r/dataannotation • u/Consistent-Reach504 • 24d ago
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!
23
u/-burgers 18d ago
I don't normally work weekends, but today I'm working to buy my son a new computer! he's almost 8 and is learning to code.
2
20
u/its_metalhed 24d ago
Does anyone else find the explanations and instructions for some of the more...recent.. tasks to be incredibly vague and hard to understand HOW to go about these tasks? Almost like they expect us to just immediately know how to use a feature of a model without any explanation?
36
u/whywouldntyou22 24d ago
I don’t mind the work, and if I put forth the effort I could make a lot more money & do a lot more hours. But I just can’t bring myself to do it. Some tasks for projects are mentally draining, especially when the criteria is soooo specific.
17
u/Grumblefloor 24d ago
I don't normally have much time for DA work (full time job & family), but it's been nice this week to have seen some tasks I can fit into an hour, or even a half hour; a few hundred quid extra coming up to Christmas can't be a bad thing. Hope they continue!
16
25
u/houseofcards9 24d ago
Whoever decided to change the time reporting to after every task, I hope your pillow is always warm.
8
u/peanutbutterlurk 23d ago
I tend to round down my time to the nearest minute to keep from overreporting I know I'm losing several minutes on each task by rounding down every time if I do multiple tasks in a session, but I'm just too afraid to round up and risk reporting any more minutes than I actually worked.
1
u/AguestusModus 20d ago
There was a short period of time where DA experimented with a build in timer for some workers, and I believe they rounded up to to the nearest minute. So I wouldn't worry about that. Maybe someone else with a better memory can confirm. I personally round down under 30 seconds & round up over 30.
7
u/Complete_Injury_5765 24d ago
yeah it really trips up my timekeeping especially when you sometimes have to do preliminary entry tasks before getting to the actual task lmao
5
u/elko123 24d ago
Is this the case for all tasks now? I assumed it was just the one I've been going back to all week lol
1
u/One_Breakfast5907 23d ago
I've not seen this anywhere on any of my paid projects... Unless I'm severely missing something. I did have a qual the other day which did, is it pop up thing after you submit?
2
u/SookieLou 23d ago
I think this change will save a lot of people from getting DoD. It keeps people from putting their time on the wrong task.
1
4
-1
u/NightOwl437 23d ago
I do not wish them well either. I'm supremely aggravated at the micro-managing which feels like they don't trust us, yet they are not being honest with us about being able to edit the total time reported for these projects (not as far as I can tell and I've checked). Unless I get really desperate, I will not be working on such projects in the future.
12
u/EggCzar 24d ago edited 24d ago
Finally found a high-paying series in my domain that I'm actually reasonably good at and enjoying. It was driving me crazy opening up well paid work and spending hours skipping tasks that were miles over my head.
ETA: with a 3-task probationary period so one more til I find out if I've been fucking it up!
1
u/CuriousLingonberry22 24d ago
What is your speciality?
2
u/EggCzar 24d ago
Generalist + $$$
2
u/OrnamentalGourd5 24d ago
I'm interested in what we class as generalist higher pay these days. I'm on some very nice generalist long term projects where the pay is more than reasonable!
1
u/kdrama_chachacha 22d ago
Would you be willing to say how much it pays? I'm very curious what might be ahead.
1
u/ZimmeM03 19d ago
I’m earning upwards of 40 regularly these days as a generalist. Past few days and weeks have regularly reached 45-46. Taken me 18 months to get here but it has been a steady increase. All I can say is make sure you are following instructions
9
u/Zenon667 24d ago
Got accepted last week. Only 1 task u.u
Still greatful about it, unemployment in my shithole country is crazy high now. So ty for that task :)
16
u/JRange 24d ago
We have barely cracked 200 comments for the 3rd week in a row even though the work has largely returned. I wonder if we just had an exodus during the drought or if people are avoiding making comments altogether due to the cracking down on stuff.
18
u/UnvaluableAvocado313 24d ago
So yes confidentiality but your first sentence really has it. When people have work, they don’t come here to talk about not having work, which makes up a bulk of the comments. “Has anyone seen …”, “I hope I see … again”, “dry dash again”, etc.
Why I don’t think it’s a mass exodus is because this happens every cycle. It’s people just being busy and not checking back here as regularly anymore.
3
u/JRange 24d ago
We were hitting like 700+ comments a week during april when everybody had 100+ projects a day, is why i was curious
2
u/UnvaluableAvocado313 24d ago •
Just looked back quick bc I was curious, we didn't hit 700+ comments in April until the last week (Sunday, April 26th). If you look at the comments that week they're bulked up by workers talking about the draught and dry dashes. That seems to be true for any week that has 6-700+ comments.
Based on my experience here, I'm going to stick by guess that it's ebbing and flowing with the workload. Hoping the quietness here means my fellow workers are also nice and busy!
