Crowdsourcing & Crowdfunding

 Hey guys, it's that time again! I hope everybody's week is going well. Mine has been good and pretty busy, but I like that. This week, I want to talk to you about Crowdfunding and Crowdsourcing. Both of these are very useful in the real world but a lot of the time it is mainly used online. Let's break down both of the words so you can have a better understanding. Crowdfunding is when people ask for money to help fund an idea or project. Crowdsourcing is when you get a group of motivated people to help solve a problem or help with an idea or project. Crowdfunding and Crowdsourcing are often used on social media platforms. 

 There are four types of Crowdfunding techniques: donation, debt, rewards, and Equity. Donation crowdfunding is when people donate money and expect nothing in return. Debt crowdfunding is when you are given money towards your goal but are expected to pay the money back once finished. Reward crowdfunding is when donors receive something in return for donating; like NPR, they are constantly giving back to their viewers. Finally, Equity crowdfunding is when a business can give away a part of its business in return for some funding. On the internet, people constantly try to promote their projects or goals in the hope that someone will see it and help fund them. If we look at TikTok, this app is designed to help people connect with like-minded individuals. This means content you like to see on your for you page catered towards you. While you scroll on this app, you are shown many types of videos, many of which are people trying to promote products and ideas. Many people try to ask their following to help with a goal or product they are trying to create or sell. 

Crowdsourcing is different from crowdfunding. We see crowdsourcing online and on every social media platform. Just a reminder: Crowdsourcing is when a group of like-minded people come together to help reach a goal or solve a problem. If you look up crowdsourcing on TikTok, a hashtag is dedicated to crowdsourcing. Under that hashtag are over 2000 videos of people asking for help, explaining the idea, and showing the final product of people coming together. I think crowdsourcing is a great idea when asking for help and building a community. If we take a look at the music industry, fans will get together online and make a plan to surprise the artist at the next show. They will organize a meet-up outside the venue on the day so that everybody is ready, and then, when the concert starts, they will surprise the artist. This is a great example of Crowdsourcing. It is a very useful tactic when trying to complete something challenging fast. Overall, Crowdsourcing and Crowdfunding can be very useful when trying to accomplish a goal/project.