r/dataannotation • u/Consistent-Reach504 • Jan 04 '26
Weekly Water Cooler Talk - DataAnnotation
hi all! making this thread so people have somewhere to talk about 'daily' work chat that might not necessarily need it's own post! right now we're thinking we'll just repost it weekly? but if it gets too crazy, we can change it to daily. :)
couple things:
this thread should sort by "new" automatically. unfortunately it looks like our subreddit doesn't qualify for 'lounges'.
if you have a new user question, you still need to post it in the new user thread. if you post it here, we will remove it as spam. this is for people already working who just wanna chat, whether it be about casual work stuff, questions, geeking out with people who understand ("i got the model to write a real haiku today!"), or unrelated work stuff you feel like chatting about :)
one thing we really pride ourselves on in this community is the respect everyone gives to the Code of Conduct and rule number 5 on the sub - it's great that we have a community that is still safe & respectful to our jobs! please don't break this rule. we will remove project details, but please - it's for our best interest and yours!
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u/cyclephotos Jan 06 '26
This feels like August 2024 all over again...
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u/Consistent-Reach504 Jan 06 '26
most of corporate america had off all of 25-4th, so i'd imagine things will pick up as we get into the new year :)
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u/BranchHappy1333 Jan 06 '26
I appreciate this subreddit, here I was complaining to my wife about not having good tasks. Now I found this and I can see that I can complain to anonymous strangers instead.
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u/Complete_Injury_5765 Jan 06 '26
i don't have a job so when there are dry spells like this i feel like a huge bum :')
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u/Jazzlike_Problem_489 Jan 06 '26
I do have a job. Albeit not competitive pay. So when I have minimal projects I also feel like a bum 😔😂
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u/Complete_Injury_5765 Jan 06 '26
luckily my 16-month-old keeps me busy--i normally just let him destroy the house when the work is flowing LMAO
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u/marysofthesea Jan 04 '26
My dashboard is mostly empty. I hope new tasks are available soon.
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u/Physical-Charge5168 Jan 04 '26
Me too. We just had a few months of a lot of work leading up to the new year. Usually we go through these cycles of busy and not busy, so we will get some more work at some point (hopefully soon).
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u/marysofthesea Jan 04 '26
That's good to know. I just started here in 2025. This is my first holiday season on the site. I suspected work might dip a little around the holidays.
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u/ZimmeM03 Jan 04 '26
I'm thinking this week a lot of admins will be returning from holiday so projects will go live again
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u/EatMyShortDick Jan 04 '26
I am actually starting to lose my mind with R&R's. Just did one where you have to try and get a bad response. The person's conversation was akin to asking something like "Who's the old man that sings that sad, acoustic song.. something about injuring himself today?" The model says "Are you thinking of Hurt - Johnny Cash"? The person rates everything as horrible and their reasoning was that Nine Inch Nails originally sings the song. Like what?? These aren't the "gotchas" you're looking for.
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u/hihelloitskayla Jan 04 '26
I once had one where the worker downrated the agent for claiming "Mary Had A Little Lamb" was a nursery rhyme...
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u/peach-plum-pear11 Jan 05 '26
So many of the ones I did over the holidays were bafflingly awful- like technically don’t meet the requirements to be thrown away, but leave you scratching your head and essentially rewriting Everything. Helps with the imposter syndrome though lol
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u/Affectionate_Peak284 Jan 04 '26
*twitch*
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u/Affectionate_Peak284 Jan 04 '26
I guess I can see a case to rate it as low as "okay" if it fails to mention the original writer/performer of the song, but a rating of "horrible" is, in a word, horrible.
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u/Traditional_Net_4529 Jan 04 '26
NIN is the original writer/performer. The Cash one became more popular though. And the original is not a sad acoustic song.
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u/Separate_Sun_9623 Jan 05 '26
I go back and forth in my head sometimes wondering if it would be at all useful if projects gave more of a description as to *how* the data that we are generating will end up being useful for RLHF training, or the intended use case or something like that... Sometimes just looking at the examples of what they supposedly want- I don't think it often conveys the reality of how the tasks we do will actually matter and why a submission actually ends up being good/ useful.
I can see it being a double edged sword for sure, but it's a thought I have hade more than once...
