasts a huge database of photos that were priced for $1-$5 for basic images. The photos were posted by more than 22,000 contributors on that site.

link here >>> http://www.istockphoto.com/ 

That’s the power of the crowd hahaah. When there are more contributors, there will be more images and photos on the site. Hence the wide array of photos from people all around the world may seem more attractive than one solo’s photographer works, But of course, the quality will be quite different. No matter how cheap professional cameras are or how good one is in photoshop, the photographer’s skills will be placed above all else.

But I would say sites like iStockphoto will be good for companies or organizations with a tight budget and do not require super high-end quality photos.

Nonetheless, professional photographers may be feeling the pinch as they have to lower down their prices to compete (but then again you can’t compete with $1). But not all hope is lost; there is still a demand for professional photographers.

Let me give an example. My cousin and her now-husband recently hired a wedding photographer to take their wedding photos at different locations around Singapore. They paid a lot of $$$$$ for the photos and a photo album. (haha so obviously a photographer’s skills are very much in demand here)

with credits given to lightedpixels photography, 

taken with permission from Diana Chua and Ko Lingwei 

I can also think of another crowdsourcing example which I’m sure many of us have used it before at any point in our lives – Wikipedia. The online encyclopedia has contributors from all around the world, contributing to any topic and subject available under the sun.

What about you? Can you think of more examples?

Cya!