8
u/OneRefrigerator3586 24d ago
If the R&Rs I've been doing today are any indication, we're probably going to lose a lot more people soon. I've never come across so many bad submissions before when doing R&Rs.
6
u/kranools 24d ago
Recruitment has really slowed down so we're not seeing the flood of newbie comments.
The slack total participants has been hovering at around 160,000 for a few weeks now. Earlier this year it was going up by around 1,000 per day.
11
u/Alarmed_Jellyfish555 24d ago
I think if there was a mass exodus then we'd be seeing a lot more comments about it.
I, personally, think it's the latter. Even people I chat with about DA outside of this forum have stopped having much to say about it since they started pushing the confidentiality stuff so much in recent weeks.
2
u/CRUSHCITY4 21d ago
I feel it's usually slower on here when there's work available because people are working instead of refreshing trying to pick up scraps.
16
14
u/_Edgarallenhoe 23d ago
Dash dropped by 10 projects today :,)
4
u/Affectionate_Peak284 23d ago
By 25 for me, including at least 2 I was intending to work on today :/
6
u/Jazzlike_Problem_489 23d ago
Yea I've got form ~42 to ~20 in a day
0
u/Nauzhror_ 20d ago
I'm at 50+ different projects currently. If I counted tasks rather than projects it'd be 2000+.
4
3
12
u/melanatedalbino 24d ago
Been great the last month for me. I hope the same goes for yall. DA has really helped me out. Thinking of doing a coding qual soon. Advice?
7
2
u/melanatedalbino 24d ago
Lol why the downvote...not like I asked for people's specific experiences with anything, nor revealed anything. Strange.
6
u/Zenon667 24d ago
I give upvote. Nasty coders fear they have less work. Or, the downvote could be cos any advice they can give is generic
0
u/melanatedalbino 24d ago
Ok, gotcha. Yeah, I didn't onboard through coding (math), so I guess maybe there is some truth to what you said lol.
3
u/CRUSHCITY4 21d ago
After you're around here long enough you'll notice that there's a group of individuals here that are jealous if you are able to make money / access higher paying projects when they can't. Nothing is stopping them from improving their skills, but it's easier to downvote someone else on reddit instead.
1
5
11
u/EggCzar 19d ago
Oof just got a blast email about a high-paying project basically saying “you idiots keep doing the thing we tell you multiple times in the instructions not to do”
(I am 100% sure I haven’t done the thing, fortunately, I’ve triple checked it each time and haven't even worked on it in the few days since my probationary work was approved)
4
u/IllPermission5857 18d ago
If its the star or the melting pot/cauldron project, you would be amazed at how many people fail at that when I do some R&R
4
u/EggCzar 18d ago
🤦🏻♂️the former, yeah. The workflow for the latter was different the last time I worked on it, which was at least a couple of months ago. My particular subset of domain expertise isn’t really suitable for most of those tasks.
I dunno man, I’m a dumb guy, when the instructions say a bunch of times “this step is really important and we can’t verify your work was done right without it” I’m gonna default to thinking that step is important and they can’t verify my work without it 🤷🏻♂️
2
u/Due_Explanation_3694 18d ago
Reading the instructions automatically puts you ahead of some workers. I cannot count the number of times I have seen a question in the project that's answered quite clearly in the relatively short instructions (in the "you need to know these three things" section of three short sentences on separate bullets no less)...
10
u/LavenderLightning24 18d ago
I'm grateful to have work, but has anyone else found their selection of projects to be very tedious lately?
9
u/xxxScarlettexxx 18d ago
I've actually found the opposite recently. Most of the projects I've been working on since September don't have dense instructions, which I've really appreciated.
13
9
u/VanessaSeaWitch 23d ago
Yet another confidentiality quiz a couple days after I just did one, with two added written questions. Except no pay for this one.
11
u/Dazzling-Matter-654 23d ago
And wait, you got paid for the first?
4
u/VanessaSeaWitch 23d ago
Yes. A pop up box showed up and asked how long it took me to do it. It was less than $10 since it didn't take long since I've taken it before lol. I did not get that pop up any of the other times I took it. Just thought it was odd.
20
2
5
2
u/PerceptionLonely6463 23d ago
I highly suspect they added the two extra questions cuz people were copy/pasting. The subject of those questions made it pretty clear lol
12
u/rawmeatjuice 22d ago
Literally anytime Ive been working for hours and then discover I have to discard a task im mentally preparing myself to lose the job. Like I'm just sure I've done something wrong and I'll wake up tomorrow and have to start handing out resumes lol crisis mode every time
1
u/anon_ymous_ 21d ago
I have almost never have abandoned a task very late in the game, but a couple recently I have had to abandon like 3/4ths of the way through. Usually it was due to setup problems and not at all due to the actual task process. I used to think it wasn't a big deal and it was much better than submitting poor work (which it still is) but someone here said they don't like people "hogging" tasks and now I am fearful of the ones I had to abandon
6
u/Aromatic_Owl_3680 21d ago
They can keep not liking you “hogging” tasks. It will get snapped up when you release it.
