Social Media as Enabler of Crowdsourcing

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate how social media features enable crowdsourcing and to gain rich understanding of mechanisms that lead from online community design practices to success in crowdsourcing initiatives.Methodology/approach – Inductive qualitative methods were used for investigating the case of crowdsourcing-based microstock business model. Twenty-three in-depth interviews with stock photography industry insiders were combined with netnography data and documents.Findings – Two mechanisms influencing participants’ motivation and peer-to-peer learning were identified. Both extrinsic and intrinsic motivations are important for participants’ engagement.Research limitations/implications – Findings of this inductive effort should be replicated in other industry settings and used to develop testable propositions of antecedents and outcomes of crowdsourcing implementations.Practical implications – Companies embarking on crowdsourcing initiatives can enhance participants' motivations through social media and enable learning through online communities. Managers must understand who participates in the crowd and what their motivation is.Originality/value – This study is investigating under-researched peer-vetted creative production crowdsourcing model. Managers can use presented ideas for developing crowdsourcing online communities.