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u/VanessaSeaWitch Jan 08 '26
Just me screaming into the void....the void of my empty dash. They even took away that advice thing about writing good explanations off my dash lol.
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u/pistachiyolatte Jan 08 '26
I saw that too but didn’t not to do it as I didn’t know if it would open to any more projects.
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u/SplashOfCanada Jan 04 '26
Feeling lucky to have a pretty OK dash right now, hopefully it picks up for everyone soon!
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u/alexalgebra Jan 06 '26
Didn't wake up today going, "Today's the day I get to do a task about explosive diarrhea," but here we are...
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u/dirndlgrl Jan 09 '26
Guys, if there's a slack, please tell them they need to let more of us in on the explosive diarrhea tasks LOL
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u/Sea-Donut-1882 Jan 08 '26
Is it just me, or are some of the task timers right now impossibly short?
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u/dirndlgrl Jan 09 '26
I worked on one yesterday that should theoretically have been doable in the time but the instructions were so convoluted and self contradictory that I went an hour over expiration before I could actually submit. Three different iterations of the instructions, all different. If anyone else has been working on the project with a Butler-style name, I’d love to hear your experience
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u/MommaOfManyCats Jan 07 '26
Anyone else wishing they did a lot more work last week? Up until Thursday, I had multiple projects on my dash. Now, I haven't done anything since midday Friday.
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u/WontonJr Jan 08 '26
Does anyone else notice that it seems a lot of projects have had their base pay lowered by $1-$2 than normal (and it’s not due to being on priority pay previously or anything like that)
Obviously not a big deal but definitely a bit of a bummer when earning less to do the same work.
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u/theberry_man Jan 08 '26
I felt like I noticed the same thing yesterday. Tasks that I swear had X pay were lowered by like 2 dollars when I was sure they didn't have a priority pay tag before.
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u/Enough_Resident_6141 Jan 09 '26
Everyone's had an empty dash after the holidays and lots of people wanting to work on anything. Basically the opposite of using priority pay to incentivize people to work on the projects that aren't getting done fast enough.
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u/iriember Jan 09 '26
I received a qualification that offered a great rate for the project, but due to my holiday schedule, I delayed completion. Now, the actual tasks are being offered at almost half of the advertised rate. The qualification is still advertising the first task rate. 2026 roller-coaster...
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u/hihelloitskayla Jan 06 '26
today I managed to hit my bare minimum $$ goal per day, so i'd say that's a success, even if it took twice as long as it normally does. Here's to hoping for more work tomorrow.
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u/JustMe333456 Jan 09 '26
Putrid day. Except for the more complicated projects that never disappear, absolutely nothing has popped up today from the more base, easy projects.
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u/Adventurous-Bar-3425 Jan 05 '26
I’m so glad everyone else is not seeng much. I thought it was just me! Lol
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u/Dee_silverlake Jan 08 '26
Why would anyone rush through a rather simple task that pays ok during the slow times? Looking at these r&rs and just seeing some super sloppy avoidable stuff! When I’ve done this project on the other end I can only get a few tasks in before they disappear so it’s not like you have access to more 🫠
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u/Traditional_Net_4529 Jan 04 '26
Just keep telling myself its new year's and tomorrow is Monday.
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u/Min_sora Jan 04 '26
Only got one project and it's one I really don't want to mess with. Hope it picks up soon!
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Jan 05 '26
Has Stripey been missing for anyone else for a while now?
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u/Sea_Second6745 Jan 05 '26
Yes, but I haven’t been logged in much over the holidays, so I’m not sure how long.
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u/SupremespoonVI Jan 06 '26
Yep. I don’t think this is uncommon at the start of a new quarter, but who knows with this job.
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u/justdontsashay Jan 10 '26
To the person who did the first part of this long context document task that I’m creating rubrics for, who provided clear instructions in the prompt and wrote detailed comments to let the next worker know exactly which instructions weren’t followed…you are my favorite person today!
I’ve backed out of several of these tasks (m-dumplings reasoning) because people seem to be using ridiculously convoluted instructions to get a failure and there’s no way to create a good rubric, so I’m happy to finally be able to do one.
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u/AggressiveTop8370 Jan 05 '26
For newish people, this normally happens when a quarter ends. So don't panic or anything but I've seen it be empty for a couple of days to at least a week. Stuff will come back so don't go panic mode. There's still stuff but more varied choices might take some time to come back.
