And all for $0.03 Does that make anyone else feel a bit ick at mTurk?

DanBC · on Oct 2, 2013

For this particular example I don't understand it.

But I look through reddit's "What is this thing?" subreddits to try to find what the thing is. I do that to improve my skills with search engines. (Really, try it sometime. A blurry photograph of a rusty lump of metal, with no context other than "I found this in a field" makes you think hard how to find things).

3 cents is no where near enough to make me want to do this more, or to persuade me that I'm not wasting time online, but it goes in the free money jar.

I guess there's a risk that offering money puts off more people than it attracts - more people will do something for free than if you offer a tiny payment.

jimueller · on Oct 2, 2013

Agreed. Surely the ~350 email addresses (although stated about 1/2 were valid) were worth much more than $10. In my opinion, it's unethical.

justinwi · on Oct 2, 2013

Comments welcome here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6483636