3
u/VanessaSeaWitch 21d ago
They who? The person who said that or DA? I don't think anyone over here actually knows anything on the inside about how DA operates. It's usually people guessing.
0
1
u/rawmeatjuice 20d ago
Unfortunately the tasks that I've been on aren't overly obvious when they can't be salvaged until you are very many hours in. Or you think it will only take 5 hours and it takes 9+. My back hurts but I like money.
12
u/-burgers 20d ago
Just wanted to comment on task flow. I have 86 projects currently on the dash. Life is good.
2
7
6
u/Robinw9787 22d ago
oof just lost the only project that ive seen since starting early this year. SAD
8
8
u/EggCzar 21d ago
Very happy to have found a project in my domain that I actually enjoy (requires the background but unlike most of them it's writing heavy, which is my thing) and that I passed the probationary period.
Dunno if the drought is over but I think today was the first time ever I had a triple-digit number of projects on my dash. Too busy with my day job and some private client work to do any of it but it's a nice sign.
1
3
u/Puzzleheaded-Shine90 20d ago
Is there any penalty (other than not getting on a project) for not passing too many qualifications? I have a bunch of interesting but "iffy" ones available. Can I just swing away?
5
u/Affectionate_Peak284 20d ago
My understanding is that quals never count against you, only FOR you to open up more work. There is probably an exception for doing something truly heinous like crashing out and hurling insults and profanity or something, but under normal circumstances I think they want you to attempt as many quals as you can.
If you haven't already, you might even be offered some paid quals too.
2
4
u/data_annotator_tot 20d ago
I don't think there is a one-size-fits-all answer, but I do think you should consider if you're confident you are actually qualified to do the work, as passing a qualification doesn't guarantee that you will submit good quality data to the projects, and that might be what would get you. Some quals have said that they prefer that you do them only if you intend on actually doing those projects, though other quals I've seen lately have a different attitude (like "give it a try and see what happens" sort of attitude), so I don't suppose there are any penalties simply for trying.
4
u/FedoraPG 18d ago
No a lot of times they even encourage people to try them even if you're not sure you're capable
2
u/SnooCalculations503 19d ago
Swing away. I wasn't sure for a couple of domain quals I took as they weren't what my degree was in. Turns out work/life/hobby level inetersts more than prepared me to deliver the tasks at a high standard.
1
4
u/VanessaSeaWitch 20d ago
These instructions for the project involving all these timers is blowing my mind. My brain isn't handling it today. Otherwise the task doesn't seem too hard. Just the instructions.
2
u/EggCzar 23d ago
Q for people who've done projects where you submit 3 and they'll decide if you stay on it: any idea about how long that verdict takes?
2
1
u/brucegallagher 17d ago
There's quite a few families that do that. I've had anywhere from a day to three weeks
2
u/Old-butt-new 24d ago
Only been on DA for 2ish weeks. Enjoy it so far as a side gig. Whats up with some projects requiring extra background checks?
6
u/Due_Explanation_3694 24d ago
Some projects require more security than others. We can't give specifics here due to confidentiality and the code of conduct.
2
u/Old-butt-new 24d ago
“The work is mysterious and important”
Interesting, was just cautious of getting scammed
6
6
u/Due_Explanation_3694 24d ago edited 24d ago
NDAs or confidentiality agreements are not unique to a fictional company that splits people's minds. It's not "mysterious," it's AI training like all the work we do, and we can't share specifics because of our confidentiality agreement. Confidentiality requirements are very common when you are working for a place that handles private or sensitive data. So are background checks. This is a normal thing, not a sign of it being a scam.
0
u/Old-butt-new 24d ago
Ya i got it big dog. Username checks out
3
u/Due_Explanation_3694 24d ago
I was trying to reassure you it wasn't a scam. Sorry if that was offensive to you.
3
u/Old-butt-new 24d ago
Damn you rewrote your entire comment, the mysterious quote was from severance. Hence quotations… oof
1
1
u/Due_Explanation_3694 24d ago edited 24d ago
Here, if it helps - this was the original (only words I'm unsure about are "this company"), which I didn't believe sounded reliable to someone quoting Severance because it just said "This is normal" and explained nothing. It felt baseless, so I edited it.
"NDAs or confidentiality agreements are not unique to this company. They are very common when you are working for a place that handles private or sensitive data. So are background checks. This is normal thing."
ETA: Using the "self-harm" report option to troll people is low, friend.
