opinionated1 Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 As the economy continues to stagnant, it seems like more and more people might be relying on survey taking as a crucial means of making money. For some of us, it might become, at least for a time, a full time job. I might be going out on a limb here, but has anyone considered the possibility of us online survey takers unionizing? Consider: the sharing of opinions is a form of intellectual labor that has obvious value to the companies that collect it. For those of us who are increasingly having to do this full time to survive, shouldn't we therefore be able to organize and agitate for better wages and benefits over time, like any other labor pool? I'd be interested in hearing other people's thoughts on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksedwar Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 I might be going out on a limb here, but has anyone considered the possibility of us online survey takers unionizing? Try to take control of the companies and not only would we loose our extra income and constructive way to pass some time, as well as donate to charities, and the survey companies will drop us like a hot potato. Consider: the sharing of opinions is a form of intellectual labor that has obvious value to the companies that collect it. Yes it is and we do this voluntarily and have at least some trust that the companies are using this "valuable information" in the manor it is supposed to be used. For those of us who are increasingly having to do this full time to survive, shouldn't we therefore be able to organize and agitate for better wages and benefits over time, like any other labor pool? organize and agitate You have just shown your hand. "organize and agitate for better wages and benefits over time". Hostess The state of Michigan Those are the two most recent examples of what "organize and agitate for better wages and benefits over time" can do to a good company and a states economy. I'd be interested in hearing other people's thoughts on this. Sure. Thanks for the concern but I would rather you keep this idea to yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idylatoo Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 I understand what you are saying, but even when surveys were paying well, I'd NEVER recommend them to help pay the bills. There has never been a lot of sites that pay regularly and immediately so using surveys as a means to paying bills has never been 100% reliable. You might earn enough to pay a few across the board, but with the companies holding on until you reach the payout threshold might mean you won't see the money from individual sites until the following month. If anyone needs to work online to make ends meet, I highly recommend looking at sites such as http://www.wahm.com or http://www.workplacelikehome.com for job leads for steady online work. Many people who work from home also complete surveys to supplement their income, so this is in no way saying that one should not do surveys. Just that there are other options out there that are more reliable than surveys. Now, as to the actual subject of your post. This subject has come up a few times and the short answer would have to be no. There are so many people taking surveys and there are many who think they have to do them all - or are so desperate they'll spend hours doing surveys instead of putting that time to better use. Meaning that someone might spend 5 hours to make $5 when there are more profitable ways to spend 5 hours trying to make money. I think logistically it's a difficult concept - most survey takers are members (or independent contractors) for a variety of sites. It's not as simple as, for example, bakers demanding fair pay from Hostess. You're talking about people who work for multiple companies making slightly different demands for each employer. Now, add to that you'd have to reach every single person who works for these sites AND get them to agree and follow through with whatever you think they should do in order to effect change - I just don't think that is possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hpilgrim1 Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 I agree, Idylatoo... it would be nice, but it's just not "doable" for the reasons you mentioned.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avemaria Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 how would it be determined how many people are allowed in the union? and how would you be selected? i think it would basically wind up that all companies would become like Pinecone and you'd get maybe 3 surveys a month if you're lucky.. it would be steady and less frustrating but you'd make a lot less in total. Larger payouts would mean less results per survey, assuming the companies have some level of limit for what they're willing to pay.. so the 125,000 likes on GTM facebook page gets shut down to about 20,000.. and the companies would realize the lower base they can get their results from isn't going to be as accurate.. they want results over the largest group of society possible.. those within the survey union would basically become representatives of those that didn't get included... but my opinions aren't the same as theirs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksedwar Posted December 15, 2012 Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 I agree. If we were unionized then we would be organized. That would mean the polls could in no way be as diverse demographically as they must be. As far as doing this full time... I could do much better standing at an intersection with a sign for a few hours than I do with a whole weeks worth of time taking surveys. Surveys are not a career substitute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kafei-Nation Posted December 15, 2012 Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 And if you thought your survey “earnings” were paltry now, just you wait until you have to pay dues out of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QWERTY Posted January 1, 2013 Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 In a word, no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
footfree Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Maybe the best way to get better pay is stop doing the surveys that pay so little .If people do the surveys that pay so little then they will continue.Banning together and telling them we wont work for hand outs is the best way.If they don't have us to do the surveys then they wont have a business to fall back on and to me that's karma at it's best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1957horses Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 Maybe the best way to get better pay is stop doing the surveys that pay so little .If people do the surveys that pay so little then they will continue.Banning together and telling them we wont work for hand outs is the best way.If they don't have us to do the surveys then they wont have a business to fall back on and to me that's karma at it's best. I agree with you there. But trying to get people to stop doing the low paying surveys is impossible. I tried to get people last year to band together and only 35 or so agreed. There were however over 200 or more that read it. Some others who agreed to stop doing low paying surveys made comments the next day or two how they did 10 point surveys that were 25 minutes long and didn't get the 10 points...........etc........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avemaria Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 if the 10 or so people here stopped doing surveys out of protest, we'd be sitting here next year with no money to speak of from doing surveys as we watch the rest of the half a million or more people continue to do them.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach6 Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 I don't think any of the survey companies I deal with pay me what I'm worth.I will not work for nothing like doing sweepstakes I quit them some time ago.If the time on the survey is to long for the amount of points I will skip it but I do try to do as many surveys as I can because I am in this for the GC,Amazon or howeverer else they want to pay me.I love having the little extras that I wouldn 't be able to have without doing the surveys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
car9og Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 Opinionated 1 Your attempt to get the community to understand the need to be treated fairly is outstanding. The comments you made deserves attention from anyone who is a thinking person. However, I do agree with Idylatoo. This would be very difficult. Survey companies are so fragmented (all over the world) that it would be hard to get policies and rules to govern how members are treated, etc. I feel an association that represents survey takers may be more feasible. Feedback anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
footfree Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 Opinionated 1Your attempt to get the community to understand the need to be treated fairly is outstanding. The comments you made deserves attention from anyone who is a thinking person. However, I do agree with Idylatoo. This would be very difficult. Survey companies are so fragmented (all over the world) that it would be hard to get policies and rules to govern how members are treated, etc. I feel an association that represents survey takers may be more feasible. Feedback anyone. That may be the way to go but who heads up the organization and who pays for the funding?I guess that's why we have the BBB.Even though they have been scrutinized lately for selling their grades.Then yelp pages has been accused of giving false info from consumers or better yet extorting business's.So I got off subject -sorry-just wondering how to go about starting this type of association and the undertaking it would cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
car9og Posted January 19, 2013 Report Share Posted January 19, 2013 Hi footfree There is a wealth of information on google on how to start just about anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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