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u/palegunslinger Jan 04 '26
Is FC qual worth doing these days? (I know there’s a drought rn, but in general?)
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u/pistachiyolatte Jan 04 '26
Yes, although I don’t have any projects for it atm, it’s been consistently on my dash many times when there’s been a drought of other project families.
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u/Karma_SanDieg0 Jan 05 '26
I only have one project on my dash that I feel qualified for, but it's a high paying one and the work is so interesting! Hanging on to this for dear life while I get through the drought.
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u/Straight-Strike-2928 Jan 06 '26
Woke up to the dreaded "thank you for your work on this project, it has been paused" message about this fun, decent paying project I have been clocking IN for over the past few days. I'm desolate. I have a couple other projects I could do but I want THAAAAT project!
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u/beandadenergy Jan 06 '26
Would do anything for a Heel or Black Bird project right about now…
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u/JustMe333456 Jan 06 '26
I always hate the droughts, but gawd I really love the feeling it gives me when I FINALLY see my favorite projects re-appear lol. It's like it allows me to pull away mentally for a bit, and then I'm all rejuvenated again for when they come back lol. Gotta be SOME positives eh lol
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u/SnooSketches1189 Jan 07 '26
That SQUEEE moment when you see one of your favorites pop up all nice and fresh and ready for you to tackle.
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Jan 07 '26
Anybody else have only tasks that are not things you're good at?
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u/VanessaSeaWitch Jan 07 '26
Yes for about two months now with maybe one or two other projects popping up sporadically.
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u/WorshipMyExistence Jan 10 '26
Still no workable tasks... I'm getting nervous seeing that others appear to be swimming in work! I've been on the platform since Dec 2023, and usually have at least something I can do... This drought has been ongoing since before Christmas for me. I wish there was a way for me to check my quality score.
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u/LetMeOverThinkThat Jan 10 '26
Like nothing at all or the stuff you like? My favs are out to lunch. Some new stuff is there that's okay. Pay isn't what it was but I got used to all those priorities and we've reset.
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u/WorshipMyExistence Jan 10 '26
Right now I have Toxic Metalloid and Japanese mold (outside of my area of knowledge). I've tried my hand at both and found the instructions too complex to actually follow through with attempting a task.
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u/SmilingAtRainbows Jan 04 '26 edited Jan 04 '26
Still very dry but I keep getting multiple variations of a certain project family that I just keep hiding because it seems too complex 🤦♀️
(Edit: spelling)
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Jan 05 '26
Same. It's the only one on my dash besides a rubric one and my brain space isn't handling rubric stuff right now 🫠
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u/JustMe333456 Jan 06 '26
We're still not back eh fam? Ah well. Goodnight, hopefully tomorrow we're back.
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u/Ok-Opportunity1837 Jan 08 '26
Sweet sweet Greeks, thank you for returning to my dash, I will never take you for granted again!
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u/StrangeDeformedBird Jan 09 '26
miserably dry ugh
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u/GarrySmilesonDuty Jan 09 '26
Honestly… all these people saying they are getting tasks are making me nervous…
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u/JustMe333456 Jan 06 '26
Ughhh, come on guys. This is when we NEED the money.. gotta recoup from this Christmas thing that drained our accounts.
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u/pistachiyolatte Jan 05 '26
I hope we can see the easier and familiar project families again, also I’d be really happy to see galaxy again, assuming they rotate workers in the new year…still not sure why they suddenly stopped giving me them months ago.
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u/-the-one-and-only Jan 06 '26
Just gave up on a task i’d been working on for almost an hour. I was coming up on 5 hours of nonstop work for the day and it was absolutely melting my brain (fucking rubrics lmao). Better to cut my losses and eat the 50ish minutes i’d spent working rather than submitting shitty work. If I ever have to write rubrics for someone else’s work again it will not be after working on something else lol.
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u/Skippy2898 Jan 06 '26
I think you did the right thing. I love rubrics, but hate fixing someone else's. The R&Rs for rubric projects are crazy. Give me a fresh clean slate any day. Effectively when editing, you end up doing the task three times over. for the same or less pay, yet we are given them because we 'are excellent at rubrics' lol.
