Figure Eight - Crowdworking - 2019 - Help and Tips

John1963 · 13 January 2019 at 6:52PM

I am starting this thread as a forum for old, new and potential Figure Eight crowdworkers to share information and seek help from others. I have pitched the narrative on the assumption that some will have experience of the platform already and others will be considering joining.

I have structured this introduction as follows:

Introduction (to Figure Eight)

Registration

Tasks

Pros and Cons

Thread Etiquette

Initial Subjects

I intend to keep this opening fluid, therefore if anybody feels that something could be usefully added or removed feel free to say so, ideally through a personal message.

Introduction

Figure Eight (previously Crowdflower) is a US based crowdworking platform upon which businesses, researchers and students post jobs that registered workers are able to complete for payment (in US $). Once registered new workers have limited access to low-level tasks but are able to progress, according to performance, to access a wider range of higher level jobs (there are three levels).

A cash balance builds according to the volume and value of tasks completed, Cash (in $) can be withdrawn at any point and takes about a week to reach a PayPal account. Alternatively it is possible to access Figure Eight through, Swagbucks, Clixsense and other platforms to obtain points or cash, however, payment levels are generally less as commission is paid to those platforms.

Registration

I have posted the link to the “Figure Eight Elite” immediately below. This is a direct link to the registration page and not a referral. It’s entirely up to others if they want to register through an alternative route rather that direct with the platform:

https://elite.figure-eight.com/?view=register

Tasks

Tasks are varied and range from simple surveys to, jobs involving grammar and observation to highly technical specialist work and psychological studies. Many tasks start with a set of “Test Questions” where workers are required to achieve a specified accuracy level. Instructions are provided in most cases but, in my experience they are not always as clear as they could be. Nevertheless it’s, obviously advisable to read them

There’s no payment for the test questions but awards follow for further tasks completed, however, defined levels of accuracy need to be maintained (there is generally at least one further test question in each set). Workers can proceed until all sets of questions are completed, they get fed up or are expelled (this will happen!)..

At any point the business or person who has posted a task can report a user to Figure Eight if they believe that the worker is acting dishonestly. This can be extremely irritating as Figure Eight tend to impose an immediate penalty (through a flagging process) without explanation.

Pros and Cons

There are good and bad things about Figure Eight. On the positive side (1) a cash balance can be achieved relatively quickly (2) payment in $ can be helpful for US online purchases (3) tasks can be interesting and educational. The drawbacks are (1) Test questions can be frustrating to the point of annoyance (2) It can be easy to sucked into lengthy very low paying tasks (3) The flagging process is “really(!)” bad as it’s a case of guilty until deemed innocent. (4) Tasks can be complicated and tricky not helped by instructions.

Thread Etiquette

Normal MSE rules apply but in addition, whilst it’s ok to help in clarifying instructions and/or with completion tips, it’s certainly not appropriate to provide specific answers to questions as this would undermine the platform and would be dishonest.

Initial Subjects

I’ll add posts to this thread over the next week to get things going (first one below) and will respond to questions and comments where I am able or widen discussion.

John1963 · 13 January 2019 at 7:09PM

Selecting appropriate tasks is key, tips below:

Select tasks with a high satisfaction, these are likely to be the fairest and most straightforward, with minimal glitches.
Don't attempt tasks that are not your specialism (unless you really want to learn to be an architect or a surgeon!) they are intended for experts in the subject.
Start simple, the "Market Research Jobs" are largely risk free and easy, as are the tasks involving getting information from shop receipts.
For those at level 2, "Select & Highlight Valid Events & Actions" series tasks are worth looking at, they are simple to complete but make sure you understand what an Event or Action is.
Sort into high to low payment order to identify the best paying tasks, I tend to sort this way then look at the satisfaction ratings.
Experiment by all means but act with integrity at all times to mitigate the risk of a flag!

Kantankrus_Mare · 13 January 2019 at 7:31PM

Thanks for the thread John. :j

I have done tasks on and off for a few years with differing success. Used to like the casino tasks but they disappeared. Im Level 2 with no hope of getting higher.

I do the tasks through instagc to try and boost my earnings on there.
I tend to only do market research as they are straight forward with no problems.

I like the odd survey type ones as well but they dont appear very often.

I have tried many other tasks and though I feel I have followed instructions, my accuracy locks me out which is frustrating.

Will be good to have a thread where we can recommend tasks and maybe help each other out.

joeyjimbles · 13 January 2019 at 8:50PM

Happy to join in, been doing CF since it started more or less and am Level 3. I work on either Instagc or Crowdflower Elite but mostly Instagc.

I've tried most of the tasks over the years but cannot get to grips with those that required putting boxes round things. I do love the grammar and comprehension ones though.

