Turkers are getting....Picky. Little Brats.

So today Amazon reposted the "Name that Website" HITs with "(higher pay)" added to the title. They gave Turkers a whole 4 cent raise (they paid 1 cent, now they pay five) There are 6,670 posted...That is $66.70 at 1 cent and $333.50 at 5 cents, quite the difference in cost. But are the Turkers biting? Doesn't look like it so far. The HITs sound pretty simple, they give you a name from the "Rank Your Top 3" results data. And have you find the best website for the business. Simple right? But let's factor in misspellings, the fact that small businesses don't always have websites and when they do, they don't tend to list high in search engines. So it's not that easy of a job.

But looking at trends in mTurk, it looks like Turkers may simply be becoming a picky bunch, with fewer and fewer new Turkers be born because all the hype about mTurk is basically dead. The current ones have learned to stop complaining at pricing and to simply not do tasks they don't feel like doing. Heck in the last 30 days I've only done 9 HITs (But I'm a lazy Turker). Amazon has always treated the Turkers as though they were expendable...Since there are always more fish in the sea of bored people on the internet. But, apparently these fish aren't finding the bait...So the question is...Will Requesters raise prices and show a little more concern for Turkers? Doubtfully. But I can see them using better bait. Or maybe just paying for work in Chinese currency? Only time will tell. Tune in next week for "Turkers Gone Lurkin OR Chinese Takeover!" (Sorry I've been watching to much Rocky and Bullwinkle, good show though)

OMG!!! 70+ Podcasts Waiting to be Transcribed!

So CastingWords has a very large number of podcasts just waiting for you to transcribe right now. This is good news for Turkers that type fast, and enjoy listening to people talk. As well it's great news for CastingWords since they appears to be getting plenty of business. Downside being apparently there aren't enough Turkers doing podcasts right now to support the load.

So tell your friends, neighbors and friendly neighbors, to stop on by the Mechanical Turk and try doing a transcription or two. Just please read the instructions thoroughly or you will get rejected. (They aren't nit-picky, if you actually read the instructions and follow them you will get paid)

I tried to get Nathan and Rachel (founders of CastingWords) to say something hilarious for me to quote them saying but I failed. So I'm going to pretend that they said in unison "I'm sick of these motherfucking Podcasts on the motherfucking PLANE!!!". Please pretend with me. (Oh and sorry about foul mouth...It's totally Samuel Jackson's fault...seriously...he's a bad influence)

Abandoned HIT Counter is...Going Crazy?

via Turker Nation

I have yet to see this on my own account but apparently mTurk once again can't do basic math. Turkers are reporting that their abandoned rates are going up for no reason whatsoever (by thousands). mTurk's math has never been very good, with payment and records not matching. And the number of HITs completed being off and various other weirdness.

Exactly what causes mTurk's weird math glitches I'm not sure. I've never been much of a scripter/programmer so there may be some prevalent issues with what they are using. Or someone could've goofed somewhere. Point being Requesters don't add qualifications for abandonment rate right now (though it's not like any usually do).