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2.8 The Future: Web 3.0, Web 4.0, and Web 5.0 57

ment (Figure 2.5). The winning individuals in the crowd are Uses of Crowdsourcing in E-Commerce
well compensated, either monetarily or with special recogni-
tion. In other cases, the only rewards may be the satisfaction There are several EC applications of crowdsourcing—nota-
with a job well done. The use of crowdsourcing can yield ble is the creation of Wikipedia. Sherman (2011) and Fitchard
results from amateurs or unrecognized professionals. (2015) present many successful applications; the major ones
are described in Chapter 8.
Example: Starbucks
Starbucks introduced My Starbucks Idea (mystarbucksidea.
force.com), a social media site designed to solicit ideas and SECTION 2.7 REVIEW QUESTIONS
feedback from customers (see opening case in Chapter 1).
The site was built around four key themes: (1) ideas are user 1. Define augmented reality.
generated; (2) users can vote to short list ideas, discussing 2. Describe how AR can facilitate EC.
them before and/or after the vote; and (3) company employ- 3. Define crowdsourcing.
ees act as “idea partners,” providing answers to questions 4. List the elements of crowdsourcing.
and leading discussions. 5. Describe the process of crowdsourcing.
The crowd’s idea generation process is visible to the 6. What are the major benefits of crowdsourcing?
entire Starbucks community. The members can see the status 7. How is crowdsourcing used in EC?
of each proposal.
An overview of crowdsourcing is provided in Bright- 2.8 THE FUTURE: WEB 3.0, WEB 4.0,
SightGroup’s video titled “Jeff Howe - Crowdsourcing” AND WEB 5.0
(3:20 min) at youtube.com/watch?v=F0-UtNg3ots, also see
crowdsourcing.org and Crowdconsortium (crowdconsor-
Web 2.0 is here. What’s next? The answer is a still-unknown
tium.org). These specialists have developed best practices for
the industry. For more about crowdsourcing, see Chapter 8. entity referred to as Web 3.0, the future wave of Internet
applications. Some of the desired capabilities of Web 3.0 will
be discussed later in this section. In general, there is opti-
Benefits of Crowdsourcing
mism about the future of the use of the Web 3.0 to facilitate
EC (see siliconangle.com/blog/2013/08/02/the-future-of-
The major perceived benefits of crowdsourcing include the
ecommerce-with-web-3-0).
following:
For additional benefits to crowdsourcing, see Sherman
(2011).
Web 3.0: What Does the Future Hold?

• Problems can be analyzed or solved at comparative Web 3.0 is projected to deliver a new generation of business
little cost. (Payment can be determined by the applications that will see business and social computing con-
results; however, sometimes there is no monetary verge. Web 3.0 could change the manner in which people
payment, just praise or accolades). live and work as well as the organizations where they work,
• Solutions can be reached quickly since many people and it may even revolutionize social networking (see 1stweb-
work on the needed research project simultane- designer 2015).
ously. Also, designs of products may be expedited. According to several experts, Web 3.0 could have the fol-
• The contributing crowd may reside within the lowing capabilities:
organization; therefore, talents may be discovered.
• By listening to the crowd, organizations gain first
hand insight into the desires of their customers (or
employees). There is built-in market research when
the crowd is composed of customers. • Make current applications smarter by introducing
• Crowdsourcing can tap into the global world of new intelligent features
ideas. The crowd may include business partners, • Provide easier and faster interaction, collaboration,
customers, academicians, etc., and the members of and user engagement
the crowd can reside in different countries. • Facilitate intelligent-based powerful search engines
• Customers tend to be more loyal if they participate • Provide more user-friendly application-creation and
in a company’s problem-solving project (see the human-computer interaction capabilities
opening case in Chapter 1). • Increase the wisdom and creativity of people