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March 27, 2009, 9 a.m.

The evolution of crowdsourcing and the passion of amateurs: Jeff Howe

Our friend Jeff Howe — author of Crowdsourcing, which was the subject of our first Lab Book Club — was back in town last week to give a talk to our other friends at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. At one level, it’s about his book, which centers on what happens when jobs once done by professionals can be done by a large, indistinct group. But he also gets into what he wishes he’d gotten into in his book — the ways crowdsourcing has evolved since the book got frozen between hard covers.

Think of the book as a DVD and this talk as the bonus features. Specifically, the director’s commentary.

David Weinberger was at the talk and liveblogged it if you want a brief textual scan of what Jeff was talking about. The best line for me:

“My catchphrase is that passion is the currency of the 21st century.”

Joshua Benton is the senior writer and former director of Nieman Lab. You can reach him via email (joshua_benton@harvard.edu) or Twitter DM (@jbenton).
POSTED     March 27, 2009, 9 a.m.
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