Pennies and Nickels and Dimes, Oh My! During the latter months of 2008, in my quest for finding ways to make money online, I found Amazon Mechanical Turk. On my first day, I made about 34 cents. That wasn’t exactly a real motivator. Also, it looked like a lot of the HITs were beyond my scope, since I’m not very computer savvy and don’t know how to do really basic things that a lot of people have been doing for years. This limited what HITs I could accept, and consequently, how much money I could make. The idea of working for pennies was a little disheartening—well, a lot disheartening. But after a while, it began to add up. I have very ambivalent feelings about this. On one hand, it really is a virtual sweatshop, as they say. On the other hand, I’ve worked on some really interesting things from new cell phone apps to interactive classes on educational websites. I have gotten unfair rejections from unscrupulous requestors, and gotten bonuses occasionally because someone liked the job I did. I have to admit, those rejections really hurt. They hurt my pride, they hurt my feelings, and not least of all, they hurt my ever important approval rating. It takes so very many to increase the percentage, but only a few (a very few) to reduce it. Math can be so unfair sometimes! Last week I passed the $500 mark in earnings! Like I said before, it really does add up. When I see a HIT for twenty five cents, it’s like CHA-CHING! Now we’re talking some big bucks! Oh, to a non-turker, that might seem a little ridiculous. But once you do it for a while, you’re kind of hooked.

Memoir of a Middle-Aged Turker Lady Yes, I am middle-aged and a Turker lady, a professional with a master’s degree in English, professional and amateur publications to my credit, an assessment specialist for incoming college students, a workshop instructor, a freelance writer and proofreader, a dog-sitter, babysitter, house-sitter, caregiver, and do-it-yourselfer who can put together computer workstations, printer and microwave carts, electric fireplaces, patio furniture, and more. I can also program the VCR and set up TVs and DVD players, and I can generally solve computer issues on my own unless they involve the hardware. So how did I end up here at A.M.T.? Well, after many years of being a part-time professor, I am still unable to get a full-time position in this field. It’s not for lack of trying or for lack of experience or skills. There are simply too many of us PTs and not enough FT positions to go around. Add to this the fact that California is broke and I am working at a state-supported school, and you get the picture. I have had to find additional ways to bring in money, and this is one of them. Selling things online is all right, but one has to pay to do it. At least if you’re a Turker, you don’t have to pay to work. It has suited me well because I can type quickly and am very good at writing and rewriting. I especially like to do the paraphrases, summaries, and sometimes the original articles—like this one. I also do the surveys now and then. I am thinking of changing occupations at some point, but I’m sure I will still be Turking!

Sixty. I’ve applied to sixty jobs within the past month, and none of them want me. There just isn’t a high demand for English and religion majors with only minimum wage retail experience. Who would have thought? But I am lucky and better off than many during this time. I pray for the unemployed who have children and families depending on them. What an awful, terrifying situation to be in. So this summer I’m re-investing my time in odds and ends, things that interest me. I have church, I have clubs, I have a pile of books bigger than my head that I am going to read. My frustrations shouldn’t be frustrations at all, but opportunities to make me more creative and open-minded regarding my time and money. That may be a luxury in and of itself. But I get so depressed when I’m not engaged in something. And I don’t want to go back to school in the fall and answer the “So what did you do this summer?” question with “Um. Well. About that.” Every opportunity I am given shapes me and makes me into a stronger person, and I am so happy with who I’m becoming.

College is a busy time…but not by any means a cheap one. The time I spent online each day could’ve very well burned out my eyes. In fact, it is only by way of some wholesome miracle that they have not popped right out of my skull. My vehicle, and my hometown, are both 500 miles away…what am I to do or a job if I cannot get to town on a daily basis? Well, in an amazing turn of events…amazon.com provided me with an answer. I was desperately “googling” ways to earn money when the words ‘amazon.com mechanical turk’ came up. As it turns out, I can make as much money as I am willing to work for without leaving my dorm room. The increments are usually small…for instance, tagging a photo may be the job, but the pay for said job will be proportional to the difficulty level…so I am paid $0.05. That doesn’t go very far in the long run to meet the social and entertainment needs of a rising college student. However, with as much free time as I am provided with, there is simply no reason why I could not work 200 jobs a day if I wanted to. 200 jobs, five cents at a time, is equivalent to $4.00. And, believe it or not, $4.00 is enough to by something off of amazon.com after the store credit is transferred to my account. As an mturk, I am glued to my computer screen 6 hours a day…but I am actually getting compensated for it! I don’t mind doing a bit of boring work now and again if I am getting paid for it. It’s a bit dull, but…I have a few DVD’s on my collection shelf to show for it, and that’s good enough for me!

I’ve been a bit of a Mechanical Turk junkie ever since I came across a mention of the service in a New York Times Magazine article about seventeen months ago. Now, it’s the rare day that I don’t stop by and check out what HITs are available. Overall it’s been a pretty great experience: by helping rank search engine results and categorize old books by subject matter, I learn more about the world I live in, and I feel like I now have a better sense of how certain kinds of academic and corporate research are conducted by coming across their endeavors here. It hasn’t all been positive, of course: I consider myself a writer by trade, and it’s always a little disheartening to see requesters offering fifty cents or a dollar for three- and four-hundred-word articles. It doesn’t matter if people are willing to work so cheaply; those are criminal rates no matter how you look at it, and they suggest a certain indifference toward quality, and even a bit of contempt toward the writer, on the requester’s part. Still, I’m thankful that Mechanical Turk has given me the chance to contribute to what seems to be a great number of research projects and start-ups in their beta phase. This is one of a relative handful of places on the internet where the ideal can be realized: people can actually share their knowledge with each other in order to make life a bit better for everyone.