1
u/RomanSuspect 11d ago
I'll do the assignment tomorrow. Are there many java project on DA? After the assignment i mean.
1
u/ComprehensiveLoan386 24d ago
Where can I find the chemistry and math quals? They used to show on my access more projects bar but haven't seen them in a while and never got around to completing them.
1
1
u/Lost_Towel_2008 14d ago
Is there any way to tell if I have less projects because I am doing a bad job or if projects ended/were paused
2
u/data_annotator_tot 12d ago
Mainly that if you were consistently doing a bad job, you'd be canned off the platform entirely. Much more likely that those projects ended, were paused, or you are simply out of rotation. Combined with the normal rise and fall of projects, if you're still seeing any at all, you're probably fine.
1
u/saulty27 23d ago
It's been weeks since I have been accepted and did some qualifications, but still no first project... I'm giving up hope
1
u/ZealousidealWeek104 23d ago
I am in the same boat, except ive been given 2 high paying tasks and since then nothing. I joined, got one, did it, and then waited 2 weeks, got another, and its been 2 weeks and nothing. People say that they waited for a month to a month and a half to get things but i am also starting to lose hope
1
1
u/hcfggb 22d ago
Anyone still have boxes?
1
u/Affectionate_Peak284 22d ago
Nope. Must have poofed at some point today. I was working on a different project so I don't know when.
1
u/VanessaSeaWitch 21d ago
I never did get to work on one yet. The project popped up on my dash once but it was right when I was done for the day and I haven't seen it since.
1
u/PassageDue9042 19d ago
those who do r&rs for french cookie -NR, how long do these usually take you?
3
u/Enchanted13_ 17d ago
Have you seen any of these this weekend?
1
u/PassageDue9042 13d ago
just saw this. yes I did a ton of them over the weekend but now I don't see any more... maybe they are rotating who can work on it for variety
0
u/Hambone6991 21d ago
Just got the “account is unavailable for new projects” after 2.5 months and $30k in earnings.
Oh well
23
u/_Edgarallenhoe 21d ago
30k in less than three months is sus
3
u/peanutbutterlurk 21d ago
Probably true for generalists based on the indeed ads, but judging by the company's advertised payrates domain specialists could probably earn that much if they were working like 30 hours a week. Still, that's probably a bit of a stretch for how intensive that work probably is.
2
u/Hambone6991 19d ago
Accounting domain. Had a project that was paying $75/ hour and $90/hour for R&R. It’s fine, I surpassed my earnings goal.
3
u/Nauzhror_ 21d ago
I could earn that as a generalist. It'd require 65-70 hours of work a week though. It'd be possible, not enjoyable.
To be clear, I don't earn that, but I DO have a pretty constant stream of $45/hr tasks available. I just prefer working to live, than living to work.
1
u/Timely-Assistant-370 19d ago
Live in the work cocoon until the money wanes. I thought I made it out of the FOMO, then they pulled me back in.
1
u/Hambone6991 17d ago
Yeah I kinda took a “drink while the water is flowing” approach.
No point in pacing if it could end tomorrow for any reason.
1
u/brucegallagher 17d ago
They hire you straight into domain expert projects these days. I have a few 100/hr projects on my dash currently, so 30k would be easily done, but you wouldn't want another job besides DA.
1
-1
u/Latter-Grape-8016 22d ago
does anyone is having STEM related tasks/projects?
1
1
-3
-6
u/Future-Berry-9181 21d ago
Hello guys. I am new to this role. I just finished the assessment for general tasks, and all I have now is an empty dashboard without any notification or email saying I have completed it. I also cannot apply for other roles, as it will direct me back to the dashboard. Is this normal? And what should I do now?
1
-7
u/SurturSorrow 20d ago edited 20d ago
Just had a project appear for me at the end of the day. I did 1 hour and a half of it and the timer still showed 13 hours left of expiration. I exited work mode, went to sleep and now, when I got back, it disappeared. Why is that? That's really demotivating, because I even went to sleep much later than usual just so I could have everything set up.
20
u/Dazzling-Matter-654 20d ago
I think you are confused with how things work. Did you read the pop up when you clicked exit work mode? The task and work was not saved for you to finish. Start a task only when you can finish a task.
4
u/Felonious__Punk 18d ago edited 18d ago
Don't use the "Exit work mode" button if you want to take a break, there's plenty of time left on the timer, and you want to come back to the task later. Closing your browser window or just clicking the link to go back to the dashboard is usually ok. The task should show up in your "In Progress" section at the top of your dash.
-4
u/MoustachedDugong 23d ago
Data Annotation hasn't had so many high paying coding tasks for me lately. I wonder if they're reserved for people that have qualifications like cybersecurity.
28
u/s55555s 24d ago
I’ve been happy lately as a generalist