Although scholars are beginning to examine the experience of crowdsourced work, the extant literature and popular accounts paint an undersocialized picture of the labor process. This study explores how crowdsourced work remains socially embedded in the structure of an occupational community that exists exclusively online and in relation to a focal firm. The findings draw on interviews and observation of creative freelancers who designed, developed, and distributed digital goods in a crowdsourced work arrangement with an entertainment publisher. The online meeting places of an occupational community supported workers in their responses to three challenges of contingency: limited communication with the firm, sporadic and unpredictable compensation for their work, and unclear career trajectory. Within the community, freelancers found direction and meaning for their work, built collective strategies to smooth compensation, and illuminated a pathway from amateur to expert. As an occupational institution, the community also structured collaborations that transferred knowledge of industry standard practice and coordinated work in the absence of bureaucratic organization.

中文翻译：

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融入人群：创意自由职业者、众包工作和职业社区

尽管学者们开始研究众包工作的经验，但现存的文献和流行的描述描绘了劳动过程的社会化程度不足的画面。本研究探讨了众包工作如何在完全在线且与焦点公司相关的职业社区结构中保持社会嵌入。调查结果借鉴了对创意自由职业者的采访和观察，他们在与娱乐出版商的众包工作安排中设计、开发和分发数字产品。职业社区的在线聚会场所支持工人应对三个偶然性挑战：与公司的沟通有限、工作报酬零星且不可预测以及职业轨迹不明确。在社区内，自由职业者为他们的工作找到了方向和意义，制定了集体策略来平滑薪酬，并照亮了从业余到专家的道路。作为一个职业机构，社区还组织了合作，在没有官僚组织的情况下转移行业标准实践知识和协调工作。