I just posted new HITs on MT for Episode 4. For future reference, all of my HITS can be found on my user HIT page. If you want to accept one of the HITs, there are 2 batches: Take 1 and Take 2. Here is the HIT:
This particular HIT will be used in the fourth episode, which is about generational issues. Please read all of the directions before you accept this HIT
Enter your name:
(in order to get credit for this HIT, the name here must be spoken clearly in your phone recording)
Call 469-212-0832 and enter x72495 when you are prompted for an extension. This is a US number, but the call should take less than 10 minutes, so hopefully the reward for this HIT will make it worthwhile if you are outside of the US.
Say your name, your age, where you live, and how long you have been using MT
Start a conference call or with one or more of your parents, or someone of the generation before you that you grew up with. The key thing here is that they know you well, and that they are of your parent’s generation.
Say hello to your parent as you normally would and explain the reason for the call. If your parent doesn’t speak English, please translate their responses.
Please answer the following questions, and then ask your parent to answer the same question.
How old were you when you got your first job?
What was this job?
How much did you get paid?
What does “work” mean to you? What do you consider an honest days work?
What do you think about working on the Internet?
I realize this is asking a lot compared to other HITs, but I hope the reward is high enough for you to consider giving it a try. If you do accept, I hope it is fun and informative for you.
So, I just launched some HITs for the third episode. Here are the questions:
Where do you live?
How much of your income comes from Mechanical Turk?
What is your dream job? Describe it in detail. What would you do from day to day? It can be a fantastical job, but it can’t be nothing. Bonuses of up to $5 will be given to detailed, thoughtful, interesting responses. Short or boring answers will not get any bonus.
Why aren’t you doing it now? Is it a matter of training? Skill? Location? Class?
The tasks for the new episode started going out last week. This episode consists of 2 set of HITs. Here is the first question:
This particular HIT will be used in the second episode, which is about fostering camaraderie between MT workers. One of the great things about MT is the diversity of the workers and the diversity of the experience that they bring. How can we use this to benefit the workers, not just the requesters.
What is your name? (You don’t have to use your real name – just something to identify you)
How old are you? (optional)
Where are you from?
Talk about a problem that you are facing that you think would benefit from input from other MT workers. Think of it as asking your fellow workers for advice. This could be a personal problem, or something facing your family or your community. Please be as detailed as possible. The final recording should be at least 3-4 minutes. NOTE: Please do not talk about MTurk itself. This topic has already been covered. I am specifically looking for problems in your life outside of MTurk.
This recording will be put on the crowded.fm website, and in 1 week, other MT workers will be paid to offer their opinions/solutions.
And this is the second batch:
What is your name? (You don’t have to use your real name – just something to identify you)
I am now preparing to post the HITs that will (maybe) make up Episode 1. The workers will be asked to record answers to a set of 11 questions, which you can see below. I have decided to use PubClip as the recording service after many frustrating hours trying to ensure cross-platform compatibility with the Java Applet that I was making for this purpose. PubClip actually has tons of really nice features that will make the HITs much more accessible to the Workers, and make the submissions more accessible to you – the readers.
I am not completely happy with this set of questions because I don’t feel it has a strong narrative. I had to fight the urge to go directly to some more complicated themes that I have planned for later in the year. But I think that it is important to introduce the workers in some sense. I am also taking a shot in the dark with the HIT properties. I might end up modifying the questions and scrapping this first batch of answers, but it’s my show and I can do whatever I want, right?
HIT Properties
title: Talk about who you are and where you come from
number of assignments: 10
reward: $2 each.
time to complete task: 1 hour
expires in 2 weeks
automatically approved in 2 days
criteria: 80% approval rate
The Assignment
What is your Worker ID?
What is your name? (optional)
How old are you? (optional)
What else do you do besides MT? (optional)
Where are you from?
What were the last 5 HITs that you accepted? How many of these did you complete? If you didn’t complete any of them, why?
Have you ever felt uncomfortable about any of the HITs you have completed?
Who do you think “The Requesters” are, in general?
How do you think “The Requesters” think about you?
Please record a bit of background noise from your house or nearby your house. Pick the most audibly interesting place you can find. If it is not near your computer, please call the number (469-212-0832 x22932) and leave a recording there. Remember to leave your Worker ID as part of the recording.
Is there anything else you’d like us to know about you? (optional)
The audio recordings will be automatically posted to this blog as they come in. So check back often for new submissions.
The pilot episode of Crowded was made way back in January of 2009 and had a very simple premise. The worker listened to a song (Episode 0 songs), and recounted a story that the song reminded them of. The actual instructions follow. I found that I actually had to be very specific, which accounts for the length of the instructions. And I hadn’t yet sorted out an easy way for the workers to submit their recordings. I pointed the users to the YouTube QuickCapture service, and to HoundBite. I also provided a Grand Central (now Google Voice) number that they could call and leave a message. Both had time restrictions that proved to be trouble.
I am working on a radio show called [Crowded] where all of the material comes from Mechanical Turk workers. And I need your help! Just follow the 6 steps below.
Listen to the songs below.
Think of an event in your life that reminds you of that song. This could be any story, but it should be important to you, or something that you think other people would enjoy hearing.
Find a quiet room where you won’t be disturbed
Tell me your story! Follow the instructions below to record the story. Some tips:
Please don’t mention the song that you chose while telling your story, or even that the story you are telling was inspired by a song. Just tick the circle below and the song will play underneath your story.
You can use either your computer microphone or a telephone.
The story should be between 8 and 15 mins. Please try to stay on topic and don’t ramble. That being said, just relax and don’t rush through it.
Speak up, speak slowly, and speak clearly. No bonus will be given if I can’t understand what you are saying.
Do not play the song while you are recording.
Tell me how you recorded it here
If you wish to be credited in the final production, please enter your information here. I cannot guarantee that your story will be used, or that it will not be edited or re-told. But don’t let this dissuade you! If you have a problem with any of this, let me know and I will work with it