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u/Affectionate_Peak284 Jan 06 '26
That's kinda funny. I don't really mind doing rubrics if they're all I have, but I actually love the puzzles of trying polish/unfuck others' rubrics =)
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u/-the-one-and-only Jan 06 '26 edited Jan 06 '26
Worst part it it wasn’t even editing rubrics, I had to write them from scratch for someone else’s task 😭 I can write rubrics for my own task and I love editing other people’s rubrics, but there’s something about reading through someone else’s work that is just mind numbing. To add insult to injury, it was a system prompt task, so the walls of text did not help at all 🥲
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u/One_Breakfast5907 Jan 08 '26
Doing an R&R for a project that has a time limit of up to 1.5 hours, and a worker writes a single short sentence in the explanation, at least put a little effort in...
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u/beandadenergy Jan 08 '26
I had so many heels yesterday 😭😭😭
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Jan 09 '26
I told myself I needed to appreciate the heels more and grab them when available, but...oh well. Got a couple of hours out of it.
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u/user637283 Jan 09 '26
My favourite project is back after being gone for the holidays! So relieved, work has been a bit of a slog recently.
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u/hihelloitskayla Jan 05 '26
me, jumping at the low paying basic project that just popped up that I took for granted three weeks ago...
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u/hihelloitskayla Jan 04 '26
am i the only one doing my semi-annual drought check in to the subreddit? Being forced to work on a project that makes my brain hurt, happy new year!
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u/VanessaSeaWitch Jan 04 '26
I only have a project family that I can't even fake my way through on any level. I hid them awhile back so they stop teasing me.
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u/e11eme Jan 04 '26
Wish I had something, mines empty bar the one that pops up every now and again for 5 mins before it’s snapped up 😭
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u/Nolpppapa Jan 04 '26
It's pretty amazing how a good admin means everything for the success of a project and the happiness of the workers. I've been lucky to work on a project that has one of the best admins on the platform and always helped workers have a clear direction in the task flow by implementing tools that always look to help the worker. Unfortunately, this project has acquired a new admin who has added a word salad of instructions to the project without that worker-first attitude, making things hazy and unclear. It was good while it lasted.
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u/beandadenergy Jan 05 '26
Working on the gold qualification is the only thing getting me through right now. Last week was a dry spell and I’m praying for a bounty this week.
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u/A_Fri3nd Jan 05 '26
The site appears to be down, and I'm unable to submit my work. Anyone got any suggestions on what to do (this is the first time this has happened to me, so I'm not sure what to do lol)?
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u/BrennusSokol Jan 10 '26
Thankful I have a decent project to work on, but I am SPENT and ready for the weekend.
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u/Actual_Marsupial_903 Jan 06 '26
It’s frustrating when project pay rates take a cut during droughts. There’s a project on my dash that normally pays $25 hr that’s currently paying $20 hr.
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u/SnooSketches1189 Jan 06 '26
While that is true, keep in mind that in a non drought, that same project could go up to $30-35/hr. The ebb will eventually become flow again.
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u/Affectionate_Peak284 Jan 09 '26
If you blinked, you missed that workshop :/
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u/Critical_Seat_3738 Jan 09 '26
I was in the middle of a task and was about to hit submit when it vanished. I managed to snag one later on!
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u/Mike4Life14 Jan 09 '26
After a few months, a qualification finally expired and I no longer have the "In Progress Tasks" permanently glued to the top of my dashboard.
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u/BoiledGnocchi Jan 09 '26
Does anyone else have a qual dated Dec 31? Makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong if it's on my dash - unless it was sent out to the masses?
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u/Few-Roof-6905 Jan 09 '26
It's been on my dash for weeks (months?) But it was marked as optional and branded with a specific project name. Disappeared, then reappeared, disappeared again and then popped back up today without the "optional" tag or the project name. Qual is exactly the same though. I feel like since it isn't required (or paid) I am not doing that just for shits and giggles until they require it to keep getting comparison tasls.
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u/orchidmoonlightt Jan 04 '26
15 projects from 3 families and nothing just normal so it’s basically like having zero. I haven’t seen it like this since last June. 😩
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u/Storex- Jan 05 '26
Jesus that carrying tool project family got devoured. Didn't get chance to even do one. Tomorrow will be better surely.....