I am a poor college student and a mechanical turk. I love theatre and political science- basically the same thing. I spend far too much time online anyhow, and found out about mechanical turk a few months ago. I don’t really, truly work at it, just a few HITs here and there, but it’s so nice to actually earn something with my noodlings. I’m going to use whatever I make towards my books next semester. I wasn’t going to even do this HIT, because I am not so fond of the writing ones- I write enough papers, and I’d prefer not to write even more in my spare time. But I actually went to the diaries site and looked it up, and the whole project was interesting, so I chose to contribute. And, after all, who really would turn down a quarter? Every little bit helps. I’m watching a movie with my boyfriend and a mutual friend and just typing away. I didn’t meet my sales goals at work today, which was depressing. Sometimes it’s just like that, no matter how hard you try. Mechanical turk doesn’t have goals, which I really appreciate. I don’t really set myself any. Interesting, the need for human mental faculties instead of computer capabilities. I wish the pay was better, I’d certainly do it more. I work my regular job tomorrow, selling useless items that people enjoy but don’t really need, at staggeringly large prices. These people should do some HITs and understand the worth of a penny, but then again, if they didn’t buy stupid stuff I’d be quickly out of a job.

I Just Lost My Job I’ve worked for the same small, busy medical office for the past five years. In general I loved my job. I performed all administrative work and my office manager was located in another county. Basically I was on my own. I knew my job, my time restrictions, and met all my deadlines. At the end of December 2008 my Dr. sold his practice to a young Dr. and his wife, who is also a Dr. My Dr. had this practice for 25 plus years. I was excited about the new direction the practice would go, per discussions in our office meetings during the change over. I was hired to do administrative work, not clinical, of which I had no disire to do what so ever. After working with the new Dr. for four months, I noticed when I would have to ask him something his reply’s became arrogant and with a tone of “I can’t believe you just ask me that”. I’m very confident, outgoing and very much a people person that doesn’t carry her feelings on her shoulders, but this man gave me a complex I did not like. I was the only one in the office that was not clinical trained and he made it a point to remind me every chance he got. I still performed my duties, was pleasant, never displayed drama and I only had one confrontation with another employee which was quickly resolved and it never bothered either of us again. On Wednesday, May 28th my office manager came to my location and at the end of the day called me into her office. Per the Dr’s. request she had to fire me. I was shocked, not saying I was perfect in my performances, but I always got great yearly reviews and I was generally good at what I did. This was the two reasons given to me: I was not being a team player and I had left a patient on hold and didn’t back to them before they hung up (grant you I had three incoming lines and I was the only one answering phones). When those reasons were given, I didn’t even care I lost my job. I stood up, walked out of her office, gathered my stuff and left without looking back. That’s been a week and I still don’t know the real reason I was fired. I’m just thankful we have NO debt except for normal monthly expenses and I will get to draw unemployment. It’s not the fact “I can’t believe they fired ME”, it’s I can’t believe the reason.

Notes to Self on Being a Mechanical Turk Click. Click. Click. The pennies that add up to dollars and the dollars add up to a better day, a better life, or maybe just a better moment. A moment where I am being productive and on my way to reaching my financial goals however large or small that they may be. Where will I spend my earnings from being a Mechanical Turk? Will they add up to enough? What is enough? I try remember that everything matters and everything counts - every cent counts and that this is one of the positive choices that I have made in order to have a better future. I am proud to be a Mechanical Turk, as much as other people do not understand the concept. I enjoy the freedom of coming and going as I please, doing as much or as little as I choose or that I can. Being a Mechanical Turk is convenient. I must find more understanding people. I am positive that being a Mechanical Turk will make a difference in my budget/savings plan. I think of it as finding pennies on the sidewalk or maybe it is easier, I am not outside in the rain or the snow. I dream of better days ahead not just me but for everyone, especially fellow Mechanical Turks that are here for whatever reason. I dream of doing HITS in my sleep, too bad those did not add up to anything real. In reality, I must get back to Click. Click. Click.

I dawdle on the computer when I’m not doing other things, I’m a little addicted to it. I’m a bit cheap and often scrounging for extra cash, as well. I heard Mechanical Turk mentioned in passing on a GeekSpeak podcast and checked it out. Mechanical Turk is a fun distraction from housework and worrying about finances, and it earns (a little) money, too. What’s not to love about it. I once earned a good salary, then had kids and found that I didn’t want to put 50 to 60 hours a week into a job. Now I work “full time” at a job that pays about a fifth of my previous salary, but allows me to be available for my children a great deal of the time. I have to be more creative with the money we have now. It’s nice that when I have free time I can dawdle on the computer and get paid for doing it. It beats playing pointless games, and, instead of spending money on this habit, I earn a little. I haven’t been at it very long, but it has already helped me to acquire a new computer. I can start or stop working at a moments notice, and I can decide whether or not I want to do a particular task. My family finds it humorous that I “work for pennies”, although my son wanted to know if he could also do Mechanical Turk (sorry, he’ll have to wait a few years).

I was so excited to start working with mechanical turk because the income would be a very big help for my family since my husband and I are currently uneployed and while we have two kids whose demands are increasing. I felt really heartbroken though when I discovered that here in the Philippines,it would take $500 for me to open a dollar account. The dollar account is where I would be able to withdraw my earned money by now, but having no account yet, I have actually not withdrawn any of the money, which we would have been able to use for my daughter’s school tuition fee. But I haven’t lost hope or the zest to work on hits because im praying someday ill be able to open the dollar account that I need. I’m also praying that someday will be tomorrow already.