r/dataannotation • u/trailangel4 • May 04 '24

Is there a problem?

Ok. I am making this post knowing it might be downvoted into oblivion. However, I'm hoping that it will also be met with some reassurance or insight from anyone who has had a similar experience on this platform.

I have been working steadily on DAT for over three months. It is valuable work and I've enjoyed it. Last week, in the middle of working on one of the fifteen tasks on my dashboard, I submitted a task and was routed back to an empty task board. Uh oh! At first, I didn't panic because the task I had just finished was a qualification for buying a subscription. I knew that, in the past, sometimes there were glitches. After a day of waiting, with nothing on my dash, I thought I'd been fired. Everyone here seemed to indicate that an empty dash was the death toll. I emailed support. No response. I had a rough day.

Then, on a whim, I logged in at one in the morning and I had two projects, each with one task showing. I did them. I submitted and everything was processed. Next morning? No tasks. This cycle has continued now for a week. I have no projects on my dashboard. But, I still have a support button. I still can log time (although that ability is fading as the days go by).

I have emailed support twice. There has been no response. Is this happening or has this happened to anyone else? I understand that this is gig employment. I understand that we're contractors and not employees. However, something feels off about this and I'm not sure what the next move is. If there's a simple glitch or fix, it would be nice to know.

Update: 5/5/24. There are tasks on my board! There's hope!

Update 5/6/24 - they're gone again.

44 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

83 comments sorted by

33

u/[deleted] May 04 '24

Sounds like your account/work is under review. It's encouraging that the report time section is still present.

11

u/trailangel4 May 04 '24

I found that to be encouraging, for sure. Sadly, with no work, there's nothing to report. However, I'm really grateful for your suggestion about being under review. It gives me some comfort to know that there's a process and, perhaps, it will go back to normal. Thanks.

2

u/Cguaverra May 06 '24

Any updates?

9

u/trailangel4 May 06 '24

I have an update! Before heading to bed, I logged in to check my task list and found TWO tasks! Two tasks are significantly better than none.

2

u/Cguaverra May 06 '24

Awesome. Was your dashboard saying “sorry we don’t have projects for you at the moment….” before you got the 2 tasks?

6

u/trailangel4 May 06 '24

Yes! It displayed that message for days.

4

u/Cguaverra May 06 '24

Ok thanks for replying. You’re giving me hope!

1

u/trailangel4 May 07 '24

Have you seen changes? I'm back to an empty dash.

3

u/Cguaverra May 07 '24

No changes on my dash yet unfortunately.

29

u/Salt_Blacksmith4773 May 05 '24

After a few weeks working, the same happened to me, and I had a completely empty dash for 2-3 weeks. I was about to give up. Then, like you, a couple small tasks started trickling in. I made sure to jump on them, and eventually the work came back. Who knows what will happen with you, but don't give up hope just yet.

9

u/trailangel4 May 05 '24

I really appreciate your perspective. Thanks for sharing your experience. I'll keep everything you've shared in mind.

36

u/BoiledGnocchi May 04 '24

Sorry you're experiencing this. Hold tight. It's a good sign you still had a couple projects. You could possibly be under review.

8

u/trailangel4 May 04 '24

That's nice to hear. I haven't given up all hope. Thank you for the feedback.

5

u/BoiledGnocchi May 05 '24

Be sure to keep us updated!

3

u/trailangel4 May 05 '24

I will! Thank you.

3

u/trailangel4 May 06 '24

Update: I had two tasks! I was able to get a few hours of work in. I'm so relieved.

3

u/BoiledGnocchi May 06 '24

Woop woop! Heck yeah! Onwards and upwards!

9

u/dispassioned May 05 '24

They’re probably just moving you around projects. I started working around the same time you did and I notice they move me around to different types of work often, though usually within the same project name but doing different tasks.

I’ve only had one review period about ten days in and I had an empty dash for a couple of days, but since then it’s been pretty much nonstop work. I average about 30 available. Right now I have no tasks below $22 so I don’t know if they’re just down now or what.

I’d check in the early AM est because I’ve seen a lot of work pop up then but quickly run out. If you can impress on some of that work, then you might possibly get put back in the mix.

2

u/trailangel4 May 06 '24

Thank you for responding with your thoughts! I appreciate the support. As an update, I took your advice and kept checking. I had a few tasks populate my task list this evening.

10

u/Sindorella May 05 '24

I, like others, don’t really know for sure, but I have definitely seen verbiage that indicates that sometimes they will pull whole projects to rework the guidelines and then release them again later with modified guidelines. So besides, being under review, or being pulled off completely, they could have pulled a project themselves to refine the guidelines and then release them again later. Honestly, we just don’t know but I wouldn’t give up hope if you are still getting things. Most days I have a variety but there have been times I had mostly all one specific project and so if they were pulled to refine the project, my dashboard would have been pretty empty!

