Review of Amazon Mturk
Amazon Mechanical Turk, or MTurk, is a great way to earn fast money online. Since signing up, I have done a lot of interesting tasks, and have made nearly $200. All for spending a few minutes per night online, having fun in the comfort of my own living room.So what is Mechanical Turk? It is, essentially, an online marketplace for humans to complete tasks and surveys that computers cannot do - tasks that require human intelligence. In other words, it is a service that connects people and companies that need work completed with people who are willing to do work. Since it is powered by Amazon, you also have added peace of mind, knowing that your sign up information is safe and secure.Once you complete the easy sign up process, and give Amazon your tax information, you are ready to work and get paid. What types of tasks you take on, and how much you work, is completely up to you.Each task on MTurk is called a HIT (Human Intelligence Task), and each HIT is unique. There are a wide variety of HITs available, covering pretty much every field of interest. You might say, there's something for everyone on MTurk, and the variety keeps things fresh and entertaining.Some HITs will be engaging academic surveys that pay .50 for 15 minutes of your time, while other tasks may be search engine result matching exercises that pay .02 for a few seconds or your time. Don't let the low numbers fool you, the money adds up fast!There are also opportunities to qualify for additional work. Some academic surveys, for example, have multiple parts. As you complete each part, your MTurk account gets funded. I recently took part in a survey in which I was not only paid for the initial survey, but I was also paid for a follow up survey, and I received a bonus for completing both parts in a timely manner.In other cases, you are able to request qualification for additional HITs. Sometimes qualification is as simple as clicking a request button, and sometimes you will need to prove your abilities with the HIT by completing some testing exercises. These are often very simple, and open up a whole new world of HITs.As far as tracking your work, money earned, qualifications granted, HITs accepted, and HITs rejected, Amazon makes that easy, too. By going to "Account," you get a snapshot of everything related to your account. There is even a separate field for "bonuses," making it simple to see how much money you've earned in addition to the MTurk HITs you have completed.Requesting payment is also a breeze, and earnings can be deposited into your Amazon account ($1.00 minimum) or your verified bank account ($10.00 minimum). I like to let it accrue in the MTurk account until I either need the money for bills, or I find something I cannot live without on Amazon.If you are looking for a quick, easy, and fun way to earn a few extra dollars at home, I highly recommend checking out Amazon MTurk. The wide variety of tasks, and the interesting HITs, make it an entertaining and reliable way to make money from home.
