In the past when I’ve written about crowdsourcing, it’s typically been pointing out its flaws, not extolling its virtues. While crowdsourcing failed for Kraft’s vegemite offering iSnack 2.0 and Mountain Dew’s “Dub the Dew” contest, it proved to be a saving grace for Google and its efforts to put North Korea (literally) on the map.
According to Evan Ramstad’s January 30th article, “Google Fills In North Korea Map, From Subways to Gulags,” in the Wall Street Journal, last week Google revised its Maps application to include geographical data covering North Korea, which is notoriously closed-off and hostile to outside – especially Western – intrusion.
To accomplish this feat, Google called upon North Koreans to participate as “citizen cartographers” to submit site names via Map Maker, a Google development program. Maps of the region now include “the names of many streets, schools, subway stations and landmarks” and, incredibly, outlines and names of North Korean work/prison camps, rumored to be among the world’s largest and most inhumane.
Despite the dubious reputation crowdsourcing may have earned over the past few years, it would be unwise for marketers and researchers to underestimate the power of masses. If crowdsourcing can help Google get a look past the shroud of one of the most mysterious countries in the world, what can’t it do?