Get in gear

Web 2.0 hinges on the validation of the end user as an individual while crowdsourcing evokes images of mindless drones performing repetitive tasks in order to save a corporation's bottom line. How can these two ideas be not only complimentary, but interdependent?

It can be seen as the validation of the individual within their relationship to the "whole," whether that whole is their World of Warcraft Guild, their Habs hockey blog, or their Amazon recommendations. An individual involved in producing something in a crowdsource atmosphere feels ownership (for whatever minuscule period of time) in the project, their motivation is beyond economic.

Dollars seem to make the world go round, and although the gift-economy is certainly an ideal, their are innumerable things that can never be truly "free." But, in the shaping of this economy I see more often a redefinition of value. Ideally, expertise will be increasingly valued with the "crowd" in place to not only consume but keep different fields honest and evolving. The opposite is possible if "experts"aren't held to account to produce quality, resulting in stagnation and mediocrity.

Chris Anderson (Of Wired) exams the "Free" economy in his latest cover story. he tackles that "value" will be quantified in entirely new ways in web 2.0, devaluing certain activities or information to the point of zero while fostering an environment that reimagines (and I would say more honestly portrays) our value system. Crowdsourcing will leave the tasks anyone can do to anyone, paving the way for the development of specialization and expertise. This specialization and expertise will be accountable to everyone because it is and increasingly will be valued.

"There is, presumably, a limited supply of reputation and attention in the world at any point in time. These are the new scarcities — and the world of free exists mostly to acquire these valuable assets for the sake of a business model to be identified later. Free shifts the economy from a focus on only that which can be quantified in dollars and cents to a more realistic accounting of all the things we truly value today." (Chris Anderson)