Vote for a video on Youtube: 10 cents (9 euro cents). Follow someone on Twitter: 12 cents. Upload five photos: 39 cents. Welcome to the world of “pay-per-click” at RapidWorkers. Claiming more than 100,000 subscribers worldwide, this microworking platform is one of the many sites of its kind that have appeared on the market in recent years.
The phenomenon took off in the 2000s with the launch by Amazon of Mechanical Turk, a reference to the alleged 18th century automaton.e century, which concealed a very living person. On the Amazon machine, it is behind their screen that humans are hidden. Anonymous principals order from them for missions generally open to everyone, for a modest fee. But, with this pool of globalized recruitment, they put workers in competition on all continents.
The phenomenon first exploded in low-cost countries: India, China, Venezuela… Since then, microwork has grown all over the world. According to a study commissioned by professional search engine ReportLinker, published in October, the micro-work market is expected to reach nearly $ 2.5 million (2.2 million euros) in the United States alone this year.
No professional status required
These platforms highlight the flexibility of the model: “Your time slot is flexible and all you need is a computer or laptop with an Internet connection”, announces, on its home page, Clickworker, one of the largest in the world. According to the sociologist Antonio Casilli, specialist in this subject, we do not exceed two dollars of gain per hour on average. Most of these sites promote themselves as income supplements: they usually pay their users using PayPal or gift cards. No professional status, microentrepreneur or other, is required to register.
Can you rent your brain like you rent your house or your drill, outside of any labor law? According to an anonymous expert, interviewed by the National Digital Council for the report “Work in the era of platforms”, published in 2020, the question of the incomes of the self-employed is being turned upside down by the digital economy, which he describes as an economy. “Of the multitude”. The Internet has allowed the explosion of this hyperfragmented form of work, made invisible, where globalized platforms mobilize millions of workers everywhere, placed outside any legal framework.
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