Crowdsourcing: Mining the masses for the next big thing - The Boston Globe

Timely snapshot 

You are the future of the entertainment industry. So's your neighbor, and that person across the breakfast table. At least that's what the proponents of "crowdsourcing" believe.

Crowdsourcing essentially means throwing your arms open to the Internet community and inviting them to help create content or software. Often, there is prize money involved, but sometimes people pitch in for fun or glory (see The Internet Movie Database, originally built by users before it was acquired by Amazon.com).

Source: Crowdsourcing: Mining the masses for the next big thing - The Boston Globe