smashradio
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Posts posted by smashradio
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6 hours ago, visualstudios said:
Makes sense, but then again... Plato was saying the same thing about writing destroying our memory capacity millennia ago. Progress is progress, who knows what will happen. Maybe it will indeed change our abilities, but maybe we won't need the same type of abilities in that future. Just like I don't need to memorize a ton of things now that they are written down.
I'm not saying it isn't progress, or that all progress is bad. Maybe we won't need them. Until a solar flare hits us and we're all running around like headless chickens wondering how to repair the grid now that we can't just send a robot or ask MindGPT.
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11 hours ago, fastcopywriter said:
How? By giving us answers without making us do the work? Or will it become another distraction like TikTok? I know I often fear opening TikTok because I might end up spending 1.5 hours on it.
I linked to an article about it in my post above.
It has to do with multiple reasons. Our critical thinking skills can become worse and we tend to rely on AI even when it proves incorrect information. It can cause humans to lose our cignitive abilities and knowledge, resulting in a h omogenization of thought processes, create echo chambers, and diminished collective intelligence due to loss of thought diversity.
This article touches on similar subjects: https://educationaltechnologyjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41239-024-00444-7
As one Norwegian professor put it:
"The second, and perhaps more alarming find, is that solving tasks with ChatGPT weakens cognitive abilities such as memory, partly because the automation of task solving removes the possibility of critical thinking."He goes on to speculate about the frenetic need to embrace AI technologies being a psychological response to the fear of being left behind.
At the intro of his Khrono article, he jokingly writes about a talk he held on this very subject:
"At the beginning, I jokingly said that if the predictions about ChatGPT were to come true — that it would be used both by students to write and by teachers to correct — the future of Norwegian subjects would consist of texts that no one had written and no one had read."
Professor David Raffo, who lectures in Business Engineering and Computer Science at Portland State University, noticed changes in student behavior due to AI tools. Students had more trouble interacting with others and taking constructive feedback.
My point here is that I think the rush to rely on AI for everything that we used to do ourselves, most certainly has the potential to screw with out cognitive and critical thinking abilities over time.
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17 hours ago, fastcopywriter said:
It's the same old story, people focusing on what they lose instead of what they make.
AI is not so bad, I have used it whenever I have writer's block or need a different perspective. I rarely use 100% of what AI gives me, sometimes I use nothing.
I love generating AI images for my gigs. I don't know if they're helping or hurting, but at least I no longer have to pay people to do that for me.I never said AI is bad. It's the way Fiverr uses it I don't like. I'm not "anti AI". I'm anti copypasting meaningless garbage. With that said, I truly think AI will make people dumber. Science agrees with me.
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4 hours ago, rb_bondhon said:
I've done 3 gigs on Fiverr on wordpress website design. Impressions and clicks are good. Since re-promoting the gig, several clients have knocked me into my gig. But I can't manage my clients because I don't have proper speaking skills.
How can I manage the client, I want advice from everyone🤗Thank you
Bondhon kumar Shile
Your question has a very obvious answer: work on your communication skills.
I'd look into using both apps, online courses and in-person classes at the same time. Surround yourself with English-speaking people, watch movies and TV in English with the subtitles off, and in general, consume as much content as possible in English. You're trying, and you're interested in improving: that alone will make you successful, if you use it right.
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4 hours ago, magali_s01 said:
I've been trying for a few hours to create what is called "concert" and step 3 called "description and FAQs" doesn't let me write in the part of the description, if I write something after 2 seconds what I wrote is erased, what's more I don't finish writing a word and the letters I already wrote are already erased, Can anyone tell me how I can fix it?
I've already tried writing it in word, copying what you wrote and pasting it there, which was erased the second and q***a the paragraph space.
Have you tried using a different browser or device? At the moment, I'm actually experiencing similar problems here on the forum, and that's an entirely different platform to Fiverr.
Whenever I type something, the marker moves and types at the beginning of the sentence, erasing what I've already typed in.
I can type in Notepad just fine, so I'm not sure what is going on.
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¿Has intentado usar un navegador o dispositivo diferente? En este momento, de hecho, estoy experimentando problemas similares aquí en el foro, y eso es una plataforma completamente diferente a Fiverr.
