Official feedback thread re: the new leveling system

[rudyabel]

Not that I don't like going off into a tangent. But this thread is way off topic. 

[catwriter]

3 minutes ago, rudyabel said:

this thread is way off topic. 

Not really. Feedback to the new levelling system (and the current state of Fiverr in general) is that people are looking into other sources of income.

[frank_d]

11 minutes ago, rudyabel said:

Not that I don't like going off into a tangent. But this thread is way off topic. 

 

[rudyabel]

I know...

[rudyabel]

Is there a block feature? Banter is one thing, spam is another. If we can't have professional comportment and discourse, then this whole thing is just lip service and busy work. A distraction. Let me know now so I can move on to the adult room somewhere else. 
 

[emmaki]

There's an adults room on this forum? Let me know when you find it...

[rudyabel]

Oh good god, My dear, you need more than just better company. 

[emmaki]

Well, if it's alright with you, I'll just go back to waffling on the slightly-more on topic AI stealing our jobs and what to do if Fiverr's going down the pan. 

I'm sure you're quite capable of looking for and finding the block button in the meantime 🙂

[rudyabel]

I can't find it fast enough. Your little tantrum basically set up a false dichotomy. One where you are either "bellyaching" about the scourges you're suffering to your business, from what are sometimes absolutely small issues, and should be ignored. Or, you take absolutely everything that's coming to you with a smile and hardy "yes, sir!" The real world is grey. 
People have grievances. People's businesses are suffering. If the role of any service like this thread is simple placation, instead of action, then it is a giant distracting waste of time. 

Edited March 16 by rudyabel

[emmaki]

I mean, if you spent less time telling me that you don't like me and more time looking for the button, you probably could have found it by now.

<shrug>

[rudyabel]

Or, I could just ignore you completely. Bye. 

[catwriter]

7 minutes ago, rudyabel said:

If the role of any service like this thread is simple placation, instead of action, then it is a giant distracting waste of time. 

This thread has been going on for over 40 pages now.

There were other threads where people expressed their grievances, too.

Was anything accomplished? A couple of small changes that don't really make a difference. Oh, and we were told that the cancellation issue was sold, but it looks like it wasn't. There were some promises made, too, and those were broken. (I'm referring to the thread bellow (and be warned, while not 40+ pages, it's not exactly short, either)

In other words, there isn't really much left to say, so having a bit of fun (while discussing possible other options) is to be expected.

[rudyabel]

LOL!, I don't have permission to see the secret squirrel handshake level post. 

[emmaki]

Good Lord, I thought he'd never block me.

It's a shame he can't see the secret post, isn't it?

Edited March 16 by emmaki
Also a shame he blocked me because there's a website out there that copypasta'd most of the conversation out there and I know where it is. Never mind!

[rudyabel]

Squeaky wheel gets the oil. Threads in a forum fade away with every post. If people want something, they have to keep those topics of discussion on the top of the thread. And that means keeping the discussion going, on topic, until it's nauseating enough for people to act. 

 

Edited March 16 by rudyabel

[emmaki]

On Fiverr, this is the great squeaky wheel of complaints.... 

 

[catwriter]

3 minutes ago, rudyabel said:

LOL!, I don't have permission to see the secret squirrel handshake level post. 

Oh, sorry about that, I forgot that it's in the Seller Plus forum, so only Seller Plus members can see it.

Basically, Fiverr higher-ups promised to do something, but then they didn't.

3 minutes ago, rudyabel said:

If people want something, they have to keep those topics of discussion on the top of the thread. 

The trouble is, our experience with Fiverr shows that they're going to do what they want to do. Throughout the years, there has been a lot of noise after this change or that was implemented, some people threatened to leave (and a few of them did leave), and Fiverr kept doing what they wanted to do.

No matter what any of us say or do, the new system is here to stay.

[rudyabel]

It is a billion dollar business. And we are but the poor serfs that tend their fields. LOL!

They really do have a poor opinion about sellers. We serve them, we're not their clients. Or at least that's what it feels like sometimes. They have next to no quality control. And then gripe about the poor quality. Making policy with that mind set.
The markets corrects that by people choosing the better players. But only some of those players see the benefit. I've heard the same story a thousand times. "Why did you kill my business, Fiverr? I thought we were friends." 

 

Edited March 16 by rudyabel

[emmaki]

Just seen this on Reddit - looks like UW is pushing their gig model onto sellers. I've definitely see the AI job postings (also a problem with B&M) - GPT literally just spits out traditional job listings (and the clients then get reams of convoluted AI applicants). 

I do like how lots of freelancers keep saying/going to [another platform] because the grass is greener when it evidently isn't... 

