Mask? Check! Cape? Check! Cellphone? Double check!

Living in a world where superheroes have dominated the big screen, it’s no surprise that when the end credits rolled from the film The Avengers (one of the highest grossing films of all-time), it left many people wanting to be an actual member of the superhero team – I know I did! But what lies beneath the surface is that many of us are already part of a team doing greater good for the public whether we like to believe it or not – it’s called crowdsourcing.

Crowdsourcing, which can be used in different ways, is the combination of the words crowd and outsourcing, and is best defined as (usually online) the process of gaining needed services, ideas and content from a crowd of people. And we have technology to thank for putting this team together – sorry Samuel L. Jackson.

Now we’re not exactly up against aliens or intergalactic mutants threating to devour Earth, but everyday real-life crimes. And how we help solve these crimes is literally at our fingertips.

On May 5th, an Amber Alert was issued for a missing 14-year-old girl in Texas. The news spread like wildfire on Twitter and within seconds, by the power of crowdsourcing, hundreds of people retweeted a simple message:

The outcome?

Thankfully a happy ending to a scary situation, this is one of the many ways that showcase how powerful crowdsourcing can be. Some have even suggested that crowdsourcing could be the new America’s Most Wanted. So no matter who you are, what you do, or even if you’re a “superhero” lurking in the shadows of your own home, you never know what one simple post or tweet can do. Crowdsourcing, assemble!