Castingwords.com and Crowdsourcing (in Brief)

Castingwords.com is an online audio transcription service that receives audio of various qualities via either mail or internet. It takes the audio that was sent, breaks it into various segments of time, and uses the Amazon-based program “Mechanical Turk” to transcribe the audio using crowdsourcing technology. Crowdsourcing is the process by which a company outsources a function to an undefined network of people rather than hiring one or several professionals to accomplish the same function*. The company chooses the “winning” method of solving the function, compensates the successful user the predetermined (generally cheap) reward, and keeps the rights to the work and method. This process can occur by users cooperating, operating individually, or many individuals completing individual tasks that amount to a cohesive whole. It provides the company a solution to its function without having to pay higher wages, while the users benefit with a quick job and compensation, which is especially profitable for users in foreign countries where they have a greater value in the American dollar than their monetary system. Furthermore, the company has a broader pool of amateur and potentially expert talent to select from and pays strictly when it is satisfied with the product.

Negatives, Drawbacks, Counterarguments
Corwdsourcing by nature entails a lack of accountability. In not hiring a professional or working with a specific enclave of people, the company is less able to hold the employed accountable to smooth progress or finishing by a certain deadline. There are weaker forms of accountability, such as predetermined dates for completion, just as there are predetermined expectations for quality, but there is not the level of commitment that comes standard with professional employment with contracts. The worker is viable to either begin a task and not complete it or not attain to the standard of the company. Thus there is no assurance that anyone who undertakes the crowdsourced task will produce the quality of work the company prefers. Because of this risk, the time—and money—taken to inspect the quality and accuracy of the work, especially on large-scale projects, could potentially result in crowdsourcing being less profitable than hiring another more controlled business model. We will attempt to circumvent this discrepancy by not only crowdsourcing the original manuscript but also the proofreading process. If the submitted files match in size, the transcription will be accepted; if not, then we will crowdsource again until the transcription and proofread text match.