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Turk-Life in India

Published:09 November 2014Publication History

ABSTRACT

Previous studies on Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT), the most well-known marketplace for microtasks, show that the largest population of workers on AMT is U.S. based, while the second largest is based in India. In this paper, we present insights from an ethnographic study conducted in India to introduce some of these workers or "Turkers" -- who they are, how they work and what turking means to them. We examine the work they do to maintain their reputations and their work-life balance. In doing this, we illustrate how AMT's design practically impacts on turk-work. Understanding the "lived work" of crowdwork is a valuable first step for technology design.

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      • Published in

        cover image ACM Conferences
        GROUP '14: Proceedings of the 2014 ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work
        November 2014
        340 pages
        ISBN:9781450330435
        DOI:10.1145/2660398

        Copyright © 2014 ACM

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        Publication History

        • Published: 9 November 2014

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        GROUP '14 Paper Acceptance Rate27of90submissions,30%Overall Acceptance Rate125of405submissions,31%

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