Crowdboarding Brings Crowdsourcing to Surfing
Who knew hanging-ten could be crowdsourced? Well, this new sport taking Southern California by storm is doing just that. Any surfer can tell you, sometimes it's just hard to catch a wave alone, and crowdboarding lets you tap the intelligence of a small crowd, one that just happens to be standing on the same surfboard as you, to help make the right choices and catch the best rides.
Some people crowdboard as a group of 9, and others prefer ar team of 13. Why the odd number? Try any other number combination, and you won't even get out of the water. ...The choice between 9 or 13 depends both on the skill level of the surfer & the size of the board.
I know what you're thinking... This group-surfing fad may seem incredibly unnecessary at first glance, but the advantages of crowdboarding are many fold:
- Some riders can look out for sharks while others and other can eye the next great wave before your ride is even over. Without everyone having to focus as much on the twisting and turning the board in just the right way (whatever it is surfers do...), it apparently opens up a lot of spare time.
- If you get really good at it, you can even play other games during your ride, including camp favorites like hot-potato, or the classic kids game 'Telephone' where you say something and have it go around in a circle until the message is garbled at the end. There's nothing funnier than when you're almost to the shore at the end of an awesome ride and your fellow crowdboarder turns to you and says "Hamster taco freeway surprise for every American".
Just as crowdsourcing is helping people free their time and boost their intelligence though microtasks and group collaboration, crowdbaording is helping surfers master the ocean with the power of group muscle and group intelligence resulting in less need for individual effort.
here's what one crowdboarder had to say about the new surfing craze:
"As a professional surfer, and a generally no-nonsense sort of person, I was uncomfortable at first trying to stand on a surfboard with 8 other people, but after we caught our first wave, it all made sense; it's was like I was a surfing bee hive. I never want to surf alone again." - Bill Stoddington writer for Surfing Strangely
Okay Ken. I guess the only question left is, what does a crowdboarding kickflip look like?
Happy April Fools Day from the Daily Crowdsource...