Crowdsourcing

When on www.drugstore.com I often use crowdsourcing to rate which products I am considering to buy. Recently I was replenishing some of my make up that was running low. I knew the basics of what I wanted, however I wanted to try a new mascara. I logged on and searched in a price range and company I knew I wanted. I then read many reviews for how people liked certain products and made my decision.

I also used this site when buying my boyfriends birthday gift. However I used the site to get reviews on what I knew was in stores. After reading the reviews I knew exactly what I wanted to purchase and in a time crunch I went to the store to make my purchase.

I find crowdsourcing to be very useful. It is a good way to get a wide range of opinions on a product. I try to always return favor when I purchase and item online.

Another example of crowdsourcing that just popped into my head is www.rateyourprofessor.com. I know I check the professors for the classes I sign up for on this site. I don't however use it to determine if it is worth while to take a class because opinions tend to run very positive or very negative. I use it as a tool along with asking others if they have taken the class, with which professor they took it and if they enjoyed it.

I do find this business model to be effective. I regularly use crowd sourcing to help determine my decisions.