Crowd Work Platforms

Crowd work platforms allow people to submit virtually any task that can be completed using a computing device connected to the internet. Applications, services or resources are made available to users on demand via the Internet from a cloud computing provider's servers.

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Cloud-based crowd-work is usually undertaken in the worker’s home.  Even within the cloud-based categories, there are differences in the types of tasks offered through these platforms. Platforms such as Amazon Mechanical Turk, Microworkers and JobBoy generally (though not exclusively) offer ‘microtasks’ with these platforms offering a ‘broad range of small tasks in an open-call, to a large and undefined crowd which are usually reimbursed by a small monetary reward per each piece of work they perform’[1].  However, platforms Upwork or Freelancer are positioned as delivering work that relies on the professional expertise or ‘talent’ of those who secure work through their platform.

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[1] Naderi 2018, p.1