Trends that are Shaping Social Media in the Public Interest: Social Production/Mass Collaborating

By Jamie on December 21, 2009 | 1137No Commentshttp://think-social.org/trends-that-are-shaping-social-media-in-the-public-interest-social-productionmass-collaborating.htmTrends+that+are+Shaping+Social+Media+in+the+Public+Interest%3A+Social+Production%2FMass+Collaborating2009-12-21+18%3A48%3A03Jamie

Next in our series “Trends that are Shaping Social Media in the Public Interest” is Social production or mass collaborating, which occurs when large numbers of people work independently on a single project, often modular in its nature, to create a product of significant value and complexity. Wikipedia is probably the best known example on the Internet, but many more in almost every area of endeavor are being organized by individuals, organizations and companies.

This participatory, reciprocal service of crowd-sourcing has enabled organizations to tackle ambitious, large-scale projects, otherwise near impossible to do with just a staff and limited budget. As the motto to mass-sourced reporting service Help a Reporter Out (HARO) says, “Everyone is an expert at something.” While recruiting many people to pitch in to actualize a product is not a new idea, the examples we found in the past year highlight how new technologies allow projects of greater scale and ambition to become reality.

Examples include:

• This May, TED launched an ambitious, mass-sourced endeavor to translate TEDTalks into the world’s languages. Run from a platform by dotSUB, version 1.0 of TED’s Open-Translation Project launched with 300 translations in 40 languages, and 200 volunteer translators. To start, a handful of talks were translated professionally into 20 languages, but going on the project will be completely reliant on volunteers from Beijing to Beirut, who use a platform created by TED and technology partner dotSUB. As of this past weekend, there were TEDTalks in 58 languages, from 1267 translators providing 2907 translations. On the TED site’s translations page, there are charts that illustrate how many translations are in each language, and profiles of translators.

Architecture for Humanity is dedicated to “building a more sustainable future using the power of design,” which includes not-for-profit projects that range from schools in Uganda to skate-boarding-and-life-skills center in Afghanistan to community-designed housing in the American Southwest. Part of that mission includes its Open Architecture Network, an open-source platform where designers, educators and non-profit organizations who have volunteered their time and resources can share and comment on each others projects, and collaborate with each other.

• The power of crowds can also be seen in one aspect of PatientsLikeMe, a network of web communities where members are united by their chronic and terminal illnesses: the data that members provide is funneled to research institutions and companies, who then use the information to improve care and treatment for those diseases. Money that these partners pay for the data then goes toward running the PatientsLikeMe online communities.

Read the full Social Media Blueprints report and learn about the other trends that are shaping the use of social media in the public interest:  Social Media Blueprints 1.0