I'm a history major/english minor and it takes me about 30 minutes to write an article. I enjoy doing research and practically my entire major is finding a reliable source or two and condensing it to the important stuff, it's what I've been doing for five years, lol. Plus I try to only accept articles I already know a little bit about or am interested in, which helps with the time.
Speaking of articles I know something about, this plethora of alcoholism articles can start being threaded with some articles under different categories aaaaany time now. If they weren't all for specific rehab centers it wouldn't be so frustrating.
I have a new editor qualification also. After many approvals for editing recipes I got my first rejection the other day - Some of what they said I missed was right, but some was not. I emailed them, but doubt I'll get answer, or get it reversed. I won't edit anymore, period. It's just too subjective with the graders doing the "final review" process. They have to be extra tough themselves, or they get rejected. I write better than I edit anyway. They won't reject an article for a missed comma or two, but you bet they will reject an edit for that.
Ditto with the others who say they write articles they're interested in or already know something about. I never accepted ones about taxes or programming... I was having a field day when all those women's issues ones came out considering one of my most heartfelt interests is women's history and studies. I love writing historical or pop culture articles - so easy. I once wrote one about the Lady-Gaga-is-a-man rumor. Of course, I've written less articles than I'd like. Anytime I take a harder article, it takes more than an hour, but I figure at some point, $11 isn't really worth it. Did you get a rejection through mturk or just through Crowdsource? I got another edit flag, and the rest are sitting... basically waiting to be flagged or rejected because I'm sure they're not perfect. I did have some issues when I first started editing, such as not adding a comma in imperative sentences, and not knowing that the Buffalo in Buffalo wings in capitalized. Also I let a single future tense sentence go in two of the articles, which I've learned from. But some of the other problems are more frustrating for me -- i.e., no use of "can" and "should." Some articles are overrun with those words and it's not as if I can just take them out and we're good to go. No, entire sentences need to be re-written, and often, when I re-write one sentence, the surrounding sentences also need to be adjusted for the article to be coherent. I've been working through the articles and taking out the "can"s and "should"s as best I can, but at some point I assumed that was more stylistic and would fall on the writer. But it doesn't - it falls on me, as that's not a justified reason to reject an article. So rather than re-write an article or get my edit flagged, I just don't edit. Expecting the editors to re-write half the article for $2 makes no sense to me, yet that appears to be expected. I can't decide between contacting Crowdsource to ask about this/express a desire to keep my qualification and continue editing, or just stop editing. I'd really like the non-beta 300-word articles back, as I hate writing about specific products like the HITs available now. Again, I'm glad to be working for Crowdsource, but they seem really disorganized and it feels like it's really affecting the workers, and most likely, the quality of work.
I was so pleased, I got an edit feedback that was actually worth something. They gave a bit of constructive feedback, I was able to easily find what had been changed, and they said "thanks" instead of just giving the vague "this stuff was wrooooong" type responses I've been getting. It's a nice change of pace.
It was rejected through Mturk I don't really care about losing the $1.75, but I don't want my stats to be ruined, so I'm not taking any more chances on editing. There are plenty of good articles to do right now - I kind of like reviewing the treatment centers and now there are more recipes to do.
There's a new tab on the worker profile site that displays all the changes! It's wonderfully helpful. Still, some of the article corrections make me feel like I completely forgot how to write, lol. Some of them only have minimal edits, though, which is nice.
Just a note. I did 16 edits after I got my qual in April. Got feedback on four of them. 2 were about bonuses, 1 was incorrect information and only 1 was legitimate feedback. Yet I had my qualification removed today. Don't think that there is any sort of training period. There isn't. Don't bother.
Yes, I think CS likes to knit-pick about some very inconsequential things...I do think they are trying to change things up, but in the meantime, my backlog (on their desks) is creating a "you can't do anymore of these until we get to them--check back soon" messages...it's been two-weeks already! I wrote earlier in the week and did get a nice response: "Thanks for reaching out..." yep, at least she answered! At this point, I'd like to reach out and slap someone! LOL
I'm feeling very frustrated. I have been writing many of those General Overview and Buying Consideration Sections, as I received some nice feedback after the first one. I have now received two rejections on them since as well as lots of feedback about fluff. I don't really think what I am writing is fluff, as I am taking material from the store information and rewording it. I guess I'll be staying away from those. Feeling disheartened by feedback in general now. It makes me wary to write, but I need the money.
Oh, and I was following the examples CS gave almost to a "T" (obviously adding in info specific to the products I was writing about), and I got lots of feedback about filler/fluff. WTH???
That's terrible. I thought Crowdsource usually doesn't reject through mturk. Like you said, I'd rather not be paid than be rejected, because I don't want my acceptance rate to be affected. I have eight pending editing HITs, and I'm pretty worried some of them will be rejected. That sucks. What I find frustrating about the articles is that sometimes, they sort of need fluff. I tried writing one of those General Overview HITs and the topic I chose had extremely limited products. As I started writing it, I realized I had put all information possible in and the article was still too short. I just returned the HIT because I couldn't figure out how to finish it without padding it with filler. If you didn't even use filler, but were still rejected, that's even more worrying. I'm really worried about writing for them in the future. Another annoying thing about editing - if I take "fluff" out, I have to replace it with something or submit a too-short article, and if I'm not knowledgable on the topic, then I have to actually do research to write new content. For $2. But like you said, I really need the money. It's hard to just quit doing Crowdsource HITs, even though they're really frustrating me right now. This is just my own musings, but if I could make changes within Crowdsource, I'd want... - Far more examples for each piece -- a collection of fantastic articles and a collection of problem articles with the problems highlighted, corrected, and explained. - More consistency with the requirements/editing. - Either higher standards for writers or more pay for editors. - Feedback on corrections. - More communication with workers.
I was told the examples they provided for those HITs were inadequate. They gave me a $5 bonus for letting me know but still rejected my articles. Kind of crappy since I was just following their examples.
You should send those suggestions to crowdsource - the say they want feedback. amberkshire - I know how you feel - when you get a rejection you just don't feel adequate. It will pass. However, that's why I don't edit anymore. I have 2 of those General Overview and Buying Consideration HITS pending - I got good feedback on my first one too, so keeping my fingers crossed. They had these a while back and they were separated into 2 hits - I did pretty well on those and got a couple of bonuses, so hopefully these pass the scrutiny this time around.
Sounds like I am not the only frustrated one...took on a "creative" article/recipe title hit...feedback was "too creative." He**, I could have put pumpkin vegetarian recipe (just a sample) which were the keywords...they also didn't think my choice of topic was too interesting either...I followed the link and I felt the article would be best as a list of links to similar variations. Nope, I guess they wanted the recipe. And a small amount to "create" three titles. Not doing those again since the "editors" who review my work apparently have enough time to do it themselves. I mean, WHAT IS IT THEY WANT????? I need the money as well, but have a major anxiety attack when I have to do their hits. Also in agreement about the "fluff" factor. I edited a 70-word product description, taking out all the fluff and they wouldn't let me submit it because less than 70-words. Okay, but there was very little product information for the writer to work from...plus the instructions say they want "cut and dry" tone, but a description that will draw the reader in...WTH? So I ended up re-writing something, putting the fluff back in because it wasn't filler, it was what met their word number qualification. GRRRRRR I am just frustrated beyond all reason with them. I hope they get their act together soon, since more than just one person is confused by what it is they really want!