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去年被牛津英语词典收录的网络词汇除了“粉丝”、“关注”等与社交媒体紧密相关的表达以外，引领新型运营模式的“众包”（crowdsourcing）一词也被收录其中。今天我们就来详细介绍一下这个词。 Many of us will be familiar with the established concept of outsourcing, defined as 'an arrangement in which work is done by people from outside your company …'. This definition might fit an instance of crowdsourcing too, but the essential difference is that, whereas outsourcing usually involves a specific, previously known person or organization (often an expert in a particular field) crowdsourcing refers to a task or problem thrown open to an undefined public (the crowd) – quite literally any Tom, Dick, or Harry who could possibly provide the answer. 我们很多人都已经对“外包”这个概念比较熟悉，它的意思是“安排本公司以外的人来完成某项工作”。这个概念在一些特定场合下也适用于crowdsourcing（众包），不过二者本质的区别在于，外包一般是由某个指定的、之前已经熟识的人或者组织（通常是某个领域的专家）来完成，而众包则是将某个任务或问题抛给未知的大众——可以是张三、李四，或任何一个可能贡献答案或解决方法的人。 Fast establishing itself as a legitimate business tool, the perceived benefits of crowdsourcing are obvious – problems can be explored quickly and at comparatively low cost, and businesses can tap a range of talent that may not exist within the confines of a particular organization. It's also useful for marketing purposes because the crowd may include potential customers – asking people for their response to a problem may also be a way to glean information about what they want from a product or service. | 
