Crowdsourcing gets up close and personal

Crowdsourcing started off as a way of using the power of the internet to get people behind an idea or to use the combined brain power of lots of folk connected by the web.

It's now getting increasingly personal. Here are a couple of examples:

German consumers who want to get some feedback on how they look and fear that friends, family and online pals aren't objective enough, can now upload a few pictures to checkyourimage.com, and have impartial strangers evaluate their appearance at Checkyourimage.de.

And if that ain't close enough, Pittsburgh-based SideTaker offers a way for each member of a couple in dispute to tell their side of the story anonymously and let the crowds decide who's to blame. The dispute-resolution process begins when one member of a couple submits their side of the argument on the site. A link is then e-mailed to that person's significant other, inviting them to add their own side. Only when that happens does the story go live on SideTaker for the perusal and ruling of the visiting crowds. In one of the most popular stories currently on the site, for example, a woman describes a husband whose self-proclaimed frugality prevents him from flushing the toilet regularly; in another, a man describes a girlfriend who's gaining weight but refuses to exercise. Users of the site can vote on which side they agree with or leave comments to express their opinions. Using the ad-supported site is currently free, and visitors can search stories by recency, popularity and number of comments, as well as a variety of tags. Stories remain up on the site for two months, or until both sides indicate that the conflict has been resolved.