A new First Monday issue deals with iStockphoto although I would like to put this on a science level
individuals in the crowd likely participate in crowdsourcing ventures to gain peer recognition and to develop creative skills. The present study tests these assumptions in the crowdsourcing community at iStockphoto. An online survey obtained 651 responses from iStockers to demographic and motivations questions. Results indicate that the desire to make money, develop individual skills, and to have fun were the strongest motivators for participation
There seems to be a very similar motivation for doing science: make money, develop skills and have fun. I would add “travel at lot” and “be sought after”.
In a crowdsourcing application, the crowd is the collective of users who participate in the problem“solving process […] The crowd consists of individuals who posit solutions in a crowdsourcing application, though the crowd may also consist of firms that put forth solutions on behalf of a company. Thus, though it may be simpler to conceptualize the crowd as a composite of individual Web users