[texvox]

1 hour ago, emmaki said:

Just seen this on Reddit - looks like UW is pushing their gig model onto sellers. I've definitely see the AI job postings (also a problem with B&M) - GPT literally just spits out traditional job listings (and the clients then get reams of convoluted AI applicants). 

I do like how lots of freelancers keep saying/going to [another platform] because the grass is greener when it evidently isn't... 

Yep. It’s going to be the same story on most of these platforms. Unfortunately in exchange for a piece of the pie they all take most of the “free” out of freelance and turn us into glorified employees without the benefits, begging for favor and hoping in things we can’t control. All the more reason to expand our direct businesses. I’ve really loved working on Fiverr and I’ll continue to do so but it’s become evident in the last year that getting too comfortable here has been my mistake. 

Edited March 16 by texvox

[emmaki]

5 minutes ago, texvox said:

I’ve really loved working on Fiverr and I’ll continue to do so but it’s become evident in the last year that getting too comfortable here has been my mistake. 

I think that's the mistake a lot of people make (Fiverr is quite demanding to keep up with re: metrics so other stuff falls by the wayside, which was my mistake). OTOH, it does look like quite a few sellers are just giving up with platforms altogether and starting their own sites etc. 

Personally, I will keep my account open too. It's locked down so aside from "Dear Mr. Emma" messages that I need to respond to, Fiverr can return back to being the minor income source that it was only ever meant to be when I joined 10 years ago... 

It was okay while it lasted. 
 

[emmaki]

Oh, and messages written entirely in Urdu or something. Why? WHY? 

[mandyzines]

9 hours ago, emmaki said:

Best bet for writers is to get new skills and have writing be a useful sidekick/part of the package. The problem is trying to find something that a) AI won't swallow whole in the near future b) people want to buy.

Well, that was exactly what I was thinking. I already do voice over work, and "Mandy-izing" scripts has become a part of it, but not here--yet. I just have to keep focused on the acting part of the voice over work and I won't get "a)-ed." And apparently women with deeper voices are more valued outside of the US, so that would be where "b)" and direct marketing comes in. Although, I'm in this continuous cycle of improving things on the periphery of my website that connect to it before I actually update my website. 

Having a venture in the physical world would probably be wise, in terms of "a)." I was thinking about peddling tasers and starting a home brewery. I'm just kidding--kind of. I would probably be growing basil and mushrooms if I had my own land.

9 hours ago, emmaki said:

People won't be useless; someone will always need something,

That isn't the goal, from what I have seen/heard and am too lazy to link to, but who knows how successful that will be. If we're to own nothing then...we'll be using our UBI to rent everything from corporations.

Didn't OpenAI just create a robot?

I just hope that people will always (know that they) need human connection. It's quite amazing what groups of people can be made to believe they think they know what they want/need, even when it's to their own detriment. 

9 hours ago, emmaki said:

...But I doubt it will be the "free money with no strings attached" that many people imagine. The social contract would have to be rewritten for all of this, and that will be a big problem.

Personally, I'm hoping to be long gone from the planet by that point.

I agree! My experience with grant writing and administration showed me that governments--so, corporations--attach all sorts of conditions to receiving funds, and it isn't uncommon for those conditions to be unrelated to the program the funds are sought for. I do not doubt that there would be a great deal of surveillance as well as control over what we do, say, and maybe even think tied to UBI.

8 hours ago, zerlina84 said:

As a voiceover artist, I just LOVE when I get people trying to hire me to do AI stuff. Do you get them as well?

It's been a while, but, yes. Maybe that's the only part of FAQ sections that people read. They clearly don't read the part about me not offering free custom samples because those inquiries are all that I've been getting for the past two weeks. Needless to say, my conversion rate's sinking. 

But, back to the voice cloning inquiries, I think a lot of times people asking don't understand that at some point--maybe not so much now--we could be competing against ourselves.

Edited March 16 by mandyzines

[emmaki]

8 minutes ago, mandyzines said:

voice cloning

Speaking of which, apparently there's an "audio recording" of Prince William and Kate Middleton having a big fight in which William is hear to yell ridiculous stuff about how she hasn't done the dishes yet (?!?) before getting a bit "handsy" with her. 

This was all reported on a faceless TikTok "news" channel with incredibly stilted voiceover, zero evidence, and plenty of b-roll footage, purporting to be telling the "the truth" about the missing princess. Anyway, this just reminded me of that. 

Of course, before we get UBI the population of the planet will probably have to be shrinkwrapped a bit 😕 

[mandyzines]

1 hour ago, emmaki said:

I do like how lots of freelancers keep saying/going to [another platform] because the grass is greener when it evidently isn't... 

It's all different shades of poo-colored.