I don’t know about you, but I expect a little more in a headline from Newsweek. Their story, Work the New Digital Sweatshops, seems a bit sensationalist to me. If you read the piece, the writer does say that they may be a good thing, but it’s kinda concentrated on doom and gloom. From the headline to the graphic that accompanies the story – doom and gloom! (And notice on the screenshot I took how much space is devoted to ads! Geez!)

Sensationalistic Newsweek?

You would think that something like Amazon Mechanical Turk would be a big, big thing in a recession. I mean, it’s a little money, but in times like these, a little money means so much to so many people, you know? I don’t work for Amazon, but I think they have something that can be really big for Turkers all over the world.

At the bottom of the pyramid are mindless tasks that are still too tricky for a computer to handle. Amazon’s little-known but game-changing Mechanical Turk offers tasks for as little as penny a pop. One task displays pictures and asks “Turkers” to label them with keywords. Another seeks people who know coffee-shop owners—and then asks them to send the owners e-mails, $1 per recipient. Workers discover the Web site themselves or hear about it from friends.

There’s no perfect system, but Amazon Mechanical Turk has a chance of becoming a game changer – especially if they listen to my kiosk idea! Hah. Seriously, though, they’re doing big things, I believe. To be fair, Newsweek’s piece isn’t on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk alone, but I’m tired of constantly seeing it in media next to the words sweatshop, etc. That’s forced labor. No one’s forcing people to Turk.

Am I right? Leave a comment and let me know what you think about this article. Heck, I’m lonely – let me know what you think about the color green if you want. I’ll listen and maybe even respond!

Until next time, keep turking!