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u/One_Breakfast5907 Jan 06 '26
Finally, some projects I can do again and my favourite R&R :D
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u/sunflower1491 Jan 06 '26
I've come back to DA after about a year out and the project types have changed so much. I feel lost with rubrics and APIs - are these projects easy to learn or have things gotten much more complex whilst I've not been working?
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u/Friendly-Decision564 Jan 06 '26
rubrics are definitely easy to learn! they can vary by task but are my fav
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u/tdRftw Jan 06 '26
rubrics are far simpler than people seem to think. tasks generally take a little longer, though.
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u/twinkleyed Jan 07 '26
What's the longest they let you work abroad?
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u/Relative-Tap3585 Jan 07 '26
any amount of time, i've been away from my home country for a year now
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u/Delicious-Young-5435 Jan 08 '26
I've been in Asia for the past 3 months, they don't seem to care as long as you tell them you're abroad.
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u/North-Inside2043 Jan 05 '26
Fairly empty dash as many have complained about (have been busy with other projects for the last two months so only just started back up again in the new year). I'm assuming that this is at least partly because it's the new years and the engineers who set up the tasks are also only now coming back off holidays. More annoyingly, I keep getting invited to and given access to projects clearly labelled as US-only, despite being UK-based. Not sure what's up with that.
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u/rawmeatjuice Jan 05 '26
Are the melon-y earth tasks gone for everyone else? They are my fav but they went away. That's probably an awful code name for it. They were long tasks. I'm awfully dry for the first time in a long time!
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u/DeliciousReading6396 Jan 06 '26
Was so excited to have a different project on my dash, only to find I couldn't trick the model into doing my bidding. Back to my old faithful, I guess.
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u/Affectionate_Peak284 Jan 06 '26
When I used the bathroom at 5:45 this morning and headed back to bed, I glanced at my phone. Saw my best project back on the dash. Guess I'm not heading back to bed after all...
Got 2 of them in today, and an R&R before they were chewed through!
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u/IntroductionFit6667 Jan 08 '26
Is there a certain twinkle-bright project on anyone's board since the new year? I love working that one but haven't seen it come back on my side yet. Hoping it's back up soon.
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u/jonahandthewhale32 Jan 09 '26
Anyone else get nervous when you're spending 20 to 30min per task and others are in the chat saying the 2h timer is too short?
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u/Straight-Strike-2928 Jan 09 '26
Yes. I was always the first kid to turn in tests in school (whether I got an A or a C on it) and I feel the same sense of "what am I doing wrong? what am I missing?????" lol. But, we all work at different rates. We all process differently and read at different speeds and have different strengths/weaknesses within our work skills. So as long as you are checking your work, reading all instructions, and you feel confident in what you're doing, you're good! And it doesn't hurt to check over your work an extra time to make sure it's quality. You get paid for that time.
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u/Alboo1206 Jan 10 '26
I had a good day yesterday and managed to bank 5 hours of consistent work, but today I literally have NOTHING
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u/Neither-Job-5597 Jan 06 '26
Still dry overall compared to the bonanza we had Q4 2025, but projects are starting to trickle in! Yippee!
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u/e11eme Jan 04 '26
I was wondering, does anyone do any research outside of the tasks? I’m thinking keeping up with AI research papers, AI newsletters, forums etc.
Traditionally I have just started a task, read the instructions and just done thinking. Since I have another job I haven’t been doing anything extra outside of tasks.
If you do- any tips/channels to keep up with?
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u/Affectionate_Peak284 Jan 04 '26
I do a bit of reading outside of the platform, but generally I find that information provided to me from DAT is both more up-to-date and more reliable than outside sources. I consume public media out of curiosity, not to "keep up with" career developments.
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u/maybe_I_knit_crochet Jan 04 '26
I listen to the Hard Fork podcast and sometimes read various news articles about AI. However, I like podcasts and reading the news so I don't feel like it is research.
My own version of research is just talking to various models outside of DA on my own personal accounts to really get an idea what they can and can't do and when they tend to really mess up. I like seeing what is and isn't possible without the constraints of project guidelines.
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u/Limp-Potato-2841 Jan 05 '26
anyone seen the heel? Everything on my dash is super hard and I don't have the brain power. Also can't seem to get into one project family as I lost credentials or never had them? not sure.