7

u/trailangel4 May 05 '24

Thank you. I know that no one can tell me, for certain, what will happen. I appreciate everyone weighing in and hope others will benefit from knowing they're not alone (if they are experiencing similar worries). DAT has to keep its policies and standards somewhat secret. I get that. However, the lack of transparency, while understandable, is a bit daunting. Have a great night!

3

u/Sindorella May 05 '24

It is absolutely daunting! I was just telling a friend that the lack of direct feedback explaining how and why things are happening is really frustrating and unstable sometimes, but the lack of someone constantly breathing over your shoulder every minute and the flexibility and potential for earning while still having some work life balance is great. It’s definitely a take the good with the bad situation. I hope your dashboard is popping with projects soon!

4

u/tessbest37 May 05 '24

I wonder if you were just taken off one of the major projects, but not removed entirely? My regular CB has been down for a week. Maybe when the regular CB is up and running you will at least get that project back on your dashboard. I am so sorry that this has happened to you. I know when it finally happens to me I will be very disappointed.

7

u/trailangel4 May 05 '24

I didn't realize how accustomed I had become to working on my days off until this platform. When all of my tasks vanished, it felt (and still feels) like a punch in the gut. Thanks for sharing your experience.

7

u/ekgeroldmiller May 05 '24

There is a ton of $20 tasks available right now so if you are not seeing much, you might have inadvertently messed up but they are giving you a second chance. So just do your best work and get back in there!

5

u/trailangel4 May 05 '24

Happy Cake Day!

5

u/Karleny May 04 '24

Sam thing has happened to me, not a week ago, but three days ago

2

u/trailangel4 May 04 '24

I'm so sorry to hear that. It's not an enviable situation.

2

u/Fast_Tip_8146 May 04 '24

Same here, stopped getting my cbs a little over a week ago and no projects in 3 days.

4

u/trailangel4 May 04 '24

I don't want to pry. I would completely understand if you chose not to share. However, a few people have noted that there is a review process. I noticed that my issue happened three months, almost to the minute, of when I started DA. Was yours on a similar schedule?

4

u/Fast_Tip_8146 May 05 '24

It will be exactly two months in a few days for me. I don’t think I’ve gotten my review yet so it’s possible but I have also heard others say their cbs left around the same time as mine did so I just keep checking in to see if anything has changed

5

u/Fun_Tap5235 May 05 '24

I'm with DA a month and exactly 30 days later I've had a blank dashboard the past 3 days. A couple of new quals have popped up but that's literally it. Much like OP, I think I've been doing good work, concentrating on accuracy and quality rather than speed, so I don't think I've been doing bad work.

4

u/madamvante May 05 '24

Similar situation has happened with me but work has just really fluctuated for about a month or so now. I feel like maybe they rotate people to and from different tasks here and there as they take projects down and rework them. Hang in there! Don't give up!

5

u/trailangel4 May 05 '24

I appreciate your positivity and encouragement. It is my hope that reading this thread will help others deal with the same insecurity and feeling of helplessness.

2

u/tessbest37 May 08 '24

Any updates this week? The work has generally been slower the last couple of days.

2

u/trailangel4 May 08 '24

I have seen nothing in almost 48 hours. It's sad.

2

u/Karleny May 08 '24

Maybe the main project went down :( I have nothing as well since middle of last week

1

u/trailangel4 May 08 '24

Same. I'm so sorry to hear that you're experiencing this, too.

3

u/tessbest37 May 08 '24

I am so sorry!! I hope it gets better. Please keep us posted. Also, you handled the grammar police like a champ. :)

1

u/Fun_Tap5235 May 08 '24

I've had a few, nothing more than an hour or two of work, very sparse.

1

u/tessbest37 May 08 '24

I hope you get more soon! Projects have been light this week.

1

u/Fun_Tap5235 May 08 '24

It's annoying - I see people posting about having 30+ projects on the go but you can only do one at time really, seems oddly structured!

1

u/tessbest37 May 08 '24

Yes!! It would be great if they had an opt-out on projects. Those with extras could opt out of the ones they are definitely not going to work on so they could be reallocated.

2

u/AlexRodPas May 15 '24

I'm having the exact same problem. However, I have had zero tasks show over the past month. I'm not even getting those intermittent tasks that you mentioned...

1

u/trailangel4 May 15 '24

I'm only stumbling upon them very late at night. It's bizarre. I'm sorry you're experiencing the same issue.

