Which term refers to the use of free time to develop collaborative online projects?

• A. Web 2.0
• B. Prosumer
• C. Mass amateurisation
• D. Cognitive surplus

Answer: (D)

Cognitive surplus is the resource at work here: the free time people have, which they can devote to collaborative online projects. When individuals have spare hours and access to digital tools, those hours can be pooled to create, edit, and organize shared online work—think Wikipedia, open-source software, or citizen science projects. The idea is that it's not just the technology enabling collaboration, but the human time and voluntary effort behind it.

Web 2.0 describes the technologies and platforms that enable user-generated content and social collaboration, but it isn’t the resource itself. The term prosumer focuses on users who both consume and produce value, but it doesn’t specify the communal use of free time. Mass amateurisation refers to the broader trend of amateurs taking on activities once done by professionals, without naming the specific time resource being mobilized. Cognitive surplus uniquely highlights the use of free time to build and contribute to collaborative online projects.