As professional critics lament their ebbing influence on consumers who increasingly rely on the opinions of online peers, the question is being raised of whether top-down reviewers matter anymore. Are crowdsourced reviews – a sort of ‘online word of mouth’ – the only currency that counts?

Once deemed an unreliable source of information, Wikipedia is now more trusted than some news organisations. Amid rising global uncertainty, the online, crowdsourced encyclopaedia is an example of how readily individuals will place confidence in content generated by other people.

With street violence in Rio escalating to daily fatal affairs, the city's inhabitants are seeking new ways to ensure personal safety. As news can spread quickly via word of mouth, a string of apps are helping Cariocans crowdsource information about incidents to keep themselves and tourists safe.

When an earthquake hit Mexico, people took to social media to figure out how to proceed safely as more buildings crumbled. But as misinformation stirred up panic online, locals banded together to combat fake news, rather than depending on tech platforms to maintain journalistic integrity.