Talk:Amazon Mechanical Turk

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Karas038, Krantni.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 13:59, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Obvious bias?
I find it unlikely that the fact that there is scant reference to criticism on this page and the fact that wikipedia is premised in unpaid crowdsourced labor are coincidental. Any thoughts? Perhaps editors would have an easier time developing a more honest Reception section if they considered that Turkers are largely working for for-profit companies. Zerriform (talk) 16:57, 17 May 2015 (UTC)

Out of date?
hi there, the wikipedia article cites some out of date sources (they are claimed to be obsolete by the author of the source). This: "According to a survey conducted through one MTurk HIT, Turkers are primarily located in the United States[6] with demographics generally similar to the overall Internet population in the US.[7]" Uses this source [6]: http://www.behind-the-enemy-lines.com/2008/03/mechanical-turk-demographics.html

In that link, the author of the source has alerted viewers that the results are obsolete and new results can be found here: http://www.behind-the-enemy-lines.com/2010/03/new-demographics-of-mechanical-turk.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.152.74.212 (talk) 05:15, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Payment
Turk pays in more than store credit; they pay in actual money, see http://www.mturk.com/mturk/help?helpPage=gettingpaid -- money earned here can be transferred to a US bank account. They use amazon.com for account management, though, so this is an easy mistake to make. And I suspect that a lot of people will just leave the money in their amazon accounts anyway, since you can buy so much off of amazon these days. Izzycat 13:59, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

Umm is it USBank account or U.S. Bank account as in a account with US bank or a bank account in the U.S. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.7.93.62 (talk) 17:57, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia
Just thought I'd point out that this has been used in the past to drive Wikipedia editing (it may still be in use, but I haven't seen it lately). See,. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 15:21, 25 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Fresh report of its use to spam Wikipedia at Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Spam. -CliffC (talk) 02:59, 5 February 2011 (UTC)

The article describing Mechanical Turk Requesters as "computer programmers" is simply wrong.
A Mechanical Turk requester is simply someone that wants a job done. This can be writing a short article about a particular subject or it can be classifying products in a particular category. There's no reason why a requester needs to be classified as a computer programmer as computer programming is an unrelated field. I've done over 600 tasks for Mturk.
 * You do need some computer skills to request a job.75.91.62.154 (talk) 01:14, 16 May 2012 (UTC)


 * "Computer programming (often shortened to programming or coding) is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs." From the Wiki article. I agree, there's absolutely no reason to refer to Requesters as "programmers". Being able to use a web service makes you a programmer like being able to do your taxes makes you an economist. 72.221.122.168 (talk) 16:15, 11 June 2012 (UTC)


 * Agree fully. "computer programmers" gives a false representation here, if you make a request or survey it requires about as much 'programming' as making a bowl of cereal requires cooking. Changing it to individuals and businesses, if someone has a better idea please replace it. Sulfurboy (talk) 11:00, 21 May 2013 (UTC)

Slightly pointless?
‘Quality of the entries can vary from usable to useless.’ In other news, the temperature of water can vary from freezing to boiling. Do we really need this? WikitorrensT 02:54, 16 October 2011 (UTC)

Too many buzzwords
Some sections read more like a manual than an encyclopedia. Slight changes in wording should do the trick; see WP:JARGON. -- M2545 (talk) 22:54, 17 June 2015 (UTC)


 * I am planning on working on this--rewriting sentences with buzzword tags and editing the sections that look like advertisements to be paragraphs instead of bullet points. I will also try to include information in the Description/Other aspects section from a different point of view so the article doesn't sound so obviously biased in favor of MTurk. Karas038 (talk) 19:51, 23 March 2017 (UTC)

Add to Artist Section
I was hoping to add myself to the Artistic and educational research page as follows, but since it is a conflict of interest for me to add myself I'd appreciate your action on my behalf:

Artist xtine burrough has been collaborating with the Turkers to make art that involves bodily presence such as The Mechanical Olympics (Turkers have been creating an online alternative to the Olympic Games since 2008), Endless Om (Turkers chant "Om" for an endless loop of video Oms), and Mediations on Digital Labor (a gallery exhibit that showcased reflections made by the Turkers after being paid to rest).,

Thanks! Xtineburrough (talk) 14:14, 6 October 2015 (UTC) Xtineburrough (talk) 19:04, 12 March 2016 (UTC)
 * Hi Xtineburrough. I don't really see the point of adding this project. As you can see from reading the page, there are very few mentions of specific projects using the Amazon Mechanical Turk&mdash;most of the article summarizes general categories of usage instead. I'm sure your art project is very interesting and innovative, but adding it to the article would not follow Wikipedia's guideline on balancing the content of a page. Altamel (talk) 20:36, 13 March 2016 (UTC)