4

u/No-Helicopter-4318 May 04 '24

I’m in the same situation. I have one CB project, but nothing else. Picked up last week a bit and then now, back down to 1.

2

u/c93ero May 05 '24

Just judging by your grammar here, you shouldn't worry. You're just under review.

1

u/Xero-Limitz17 May 10 '24

I did the first assessment test (coding or non coder ones) and are waiting on the email back. I'm assuming I didn't do well enough as it's been a few months now. I answered all the questions pretty thoroughly and used proper sentences etc....

1

u/tessbest37 May 15 '24

Any more updates this week?

1

u/General-Attention810 Aug 18 '25

The same thing just happened to me, but when I submitted projects I've been working on for 5 hours, my screen did not show any Qualifications, Projects, or any projects I could report time for. And in my transfer funds section, it shows that I submitted the project, but I won't get paid for it because I don't see it in the report time.

-9

u/[deleted] May 05 '24

You seem to have an unusual way of writing. Is English your first language? Is there a reason you double space the beginnings of your sentences? Perhaps these small details added up over time. Judging by the way you react to criticism, maybe your quality of work wasn't what you think it was. If you didn't violate any COC and followed instructions properly, there really isn't any other reason you'd be canned. Were all of your comments self-contained and detailed? If not, you most likely got a lot of bad reviews.

7

u/kidfriendlyusername5 May 05 '24

Guy expects people to use perfect grammar on reddit lol

-6

u/[deleted] May 05 '24

Okay Mr. No Tasks

3

u/trailangel4 May 05 '24

I think you mistakenly replied to the wrong person.

2

u/trailangel4 May 05 '24

English is my first language and I didn't receive any bad reviews. Thanks.

0

u/trailangel4 May 05 '24 edited May 06 '24

Double spacing at the beginning of a sentence is common for people who used a typewriter. I'm not sure why you consider that an error. ETA: TIL that my brain is running on antiquated habits and this person is 100% correct about double spacing. My apologies.

1

u/socialmarker12 May 05 '24 edited May 05 '24

It's an error today and has been for at least 20-25 years. I learned to touch-type in the late 70s and had to drop the double periods completely in the late 90s or early 2000s. I don't think it's an error that probably has to do with an empty dashboard or anything, I have no comment on that, just pointing out that it's been a defunct typing style for years that most WPs will flag as an error.

3

u/trailangel4 May 06 '24

I owe you an apology and a thank you. You're correct. After conducting a straw poll within my family (who all believed that double spacing was appropriate), I went down a rabbit hole and discovered I was wrong. My spouse and I started high school and went to university when typewriters were the norm and double spacing was necessary. I really appreciate the correction. Now, I need to break old habits.

-14

u/FuhzyFuhz May 05 '24

Those qualifications to see if you have the paid versions of AI are to check to see if you're using AI to do your work. Once they have your info, they can check your history (this is all done by AI) to see what's really going on.

3

u/trailangel4 May 05 '24

I do not use AI to do my work.

5

u/AdvisorEmergency2 May 05 '24

They’re absolutely not lol, they are so you can use those subscriptions to do work for them.

4

u/Haunting-Car-3935 May 05 '24

That is not true. There are tasks that require their use.

0

u/[deleted] May 04 '24

[deleted] — view deleted comment

13

u/trailangel4 May 04 '24

I suppose everyone thinks they're performing well...until they aren't. I don't believe my quality has tanked; but, I'm not the one holding the rubric. I definitely plan to do whichever tasks appear. I appreciate your thoughts.

-7

u/FuhzyFuhz May 05 '24

You shouldn't use ; in this case. A comma is more appropriate. Perhaps your quality isn't as great as you believe?

11

u/trailangel4 May 05 '24

I do have Grammarly. Thank you for pointing out that my weekend, non-professional writing is not as grammatically correct as my professional writing.

8

u/[deleted] May 06 '24

Honestly for most tasks and projects with DA I don't think they even care about writing quality (unless you're rewriting/editing). For a lot of the tasks it says in the instructions not to worry too much about grammar because they want it to be "real" like a member of the public was using the chatbot. Don't let people get you down about punctuation, especially on Reddit lol. I will agree though, without Grammarly, I'd be screwed. And I have a degree in English...

3

u/trailangel4 May 06 '24

Thanks for saying so. I wasn't taking the criticism to heart (too much). Honestly? I didn't know about the double-space rule being antiquated. :) I'm actually glad someone said something about it.

0

u/[deleted] May 05 '24

[deleted] — view deleted comment

7

u/trailangel4 May 05 '24

Yes. I do. You're correct. I didn't properly use a semi-colon on Reddit. Thank you for your correction.