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Amazon Mechanical Turk

The Pros and Cons of Amazon Mechanical Turk

I'm always amazed when I run across Crowdworking sites like this one.  I never even knew that sites like this existed until I started heavily researching legitimate work at home opportunities.

The thing that amazed me the most about this site was the sheer volume of work available.

The thing that dismayed me the most were the wages you would receive for doing some of that work. 

We're talking less than 1 cent per task in some instances.

Here's what I have found out about Amazon Mechanical Turk

This website an (extension of online marketplace behemoth Amazon)  is a place where businesses or individual entrepeneurs can post tasks that need to be completed by a real person and not by a computer program. 

The tasks (known as Human Intelligence Tasks or HITs) can range from writing short descriptions of products, identifying items on a map, to artistic endeavors, data entry, etc. 

The individuals or businesses (called Requesters) that are posting the HITs will offer a monetary compensation for the completion of the task, which you will know up front before you accept the task. 


Tasks, as I stated above are abundant on this site but they can be very low paying. 

They start at about .02 cents to upwards of $12.00. 

There is usually a time limit given to complete the tasks, anywhere from about 15-60 minutes.


Here are some examples of Hits (tasks) that you might see on this site: 

Notice the arrow in the picture below pointing to where you can manually search for tasks in the price range that suits you. 

Here's an example of a task that is a little higher paying:

Notice the arrow is pointing to a description of the task itself.

And once you choose your task, be sure to click on the link that takes you to the instructions for the task you will be completing. 

It is very important that you follow the instructions exactly
because the individual or company that posted the task will evaluate your work. 

If the HIT is not completed correctly, you will not get paid!

(Notice the arrow pointing to the link that will take you to the instructions for the task.)

There are definite pros and cons to completing tasks for Amazon Mechanical Turk:



The Pros?  

You can log in any time of the day or night and find available work to do!  Perfect for college students or even high school students with flexibility in their schedule.



The Cons? 

Perhaps too much work and too little money for the time you are pouring into it. 

But, that is also for you to decide! =)



Here is a direct link to the Amazon Mechanical Turk website.

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