Cada vez que escribo algo, el cursor se mueve y escribe al comienzo de la oración, borrando lo que ya he escrito.
Puedo escribir en Notepad sin problemas, así que no estoy seguro de qué está pasando.
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31 minutes ago, texvox said:
I hope they clarify for you! It’s been radio silence since I emailed asking for further clarification.
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2 hours ago, texvox said:
For this reason I'm going to decline to share my social media with Fiverr until someone from the Pro team can give me a very transparent answer as to how giving them this info will actually help with matching and my profile, or until one of them flat out says it will hurt me on this platform if I don't share it. If they do decide to share these details I'd be happy to consider changing my mind.
I've asked my SM. As I'm in the EU, I actually have a legal right to know how, why and what.
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12 minutes ago, texvox said:
As a pro in my field with a robust and growing business outside of Fiverr, I agree that the platform does still have a lot to offer to freelancers and is still a good piece of the pie to include in your business. Over the last few years however, even as my business here has been booming it's become increasingly clear that it's not reliable enough and demands a bit too much of sellers to be a huge piece of that pie.
I also do not plan to leave Fiverr any time soon, but I would be lying if I said I felt as rosy about the platform today as I did 1, 2 or 3 years ago.
3 years ago I felt like Fiverr was a great partner to have in my corner to help me grow my business.
2 years ago I felt like it was a better place to be than many other platforms I've tried, but far from perfect.
1 year ago I started to feel like it was a good tool to use with some noticeable flaws, but not a platform to throw all of my chips in with.
Lately I've been feeling more like I am lucky to still be seeing the success that I am, and the "writing is on the wall" regarding future potential over the next few years if recent trends in product rollouts and policy changes continues in the same direction.
Fiverr's fatal flaw, in my opinion, is that it does not treat its freelancers like freelancers, and does not see itself as a tool to help freelancers. Instead Fiverr seems to assume that it is an employer and treats us more like employees, sucking the free out of freelance in the process. As Fiverr has raised baseline expectations for all sellers it's become clearer that they expect Fiverr to be your primary workspace and your chief focus as a businessperson. But the reality is Fiverr is far too general a freelancing platform to be the be-all-end-all foundation for the average freelancer to build their business upon. I know that for myself as a voice actor Fiverr leaves a lot to be desired in the area of licensing in particular, and I have had to find clever ways to work around the hurdles of Fiverr's very basic license offerings to try and run my business here in a way that doesn't detract from my primary business off-site.
I couldn't agree more. I've had the exact same experience and timeline as you've described.
Fiverr treats us like "assets". That's all we are to them. A critical flaw, in my view, is that Fiverr isn't raising the bar in terms of quality, but rather in terms of who can best survive intense pressure.
I've watched multiple sellers go from being highly successful, even some poster boys/girls of Fiverr,, to openly discussing the mental and physical health issues caused by Fiverr and its gamification strategies.
This includes mental health problems like hallucinations, anxiety, and fatigue, as well as physical issues like autoimmune disorders, hypertension, and exacerbated symptoms of existing conditions.
When the same illness prevents someone from being at their absolute best and most competitive, even for a few days, that's enough to permanently derail their career on Fiverr, regardless of the years they've spent striving to stay on top.
The truth is, if a Western company treated their "employees" this way, it would make headlines. It has — just look at Amazon, or gig economy giants like Uber and JustEat.
But since we're just part of the gig economy, Fiverr manages to get away with treating us like garbage.
Bonus points on their ESG if they host a mental health webinar and tell us our mental health matters. It doesn't.
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3 minutes ago, emmaki said:
Off to the knacker's yard to be made into soap, glue, and other useful everyday items.
Who said old people can't be useful? Vegetarians and vegans, I suppose. They're missing out. Just ask Ed Gein and his amazing Janet Jackson Belt Collection.
I don't really know where I'm going with this post, but I felt compelled to share it. To make it topical, I am still apathetic about the new review system. They mad on r/fiverr though.Vegans. Don't get me started on vegans.
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2 hours ago, coerdelion said:
We *are* open minded towards AI - just not to the way Fiverr is deploying it ... !
Rejecting Fiverr's brand of AI shows a regressive mindset. You're now being disruptive, resisting progress and innovation. 🫡
Disclaimer: I've been graciously instructed to adopt a more "open-minded" perspective. Therefore, I'm employing meticulously crafted corporate jargon to mask my less than boundless enthusiasm for Fiverr's ingenious strategy. After all, who would stand in the way of progress?