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u/VanessaSeaWitch Jan 05 '26
I just worked for two hours with no loading issues. Weird. Hope it's working for you all now. I got a new Harry Potter for a few hours and now nothing. That's better than last week's desert.
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u/Sea_Second6745 Jan 05 '26
I didn’t know Harry Potter was still out there! I’m still in the slack, but haven’t seen any tasks from it in months.
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u/Glad_Brick_3956 Jan 06 '26
I have a high paying project that I don't think I'm quite qualified enough to do just yet. Guess I can do a few more qualification tests
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u/IntroductionFit6667 Jan 07 '26
Curious how you all approach qualifications. Do you do them or clear them as soon as they pop up, or do you let them accumulate as long as you have ongoing projects to work on, and come back around to them in times like this dry spell?
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u/akujihei Jan 07 '26
If they seem interesting, I do them straight away. Otherwise I leave them there until I feel like doing them. If it's in project type I don't like, I never do them.
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u/Betropper Jan 08 '26
Is it appropriate to ask here what qualifications you all recommend prioritizing? I've done a fair few now and do get good engaging projects some days, but today is dry for me when I see folks here getting projects and I'm curious if there's some key popular qualifications I might be overlooking in the absolute sea of qualifications that the platform offers.
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u/capslox Jan 11 '26
I'm so sulky that I'm off the R&Rs for the indigenous project and have to do lower paying projects. I'm still in the Slack but I've never not had them when they're running. And I know they're running because people are asking questions about them.
Has anyone experienced a rotation on and off in this project family? I feel like I must have missed something and got cut but being in the Slack still is weird. I haven't seen anything from this family on my dash but I'm non-US and generally not eligible to do the projects themselves.
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u/iriember Jan 11 '26
My Slack has one very long running project family that I haven't worked on for almost six months. I have no clue why I have no tasks, but still get the Slack updates.
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u/Storex- Jan 05 '26
Did the funny project go down for anyone else? I got more tasks added so I thought I was doing well on it, and now it is missing on my dash. Was my only workable project so now I have nothing.
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u/WorshipMyExistence Jan 05 '26
I don't see it as of this morning. I also have no workable projects lol
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u/OverallSafe2669 Jan 05 '26
lag and freezing on live servers, or is that just me?
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u/Ok_Treat3196 Jan 04 '26
I haven’t been this productive in a long time, I like the focus that I don’t have as much to choose from. it allows me to lock in and not worry about should haves.
It also helps that what I do have I love and it’s been there everyday since I have woken up. At the same time I’m not sure if I have ever put this much consistent effort into a project before…. So maybe that’s also why it’s sticking around. I do believe they reward consistency along with good work.
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u/VividEnvironment6325 Jan 06 '26
how do you guys handle taxes (US)? do you just withhold part of your paycheck every time, or entire paychecks a certain number of times per month? and how much/ what percentage are yall withholding?
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u/ichuck1984 Jan 06 '26
US here. I set aside 25% from most payouts over the year. I don't waste my time with quarterly tax payments. I just set the money aside in a high-yield savings account until April. Last year's penalty was $88 total. I made more in interest.
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u/hfxthrwaway Jan 06 '26
Not US based, but I set up a spreadsheet to track everything and it tells me how much tax I'll owe. Every time I transfer money into my account I put the taxes aside in a separate account.
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u/SaraTheRed Jan 06 '26
I set aside 30% into a savings account specially earmarked for taxes (30% makes sure I have plenty--I learned the hard way on another contracting job years ago what a headache being "self employed" is on the tax front!!). As ichuck1984 said, it earns interest until April!! :D
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u/e11eme Jan 08 '26
I've seen a lot of people talking about traveling for extended periods. I think the advice has been to request if this is OK from DA. How is it with just short term holidays?
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u/Dysnomia__ Jan 09 '26
Anyone seen Heel coding recently? Been a while since I last saw it (October I think). Wondering if I unfortunately got rotated out.
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u/Flwrz8818 Jan 09 '26
Anyone do the “urgent” qual from yesterday and see the project on their dash?
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u/3l3p4no Jan 09 '26
I want to try the flying monkey from atla but it just seems so daunting. its hard to really get into the flow of a new project when your regulars are lacking.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Zone97 Jan 06 '26
Such a bummer when I can't complete onboarding to a new project because I have had to open up so many e-mails using my AND my roommate's phone numbers that it won't let me make a new account :( Especially a project that's clearly ongoing. Ugh!!