John1963 · 13 January 2019 at 9:50PM

Joey,

Same here, I avoid the box drawing tasks, apart from anything else there seems little purpose. I first used Crowdflower about four years ago, it was good back then. There was a period when my interest dropped due to the type of tasks that were appearing, although I continued to do the Market Research jobs as there's little to them (I can now blag the subject of coding as a consequence though!). It seems to have got much better again in recent months.I'm also level 3 but hit a snag in mid-December and lost a level - that's for a post later in the week.

I was going to ease people in by focusing on different aspects of Figure Eight, the next one is "Handling Failure" - think you'll know what I mean; it's easier said than done. I was also thinking of posting about the ticketing + the flag process + "Understanding Your Dashboard", does that sound right to you? I think after that the thread "should" take on a life of it's own and we'll move onto self-help, if people find it useful.

BiscuitMonster · 14 January 2019 at 2:00PM

Thanks for this thread. I stopped doing much on Crowdflower/Figure Eight and occasionally look in on it but the frustrations you list put me off doing their work.

This thread might remind me of good reasons for doing it, at least not feeling alone when I get a flag for something I am sure I've done correctly. I am currently on Level 3 and maybe the fear of losing that makes me avoid any task that seems unclear.

dave2319 · 14 January 2019 at 2:16PM

I used to do these tasks through Neobux when it was CrowdFlower, but left a while ago when they required people to login through Facebook.
I'm no longer at Neo but just went to Swagbucks and saw there's the option to sign up to Figure Eight by email address. Does this mean there's no longer any requirement to login through Facebook?

John1963 · 14 January 2019 at 2:30PM

dave2319 wrote: »

I used to do these tasks through Neobux when it was CrowdFlower, but left a while ago when they required people to login through Facebook.
I'm no longer at Neo but just went to Swagbucks and saw there's the option to sign up to Figure Eight by email address. Does this mean there's no longer any requirement to login through Facebook?

I don't go in via Facebook, they have recently changed their password policy requiring double authentication and a longer password at the second stage. I do recall having to use Facebook at some point but it was only momentary.

Super_Trouper · 14 January 2019 at 4:02PM

I tend to stick to simple tasks with no qualifying questions although I have a level 3 ranking. I've been burned too many times by byzantine and arbitrary rules that no one could possibly forsee. For example tasks that require you to quantify emotional content of social media posts - this isn't quantifable, it's a question of opinion.

The feedback process is also severely lacking. I would like to see a much more transparent process where task providers have a visible profile and rating much in the way that task workers have a level and percentage ranking. The star rating system on jobs just doesn't cut it. As it stands inow f you have a problem with a task, whether it's unclear qualifying questions or a task provider has flagged your work, you have very little opportunity to put your side of the argument across other than putting in a support ticket and waiting an unspecified amount of time (very likely weeks, possibly months) to hear a reply.

On several occasions I have had my level 3 ranking stripped because a task provider has flagged my work, only to have it reinstated a month or two later after it was found the task provider was basically a fraud and using the website to turn a quick buck, ruining the reputation and limiting the earning potential of all the workers they flagged during that time period. The current feedback system is no where near capable of handling this seemingly frequent occurence.

I would also stay away from tasks that pay a laughably tiny amount for a lot of work - they are an absolute insult. Something like a task that has 40 question with a high pass rate needed (and failing will result in lowering your ranking score of course) and pays something ridiculous like 1p. Tasks that pay so low should take no more than 10 seconds to perform, anything longer is a slap in the face. I can only assume these tasks are from developing nations, or expect the workers to be from developing nations - basically stamping on the face of those lowest on the totem pole any way.

Saying all of that - I've also had some very good experiences with trustworthy and long-standing task providers who give a fair bonus. Like all these online platforms you just have to have your eyes peeled and have a 'fool me once...' attitude.

John1963 · 14 January 2019 at 7:50PM

As others have said the decisions on some test questions appears to be unfair, probably because they are. It does not help that in "Test Mode" there is no explanation whatsoever at t the point of expulsion. This seems wrong because there's no way of learning from mistakes. Similarly explanations for incorrect answers can be odd or illogical.

This is easier said than done but the best thing to do when faced with unfairness is move on. It can be worth responding to test question judgments because I have certainly seen later corrections in circumstances where enough people raise issue, if nothing else responding can be therapeutic!

Personally, with time, I have become much more selective in completing tasks and avoid those where I know that there is a high risk of failure, The thing to remember is that there's nothing personal in the judgments, the reality is that they often seem illogical an unfair, particularly when the question requires a subjective response. I've learned over the years not to dwell on failure and quickly put unfairness behind me nowadays.

Task 1338669 (Level 2) is worth looking at but read the instructions and be prepared to get at least one test question wrong. Remember not to make assumptions on the occupation of people in photos they are just people.

System · 15 January 2019 at 10:22AM

I thought I'd seen it all .....

Quiz mode - 60 of 100 to pass

Reward? 2 SB!

Figure Eight - Crowdworking - 2019 - Help and Tips

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