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58 minutes ago, mariashtelle1 said:
What a great idea fiverr… didn’t you get rid of editing reviews a few years ago because it was a horrible idea? How did a horrible idea again became this brilliant idea? 🤦♀️
I'll tell you: it's because gen alpha and Z aren't able to hold a job for more than six months before moving on (unless they get to "change the world" and "make a difference" ending up with a promotion to "Chief Humbug Officer" within a month of them starting their job). The people who found out about this years ago are already retired and to weak to work.
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1 hour ago, emmaki said:
....and if they'd listened to our valuable feedback at all before this even started, they wouldn't have needed the show....
can be translated into "this cost our CS team thousands of hours and overloaded them to the extent they couldn't deal with user issues that weren't self-inflicted by an [insert adjective of choice] product development team so we're rolling it back even though it means sellers and buyers can more easily manipulate each other again gosh why is it so hard to make a good review system when we're not dealing with bad actors? Also rolling this back is cheaper than dealing with the app bug so like whatever"
That's my feedback on that point.
I agree. And all of this could have been avoided if they just bothered running in by some of their senior sellers, like us, before they launched it. Like they used to do. But I guess someone knew that this would piss off a lot of people, so they didn't want it leaked.
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1 hour ago, emmaki said:
Nope, just the realization that these product releases don't really mean anything - except of course, they do to the people whose livelihoods they are playing with. If they'd focus on actually doing something about specific types of problem users rather than making blanket AI systems to "regulate" the marketplace as a giant blob of users, it might be a different story.
Won't hold my breath for anyone at FiverrCorp to suddenly have an epiphany though.
I'm mostly positive, or just meh, about these changes.
Fiverr hasn't really done anything to deserve my goodwill except sending me work, and I'm not complaining about that, but let's just say I'm so little impressed with the changes, mostly to the way Fiverr have been communicating, that I'm meh about most things.
Overall, I see this as a good change. They've listened, probably not to us (even though they say this is because of our valuable feedback), but to the data that shows what a sh*tshow this has been.
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But I guess we can't have the cake and eat it too. They're fixing the emojies. Great!
The rest probably won't matter that much for most sellers, unless they rely on old reviews while the new ones aren't that great due to the new system.
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Just now, donnovan86 said:
I mean, it does allow the buyer a way to modify their review if they made a mistake. There were many sellers who stated that buyers went to customer support to change their review. So I guess it happened so often to the point where they made this change.
And that was Fiverr's fault in the first place for messing up the entire review system overnight.
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8 minutes ago, zerlina84 said:
Apparently, no, they can’t.
As soon as you leave your review, they can’t edit it anymore (and thank God for that).
It’s just a pointless “update”.
Yes, of course, but if you forget...
But yes, I agree, it's pointless.
The other changes I completely get. But surely, if the problem is buyers leaving the wrong review, something is wrong with the review system, and I think they're partially fixing that now that they return to star ratings.
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1 hour ago, donnovan86 said:
They are reverting from emojis back to stars, which definitely makes the platform feel and appear more professional. I was not a fan of emojis myself, either.
About time. Some gen alpha intern must have come up with that idea in the first place.
1 hour ago, donnovan86 said:Public scores for our gigs will only reflect the average score for the past 2 years. So even if you have 5000 reviews that on average had 5.0 stars (for a gig that has been around since 2015), the public score for that gig will only take into account your average review score for the past 2 years. Not sure how I feel about this, because that means all those old reviews are neglected, even if they were very accurate. Fiverr says they want to show the average, recent quality of the seller. I guess it's yet another way for them to eliminate meksells that tried to curate reviews in the past few years.
I don't know what to think of this, honestly.
1 hour ago, donnovan86 said:And this is another big one. Buyers now have the option to edit reviews for up to 14 days after they leave a review. However, it's either 14 days or until the seller leaves their own review. That means, if you don't want your buyer to randomly change their review, you may want to share your own review and not wait.
This will make our support after the order is completed more important as well. If they buyer has a question or want something changed after the order is technically complete, and you say "no", they can fry you in an updated review. Just something to think about for sellers who are very strict on their revision policy. This change would only be "fair" if sellers also could edit their review. But that won't happen.
