Online Talent Platforms — A Boon for Workers or Digital Sweatshop?

Author: Nikki Williams

Date: September 7, 2016

Link: https://www.digitalethics.org/essays/online-talent-platforms-boon-workers-or-digital-sweatshop

First Impressions: The essay probably talks about how online talent platforms are helping people who lack skills on certain parts of their job, improve on it for them to be able to gain more experience and use it for their future jobs.

Quote: “Each year, more talent platforms are added as the business community sees the advantage of this eager, inexpensive new workforce.”

Reflection:

Before, life was so different without the internet, people had to pay and attend seminars and trainings to improve their skill set, which usually takes more than a week or even months. They had to physically go to different parts of the world for them to be able to learn from different people where in they can use for their future careers. Today, with just two taps and a few hours we can consider ourselves experts in a certain area. Since everything is accessible on the internet, we can just search Google on how to be good at this particular thing in life and it gives you links to different websites of experts talking about what to do. You did not have to pay for anything, it is literally free. But there are some websites that require payment because of the premium service they can give you. A good thing about these services is that you can access it from anywhere since the only requirement is an internet connection. These kinds of platforms is the solution for the unemployed people, since they can just open an account, decide on a price,  and start providing service to people that need their help. This also helps them improve on their talents by being able to practice what they learned. Another good thing about online talent platforms is that anyone can join, if you are a student is confident with developing software, then it is definitely something worth trying since it improves communication skills and your talent.

5 Things I Learned

1. Digital talent platforms clearly offer benefits across the board to individuals in both developed and developing nations.

2. These talent platforms give inexperienced and entry-level workers ways to work or again experience while pursuing an education.

3. They offer skilled workers casual work opportunities that fit their lifestyles.

4. The problem with online talent platforms is identity theft.

5. One’s work can easily be copied and replicated through online talent platforms.

5 Integrative Questions

1. In the case of identity theft in online platforms, how can one prevent this from happening?

2. How good is the security of users when it comes to online talent platforms?

3. Is online talent platforms the future of people who are unemployed?

4. What do people prefer, online talent platforms or physical talent agencies?

5. How can we be so sure the credibility of the work of people in online talent platforms?