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Platforms & Crowds

With the power to transform established industries, capture untapped value, and materialize new business models, perhaps no aspect of the digital economy is as transformative as the possibilities presented by the platform economy and the utilization of crowds.
Google Map on phone

Unfair fight: small businesses vs. disinformation

Misleading information in maps and listings can endanger local businesses. Creative policies are needed to prevent serious damage.

Wayfair ad

How brands unwittingly fund disinformation

In order to reduce the total amount of disinformation online, it would need to be a less profitable endeavor.

Nike phone image

Facts and fakes: how misinformation, disinformation, and hoaxes impact brands

To some, it only seems fair that social media platforms be held responsible when hoaxes, misinformation, and disinformation are spread about a brand.

Christian Catalini presenting

Libra crypotocurrency and trust

New mechanisms are needed to establish trust in digital platforms that are using blockchain technology.

Snapping Photos Outdoors

A guide to nature in the age of Instagram

In March of this year, California was host to a spectacular sight: one of the greatest super blooms in years. Lake Elsinore (halfway between LA and San Diego) was so alight in poppies that the incredible blooms could even be seen from space. It was an Instagrammer’s paradise… and everyone knew it. Within days, the […]

Contest screenshot

The curation of collective intelligence

There’s a classic story about a statistician who, while at a county fair, happens upon a competition to guess the butchered weight of an ox. He compared individual guesses with the median guess of the crowd and found that while individual estimates varied widely, the group as a whole came within 1% from the ox’s […]

Plant sprouting

Do the Uber and Lyft IPOs signal the coming of age of the gig economy?

Upwork went first. The talent network that matches freelancers with companies made its initial public offering (IPO) in October 2018. Upwork’s IPO was the first “gig economy” business to go public. Next came Lyft in March. The Lyft IPO gained a lot of momentum, despite the fact the company has yet to yield a profit. […]

Colorful sticky notes on wall

Can crowds help the U.S. Military stay agile?

U.S. Special Operations Forces are known for their agility. However with expanding activity in the digitally-connected world, remaining agile means being open to new approaches — like working with crowds.

woman at computer

When online harassment doesn’t follow the rules

Is there a ‘cost’ to online harassment? Is it quantifiable? Beyond the toll it weighs on human victims, the rampant toxicity we see across social networks and communities, does this toxicity affect the bottom line of social networks? Well, in December 2018, Amnesty International released a robust report on online harassment against women politicians and […]

Starry nigh over trees

“Lost in Space:” can the crowd help NASA find items on the International Space Station?

It may seem hard to believe, but even astronauts lose track of things! In the closed environment of the International Space Station (ISS) there are only so many places equipment and personal items can be stored. So NASA reached out to LISH to run a crowdsource contest to improve on the existing state of the art inventory tracking system.

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