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37 minutes ago, filipdevaere said:
My success manager told me during our last meeting that there are fewer buyers on the Fiverr platform than before.
Fewer buyers mean that there is less work for many freelancers.Yup, of course it does. And then they make up claims about the buyers remaining being of a higher quality. All I've seen is more haggling over price.
24 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:Also, more meksells trying to appear as experienced professionals when they have no idea what they are doing, many of them also use AI. And just more people joining the platform in general, aka more competition for less buyers.
Indeed. When everyone and their grandmother is allowed to just copy/paste gunk from ChatGPT in order to pretend, it will naturally increase the amount of unhappy buyers as well. I've seen more and more complaints coming from buyers, not just sellers, because they've had trouble with a seller not delivering as promised. And for the everyman it's becoming increasingly difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff, when even a 12-year-old in their momma's kitchen can pretend to be a corporate lawyer.
Disclaimer: I've been told by forum management to be more open minded about AI. Any reference, negative or otherwise, to AI in this post, is purely meant as constructive criticism to aid new sellers on their AI journey, helping sellers like you, one prompt at a time.
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For some, it has definitely become an unstable source of income. Whether this is due to their performance or the new level and success score system is hard to say, because some of us are thriving under the new system, while others are struggling.
Many sellers seem to be trying new tactics to stay on top, but I think they're doing it wrong. Just a week in, people were already panicking about dropping sales and throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what would stick.
AI-generated gig descriptions? Just because Fiverr has an AI fetish, it doesn't mean our buyers do. They might think they do, but people still buy from people, not AI.You're still selling to humans, not bots, even if Fiverr wants us to think we're all just cogs in the AI grinder at this point.
Instead of trying to "game the system" to survive, try working smarter and better, and learn marketing strategies that actually work. You know, the tried and true methods like writing your gig description to convert instead of to please an algorithm (actual sales beat keywords every time) and delivering top-notch services consistently.
This includes being proactive with your communication to make buyers feel secure, being friendly, responding promptly to all messages and requests, and carefully selecting the right projects to ensure you're working on something you're truly an expert at. Instead of quantity, your goal should always be quality, even if that means you have to charge three times as much.
If you did that, you might succeed. But of course, we're all at the mercy of an AI developed by the same people who brought us Neo, so there are no guarantees.
Even though I think Fiverr made a huge mistake with this new system, I still believe it comes down to us and our performance. Some of us are succeeding because of the quality of our work, our services, and our systems for vetting buyers to pick the right clients, not because of or in spite of the new system.
That said, Fiverr has lost 300,000 buyers. We're in a time when companies are trying to cut costs left and right (don't think for a second that layoffs are only affecting employees; freelancers are just as impacted), and we're experiencing existential changes to the way we work due to AI.
Companies are experimenting like crazy to ride the AI wave. It's the worst case of FOMO I've ever seen. So, while some of us have surely done all of the above, we can't pretend the AI developments aren't affecting us. Blaming Fiverr alone is foolish.
Disclaimer: I've been told by forum management to have a more open mind about AI. Any interpretation of this as a defence of Fiverr is purely by direct order from our AI overlords.
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@Kesha Why is my book launch not pinned yet? It even has AI! ☺️
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55 minutes ago, emmaki said:
I hate to say it, but my book - entirely written by hand and occasionally-sound human judgement - had a much more successful failed book launch than your failed book launch.
What does this mean?
It must mean that people are not yet open minded enough about AI.
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19 minutes ago, emmaki said:
As someone with a recently-failed book launch (the free guide thing), I feel it is my duty to remind you that the forum hates PDFs.
You'll need to go and fight with WeTransfer and get a very spammy-looking link that will expire in like, 10 days. It's brilliant that this is one of Fiverr's approved URLs, especially since it helps dodgy sellers to facilitate things that are illegal under the TOS without Fiverr knowing... if they don't notice for 10 days. Another win for #TeamFiverr!
Alternatively, you can't download my ebook anymore (so this isn't a shameless promotion) because of WeTransfer.
tl;dr: WeTransfer is FiverrCorp's premier choice for sharing files for some reason I don't really understand considering the way it works, but that's Fiverr for you.
