GooseGrade, a startup that uses crowdsourcing to let anyone copy edit web sites, has tweaked its service to allow readers to copy edit any web site online. Previously, “citizen editors” could only edit sites which already have the gooseGrade plugin installed.
With the launch of the new service, readers only need to install gooseGrade’s new browser bookmarklet, which can be found on gooseGrade’s website. When a reader finds an error (spelling, grammar, factual, or otherwise) while browsing a site, they can click the “Copy Edit” button in their browsers’ toolbar, highlight the text that they are editing, and submit their edit. Citizen editors will also see any pending edits on the page submitted by other users.
In order to see any edits that gooseGrade users have submitted to their web sites, site owners can install a free plug-in for WordPress, Blogger, Typepad, or any other web site or blog which allows them to accept or decline readers’ edits at their own discretion. gooseGrade will show site owners a side-by-side comparison of original and edited text, with an accuracy rating for each gooseGrade user based on how often their edits are accepted by other authors, and if using gooseGrade’s WordPress plugin, accepted edits are automatically changed in the article body after being accepted by the author or site admin. Once an author accepts or declines an edit, it is no longer displayed to others when the bookmarklet is clicked.
This seems like a great idea, and an improvement from the site’s original model, which seemed restricting. Launched in 2008, gooseGrade is monetizing its service by offering enterprise versions of its service that can be used in-house by large media companies like CNN or Fox News.