IStockPhoto

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From an interview with the founder, Bruce Livingstone, at http://zero.newassignment.net/filed/beginnings_crowdsourcing_photography_istockphoto_c

"Q: What made you decide that there was a market for microstock?

A: At the time, people were coming up with words like e-business and i-business and all those cheesy naming conventions, so I decided on iStockPhoto, bought the name for $25 from Network Solutions, and started giving away these photographs. In 3 months, I had people all over the world saying they wanted to share their photographs as well. My intention was to get people to start using the site and to get used to the idea of sharing work and engaging in conversation with people all over the world

In late 2000, iStockPhoto got our first hosting bill for $10,000. We realized we were kind of screwed and were going to have to either shut it down or start charging something. It was so easy—I asked the community (which at the time was about 500 people strong) if they were okay with that, and everyone agreed. We worked out the budget, and it came out to around 25 cents a photo, so that’s where we started.

Q: What do you think motivates your contributors? Is it money or some other incentive?

A: The monetary rewards are an added bonus, but I don’t think they’re everything for everyone. I think our core group of photographers, our 2000 exclusives [photographers with portfolios exclusive to iStockPhoto], are motivated by the reward of being part of an elite club that engages in creative discussion nonstop. And sometimes you get to see your work used somewhere—on television, on billboards … and to me that’s even greater reward than the money." (http://zero.newassignment.net/filed/beginnings_crowdsourcing_photography_istockphoto_c)


More Information

  • Brabham, D. C. (2008). “Moving the Crowd at iStockphoto: The Composition of the Crowd and Motivations for Participation in a Crowdsourcing Application.” First Monday, Vol. 13, No. 6, June 2008.