 * As a followup, I removed the detailed information related to two artists projects under this category. I will include xtine as she was one of the first artists to work with Mechanical Turk. For reference, here is the deleted info:

In addition to receiving growing interest from the social sciences, MTurk has also been used as a tool for both artistic and educational exploration. Artist Aaron Koblin has made use of MTurk's crowdsourcing ability to create a number of collaborative artistic works such as The Sheep Market and Ten Thousand Cents which combined thousands of individual drawings of a US$100 bill. The work functions as a sort of reverse exquisite corpse drawing.

I have mentioned Koblin's work as it was also early, but it needs a citation that is not directly from the artist.

- Seazzy (talk) 23:57, 15 April 2019 (UTC)

Applications
There is a lot of data missing from the application section of the article. More specifically, the third party programming appears to be disapproved by Amazon while the cite is to a blog post about them winning an award. More detail can be added here to show that third party examples to exist like Turk Prime. In the same section, I plan to add more to the API section as well. I can add a brief summary of the API and it's uses rather than just state that there is one. I also think that a link to the documentation for the API would be helpful. Krantni (talk) 21:13, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

Costs to Requesters and workers
Does Amazon charge either a registration fee or a percentage of money paid to people doing the search and plug work? Kdammers (talk) 02:15, 28 October 2020 (UTC)

Bussiness Growing
Business growth refers to the process of increasing a company's revenue, customer base, market share, or profitability over time. It involves strategic planning, implementation of tactics, and adapting to changing market conditions. Here are some key aspects of business growth:

1. **Market Analysis**: Understanding the target market, customer needs, industry trends, and competitive landscape is crucial for identifying growth opportunities. Conducting market research helps businesses make informed decisions and tailor their strategies accordingly.

2. **Strategic Planning**: Developing a clear vision, mission, and goals for the business lays the foundation for growth. Businesses need to formulate strategic plans outlining how they will achieve their objectives, whether through product expansion, market penetration, diversification, or other strategies.

3. **Innovation**: Innovation drives business growth by enabling companies to differentiate themselves, improve products or services, and meet evolving customer demands. Businesses that continuously innovate are better positioned to stay ahead of competitors and capture new market segments.

4. **Customer Acquisition and Retention**: Acquiring new customers while retaining existing ones is essential for sustained growth. Effective marketing strategies, excellent customer service, and building strong relationships with customers contribute to both acquisition and retention efforts.

5. **Scaling Operations**: As businesses grow, they need to scale their operations to accommodate increased demand efficiently. This may involve expanding production capacity, optimizing processes, investing in technology, or hiring additional staff.

6. **Financial Management**: Sound financial management is critical for business growth. This includes managing cash flow, controlling costs, securing funding for expansion initiatives, and reinvesting profits into the business.

7. **Partnerships and Alliances**: Collaborating with other businesses, forming strategic partnerships, or entering into alliances can facilitate growth by accessing new markets, distribution channels, technologies, or resources.

8. **Adaptability and Agility**: Markets are dynamic, so businesses must be adaptable and agile to respond to changes effectively. Being able to pivot quickly, seize opportunities, and navigate challenges is essential for sustainable growth.

9. **Employee Development**: Investing in employee training, development, and empowerment fosters a skilled and motivated workforce, which is instrumental in driving business growth. Engaged employees are more productive, innovative, and committed to achieving company goals.

10. **Measuring and Monitoring Performance**: Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs), analyzing data, and regularly evaluating progress against goals help businesses assess their performance, identify areas for improvement, and make informed decisions to drive growth.

Overall, business growth is a multifaceted process that requires strategic thinking, innovation, continuous improvement, and a relentless focus on meeting customer needs and delivering value. 2A00:F29:2E0:A73D:1404:6AE4:6D72:17E5 (talk) 16:45, 24 February 2024 (UTC)


 * ❌ It is unclear what changes you are proposing. Peaceray (talk) 18:15, 24 February 2024 (UTC)

History
It seems that Todd Palmer may have had the idea first of putting tasks on the internet, but aimed at recruitment (well-done tasks would lead to a job offer). https://freakonomics.com/2009/02/our-daily-bleg-a-way-to-show-employers-what-you-can-do-before-you-get-the-job/ Armuluk (talk) 13:35, 10 March 2024 (UTC)