Please excuse the terrible formatting in the eBook. I spent 5 minutes on it. Still, not bad for around 10 minutes work in total eh, Smash?
I guess I'm now part of the Recently Failed Book Launch club at this point. But now the book is finally on WeTransfer, thanks to you guiding the way towards the three dots.
Not bad at all - the work we put into this thing is a true achievement in the art of achieving nothing. Practice what you preach, I say!
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Since @Kesha really wanted my book to become a reality, I decided to actually write it.
Ok, it's a guide to modern inactivity, and since I really champion achieving absolute nothing throughout, I used AI to write it for me.
I think that will be heartwarming to certain people who have seen my dislike of certain AI use cases here on the forum, especially given that I was directly told by the forum management to be more open minded. Can't say no to that! 🙃
So here it goes: The Participation Trophy Generation: A Guide to Modern Inactivity and the Art of Achieving Nothing, by yours truly (and mostly ChatGPT).
Can be downloaded here for a few days, then it's gone. Get it while you can! https://we.tl/t-i1tflJqLsg
Thanks to @emmaki for turning it from a boring Word document into what I can only call the most awesome book cover evah.
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1 hour ago, coerdelion said:
Some bloke sent me a photo of someone's private parts years ago - don't know if they were his, cuz I couldn't see his face. Not very impressive ...
Point is: you are not alone ...I'm so glad I'm not female. I'd be so pissed off all the time.
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I Quit (too)
in Lounge
Posted
I wanted to take a moment to explain why I’ve been less active on the Fiverr forum lately. Not because I think I'm sorely missed, but because my last real post on this forum should be about the forum that I've grown to love, hate and use over the years.
Why? Because I think my ideas might still carry some weight, if not with Fiverr, perhaps with some of you fellow sellers out there. This community has been an incredible space for sharing ideas, learning from one another, and building friendships. I’ve learned a lot, shared a lot, and made some great connections.
Just to make it clear: I'm not quitting Fiverr. I still think the platform has a lot of to offer me as a freelancer. While we're certainly in a situation where we can no longer trust Fiverr as a stable source of income, I can still enjoy working here. The keyword is working. Helping other sellers succeed has become nearly impossible in an environment where you can't be honest when people make mistakes.
So, here are my reasons for stepping back from the community:
1. Lack of free speech:
The forum feels less like a place for open expression and more like a controlled echo chamber. Disagree with how Fiverr's AI decides if your business lives or dies? Brace yourself for a smackdown from management. I’m not a fan of companies playing puppet master with our words and right to free expression, even though it is on a corporate forum, and especially not when it impacts our livelihoods. They call it transparency. I call it the thought police.
2. The good people left already
Many users who once provided valuable insights, sparked great discussions, and brought some fun to the forum have jumped ship. Some bailed because of the reasons mentioned above, while others ditched Fiverr altogether thanks to the platform’s increasing gamification. The quality of discussions and useful information has hit rock bottom—and that’s saying something considering every other post is about "giig rank on fiber."
3. Health impacts
I’ve talked to several sellers who’ve developed serious mental and physical health issues thanks to the stress from Fiverr’s gamification strategies. Some have even gone public about it. The relentless pressure to perform and compete is taking a toll on many, and it’s a problem that desperately needs addressing. I’ve tried to raise this issue over the years, but it’s fallen on deaf ears. So why bother anymore?
4. Pointless GPT-drivel
The forum is now a dumping ground for copypasted GPT content, which Fiverr management seems to prefer over actual, useful information. In fact, most of the content posted by Fiverr staff is among the worst examples out there. When other sellers and I have pointed this out, we've been told to be “more open-minded” about Fiverr’s use of AI. It’s not about being anti-AI; it’s about upholding a standard of quality and transparency, something the management on this forum seems incapable of doing.
5. Spam:
Being active on the forum is like putting out a welcome mat for spam. Desperate sellers bombard you with AI-generated novellas claiming expertise. It's simply a waste of time. The more active you are, the worse it gets.
To be honest, it doesn't feel like I'm stepping back from a community anymore. It feels like I'm saying good bye to a micromanaged, stress-inducing circus.
Thanks to everyone who's made this journey worthwhile. You know who you are. I might be back when the people running this place realize their AI obsession cost them their jobs. Oh, wait, they won't be around to see that, will they? Oh well.