Sunday, October 7, 2012

Micro-Tasking - A Productive Use of the Internet

Micro-tasks are components of a larger project. They are small and short-duration activities, conducted by numerous people, that add up to a larger result. Such tasks expand on ideas such as day-labor, cargo load boards, and contracted professional effort.Income from such tasks can be sufficient to afford an access device and then provide extra income within a personal earning endeavor. While such tasks bring in extra cash, they are typically insufficient for providing secure life-supporting employment in the expensive economies of developed nations. However, there is that potential in developing nations.

There are numerous types of work that fit the internet-based micro-task framework. Anything that can be digitized fits this mold. Micro-tasks include playing a role in:

    organizing large volumes of data
    describing what appears in pictures
    comparing pictures
    discovering information sources
    answering questions
    raising the visibility of a website
    collecting data from a website
    language translation
    information extraction from text
    reviewing written material
    transcribing audio recordings
    inputting data from handwritten forms
    extracting data from images
    flagging good and bad content
    categorizing things
    transcribing handwriting
    taking surveys
    writing articles
    digitizing forms
    tagging images and other content

The advantage to the worker is the ability to work whenever and wherever the worker likes. Companies gain a way to manage the expense of their contingent workforce. They also gain a means of creating, allocating, and paying for tasks as they arise. There is also the advantage of an immense global workforce. Micro-tasking websites make money by charging a fee to the task creator. Beware of sites that charge an up-front fee to the worker or that demand prior purchase of anything. NEVER pay to have a job.

My experience with these tasks is that, yes, money can be made, especially if you are diligent. However, the tasks can be mindlessly tedious. Being so small and short, the tasks easily take on the character of meaningless work, even if one is being paid. How much can one earn? A mature and experienced adult of my acquaintance reports he does micro-tasking two hours per day, five days per week. He earns about $100 per week. Over nine months he makes about $4,000. From articles I have read on the topic, this is typical.

At issue is just what access device is really needed. Some believe that a simple mobile phone would do. While this is technically feasible for some types of tasks, it is not productive for serious earning in the general case. Yet, an expensive device is not necessary. A reliable tablet with a good keyboard and mouse would do. There is a good chance that this could be accomplished for $100-$150, as will be shown later in this article. If the access and space are available, the income to provide the device can be earned.

Many micro-tasking sites are scams. But, there are a few that are legitimate. Such tasks do require a minimum education but usually not a college degree. Some require pre-training. Sometimes that training is offered as another task. Other times, it is part of a registration process.

You can earn part-time money from legitimate companies via micro-tasking. Use the resource link to explore these opportunities. None of them require a registration or membership fee.

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