Ah but jeez. On the minus side, most of the hits are dead boring. It really is a free-for-all market place, so it’s full of transcription hits, for which you end up getting paid $4.00 in a good hour, rather than $15-30 in the real world doing the same thing. This is a great tool for companies that want to entice college-educated first world computer addicts into mucking about doing work for third world prices. And that’s just for “fun” because people get addicted to seeing their cash account add up. I’ve put my real-world $40,000/year job in jeopardy by turking at work and trying to earn an extra dollar a day (which is harder and takes more time than you’d think). So: laborer beware. If you choose to turk, do it with open eyes and an awareness of its addictive qualities and potential as a weapon for The Man.
Undoubtedly, Mechanical Turk is a great site. It offers multiple ways of earning. Few categories of my favorite HIT do not stay for long. Also posting of HIT are not regular in each category. This reduces the earning level drastically.
March 20th, 2008
Mechanical Turk (www.mturk.com) is a fascinating and fun website. You sign up and do little tasks that range from interesting to bizarre. Most can be completed in under ten minutes. Many can be completed in less than a minute. Each pays you a miniscule amount for accomplishing the task. It is a really small amount but it adds up. Even better, it’s a way keep track with your friends who’s the most successful at the tasks.
March 20th, 2008
On the plus side, Mechanical Turk is a way to get reconnected to the value of a penny, which often takes at least a minute to earn. Spend enough time on Mechanical Turk, though, and you’ll find yourself a lot more reluctant to just spend, spend, spend in the real world. Also, it really does add up over time. I’ve been on it for 18 months off and on, and have earned over $230 dollars. And, it can be fun. I don’t think I’d do it if it weren’t fun.
April 7th, 2008
Mechanical Turk brings together the best of capitalism and the internet, albeit on a small scale. Users can easily make money and assist Requesters with small seemingly pointless tasks. It is all a part of the new web 2.0 economy. People are even making money on games such as “second life”. Money making opportunities on the internet are only going to continue to grow, and the Amazon Mechanical Turk is one of the best offerings out there right now.