Mechanical Turk Review

A funny thing happened on the way to my Amazon Mechanical Turk Review. I discovered that you can make money there. I wasn't expecting that.

I was really turned off by Mechanical Turk at first. Like many, I saw all the penny HITS and the not-so-easy navigation, and I blew it off after a while. But I came back to give it a second try...another chance...one last shot...when I needed some extra cash.

Now, I just completed HIT number 21001 on Mturk so I thought it was about time I get to this review. I've come to the conclusion that Amazon Mechanical Turk is good for a secondary stream of income, but only after learning how to use it.

Amazon Mechanical Turk, or Mturk as it is referred to by those who frequent it, should not be mistaken for a passive stream of income. Making money on Mturk takes patience and work, and I think that's where many people falter. They don't put in the time to figure out how to master the application.

It's not surprising. The navigation does take some getting used to, and when I started I couldn't find a user guide for the working Turker. I found one for the requesters, but nothing that would help me figure out how to churn out enough HITS to make a difference in my life. So I set out to learn things the hard way....by putting in time and doing the work.

I don't have the coveted Category Masters or Picture Masters Qualifications that recently came into existence. No one's really sure how those get handed out anyway. There are rumors that Amazon uses an OZ like approach when deciding who gets those.

Anyway, thanks for reading my Mechanical Turk Review. I know that Mturk can be a mysterious place for the beginner.

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Carole Tee