Marginality or Strategic Selection? Collaborative Crowdsourcing Through Team Building

• In Event: Group and Team Dynamics in Organizational Communication

Abstract

Despite the increasing popularity of crowdsourcing, little is known about the collaboration among crowdsourcing participants. The value of implementing crowdsourcing in problem solving lies in the aggregation of wisdom from a crowd. This study examined how to move from isolated crowdsourcing to collaborative crowdsourcing through team building. In particular, it investigated two collaboration mechanisms: marginality and preferential attachment. With data collected from a global crowdsourcing community Openideo, this study found that both mechanisms were the driving force for the generative co-creation among members of a crowd. Participants with leadership experience, winning experience, or more connections in the community were more likely to be selected as team members. The significant effects of marginality were attributed to collaboration skills, evaluation skills, community tenure, and social ranking. Implications on how to sustain collaborative collaboration were discussed (133 words).

Author

• Rong Wang, Northwestern University