#corwdsourcing

As I was combing through the news this morning my eyes quickly found this line on the Washington Post homepage: is it really possible to crowd-source a recovery via hashtags?

And after last night’s class discussion on crowdsourcing I was even more intrigued, now knowing what “crowdsourcing” actually is. This piece on the Post went on to describe how President Obama is holding a Twitter town hall today in which people can tweet questions or messages to the President who will answer in 140 characters or less. The fact that our own President is taking the time and effort to use Twitter to communicate with Americans and discuss controversial issues just goes to further prove the amazing effect social media has on society.

In our discussion of crowdsourcing via social media last night, we didn’t go into the possibility of politicians or government officials using it to engage voters and learn more from the public. However, in my opinion this might be one of the greatest uses of crowdsourcing via social media because real results could possibly emerge and are in the national spotlight now. I am certain that after this town hall, more and more politicians will be engaging their constituents on Twitter and crowdsourcing through social media. It is an easy way to mobilize voters and connect with them on a new level.