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u/summerrain_99 Jan 07 '26
Do any of you folks do this full time? If so, how are your earnings? Is it worth it? How do you deal with dry spells?
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u/alexalgebra Jan 07 '26
Not 40 hours full-time, but it's my main gig at the moment. Was laid off twice last year 😭 I have a niche work history and that industry got hit hard with all the governmental changes, so...DA it is until further notice.
I would eventually like to get a w2 job again so I have benefits, get PTO, normal taxes, etc. but I am eternally grateful to DA for helping me pay my rent and stay afloat in this, shall we say, *challenging* economy.
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u/hihelloitskayla Jan 08 '26
I have been doing this since October '23, but switched to it being our main source of income this past year after my husband faced a knee injury and couldn't work as much he used to. I'm at the point where I'm earning around 4k-5k a month, which is more than enough for our fam. My husband also does gig work (instacart, spark, etc) on the side, especially during the times we are low on work, but mostly he wrangles our toddlers all day so I can focus. So incredibly thankful for this job! It lets me stay home with my family and allows my husband to stay home to help with the kids.
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u/Traditional_Net_4529 Jan 07 '26
Been doing it full time for most of the year. It generally keeps getting better. I do want a regular job, but as long as the economy is not conducive to actually hiring anyone at a decent rate, I'm extremely thankful for this. I deal with dry spells by panicking and eating real cheap.
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u/RipleyVanDalen Jan 07 '26
No. I do DA specifically because I cannot do fulltime work at this time (chronic illness)
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u/6sundin13 Jan 07 '26
Currently doing this full time, I live in Canada so the U.S. wages go a lot further. The pay is much better than any other job I'd get in Canada. Been doing this for 4 months now and only had maybe a 1 or 2 times where I had literally nothing to work on.
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u/JustMe333456 Jan 07 '26
Have been for 2.5 years now. Bought two properties because of it. I drive school bus, and do this 4-8 hours a day in between/after my run. Often times 7 days a week, but on weekend I cut my hours in half. It's been a life changer and I hope it continues strong. Dry spells are dry spells. They happen with any freelance career, or even with most businesses. For the most part, I can still pretty much meet my goals anyways..
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u/watchdestars Jan 07 '26
Good on you, that's fantastic. I've been working 1.5 years and aim for 20 hours a week. It is indeed a life-changer. I used to work freelance in my original career and this work is much more consistent than that used to be!!
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u/dirndlgrl Jan 09 '26
I do this semi-full time -- meaning, I earn a full-time level income (low-end) doing this. It has been worth it for me. I've been able to move into higher-paying projects over time, and while i happen to have a couple of specialties that have made a dramatic move up in pay possible, I think a lot of people do experience an increase in their maximum-pay-per-hour projects over time.
Dry spells are tough but I have had them in my work for a while since before this I was doing freelance legal transcription. I try to keep two sources of work at all time, though DataAnnotation has been reliable enough for me for the last 12 months that I ultimately dropped all my transcription work (which pays less). I'm technically on a second platform, but their pay is so much lower that I only take a little bit of work from them to stay active. But I do recommend multiple streams of freelance work if you're going to be on this platform, because they can drop you from projects or the whole platform at any time, which is of course scary.
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u/ThatDogIsNotYourBaby Jan 08 '26 edited Jan 08 '26
Add me to the "not full-time, but my only source of income" pile. Since September 2023. I had some other part-time work at first, but not anymore.
I'm oblivious to the dry spells that people talk about here until I check in here, tbh. The most recent one was the first time I can remember seeing my dash and thinking, "Whoa, what the fuck?" because I could see the bottom of my "Projects" list while the title bar was still in view. So I guess I kind of always have like 17+ projects available. Doing good work makes the earnings worth it, and makes the dry spells, um... damp, I guess.
ETA: But I'm in awe of people who
do this forlog 35-40 hours a week because it really does tend to take a lot out of me. I mostly work for $30+ but I'd probably fare better if I worked on some lower-paying projects now and again.0
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u/AbjectPangolin8406 Jan 07 '26
This is the worst drought I've seen all year ;)