[PLEASE VOTE] Who would use a "get free bitcoins for offers/services" site?

[gigitrix]

Hi all, I'm a newcomer to the bitcoin scene but I'm very interested in it all. I'm hoping to work on a number of small applications over the next year or so with regard to bitcoin, and I need to do some market research.


Basically, I have a site ready such that you could get free bitcoins, just for completing surveys, doing offers, buying stuff through affiliates etc. It's the same system as Facebook applications use (like Mafia Wars or whatever) but instead of being an in-game currency you'd be rewarded with bitcoins for your hard work.

However the media partners involved require a certain volume of transactions through this system or they will hold the accumulated money, meaning it's difficult to pay out users (especially with deflation making this hard, as I have to configure the values on the site for the "future" value of BTC rather than today's or I would lose money.) I may think about holding the account balances on my end until I get paid, then paying users in BTC, but that might require a level of trust from your part as a user

So Bitcoiners, I ask you: would you spend some time doing "human" mining rather than just "machine" mining? I genuinely need to know because otherwise I risk a bad investment with such a system. And let me know what you think of the site idea. We want to add more ways of earning bitcoins to this system in the future so that it becomes the "mturk" of bitcoin generation, but we need to know there is sufficient interest to make this possible.

Thank you for your time

[nanaimogold]

> you'd be rewarded with bitcoins for your hard work.

You are asking people to consider trading their labour for bitcoin; how can you call that bitcoin "free"?

I have discovered that posters who use the word free seldom mean what they say.

[gigitrix]

And the free bitcoins your PC grinds for aren't really "free" either. I just think there's a mentality that a lot of people have when hearing about it: "I like the idea, I want some, but I'm not paying for them!" It's why people grind in the farming pools for millibitcoins, and it's a good thing for the bitcoin community as it spreads the wealth, making trade more viable. 

I call it free because it has zero monetary cost, just as that "free" sandwich from the deli that's doing a promotion requires physical transport to get to 

Anyway this is precisely what I should have made more clear in my post, so thanks for pointing it out. I just would be very interested to know if people would use such a service 

[Mahkul]

And the free bitcoins your PC grinds for aren't really "free" either. I just think there's a mentality that a lot of people have when hearing about it: "I like the idea, I want some, but I'm not paying for them!" It's why people grind in the farming pools for millibitcoins, and it's a good thing for the bitcoin community as it spreads the wealth, making trade more viable. 

I call it free because it has zero monetary cost, just as that "free" sandwich from the deli that's doing a promotion requires physical transport to get to 

Anyway this is precisely what I should have made more clear in my post, so thanks for pointing it out. I just would be very interested to know if people would use such a service 

It probably would depend on how badly one needs bitcoins. I personally wouldn't bother neither for "real" money nor bitcoins.

[Anonymous]

spam is free 

[grondilu]

I doubt the amount of bitcoins you are willing to pay would worth my precious time.

So the answer is "no, thanks".

[gigitrix]

I doubt the amount of bitcoins you are willing to pay would worth my precious time.

So the answer is "no, thanks".

Well the system I'm mentioning is half "do this survey for a small amount of Bitcoins" and half "if you are buying this thing through this link, we'll give you X free bitcoins". The latter part might interest you if you shop online, and the former part allows "new" users to quickly get something in their accounts without crossing the psychological threshold of paying "real" money for them.

[grondilu]

Well the system I'm mentioning is half "do this survey for a small amount of Bitcoins" and half "if you are buying this thing through this link, we'll give you X free bitcoins". The latter part might interest you if you shop online, and the former part allows "new" users to quickly get something in their accounts without crossing the psychological threshold of paying "real" money for them.

Yeah I get it.  It's not a bad proposal.  It's just that you asked a question, so I gave you my answer  .

[davux]

So Bitcoiners, I ask you: would you spend some time doing "human" mining rather than just "machine" mining? I genuinely need to know because otherwise I risk a bad investment with such a system. And let me know what you think of the site idea. We want to add more ways of earning bitcoins to this system in the future so that it becomes the "mturk" of bitcoin generation, but we need to know there is sufficient interest to make this possible.

I would definitely have a look at it. It's possible that my attention don't last more than 10 seconds if I'm not convinced, though.

I think you're right about the psychological threshold of spending "real" money (i.e. something that has already proven to be valuable in one's experience) vs. other costs. For example I went several times to the Bitcoin Faucet, even though it certainly didn't sum up to more than 0.5 BTC, i.e. ~15 USD cents, in several months.

About the "I'll give you your money later, trust me" part, I guess my trust will decrease geometrically, and every person's progressive loss of trust will impact others', so you shouldn't rely on people's total faith too much and for too long. It would also definitely help to have an estimate on when one's work will actually start bringing some bitcoins in, based on real and often-updated mathematical data. In a word: be transparent. (well that makes two words.)

[gigitrix]

Well the system I'm mentioning is half "do this survey for a small amount of Bitcoins" and half "if you are buying this thing through this link, we'll give you X free bitcoins". The latter part might interest you if you shop online, and the former part allows "new" users to quickly get something in their accounts without crossing the psychological threshold of paying "real" money for them.

Yeah I get it.  It's not a bad proposal.  It's just that you asked a question, so I gave you my answer  .

Sorry, I come off as defensive rereading this don't I. I'm not meaning to put words into anyone's mouth, I was just clarifying what my app would hypothetically do, and find it hard to explain stuff as it comes up without it sounding like I asked a question and then complain about the answers 

[grondilu]

Sorry, I come off as defensive rereading this don't I. I'm not meaning to put words into anyone's mouth, I was just clarifying what my app would hypothetically do, and find it hard to explain stuff as it comes up without it sounding like I asked a question and then complain about the answers 

Well, my way of answering was a bit rude, I confess it.

[gigitrix]

So Bitcoiners, I ask you: would you spend some time doing "human" mining rather than just "machine" mining? I genuinely need to know because otherwise I risk a bad investment with such a system. And let me know what you think of the site idea. We want to add more ways of earning bitcoins to this system in the future so that it becomes the "mturk" of bitcoin generation, but we need to know there is sufficient interest to make this possible.

I would definitely have an look at it. It's possible that my attention don't last more than 10 seconds if I'm not convinced, though.

I think you're right about the psychological threshold of spending "real" money (i.e. something that has already proven to be valuable in one's experience) vs. other costs. For example I went several times to the Bitcoin Faucet, even though it certainly didn't sum up to more than 0.5 BTC, i.e. ~15 USD cents, in several months.

About the "I'll give you your money later, trust me" part, I guess my trust will decrease geometrically, and every person's progressive loss of trust will impact others', so you shouldn't rely on people's total faith too much and for too long. It would also definitely help to have an estimate on when one's work will actually start bringing some bitcoins in, based on real and often-updated mathematical data. In a word: be transparent. (well that makes two words.)

If I were to go down this route, transparency would be key. Every page would have a progress bar at the top for when it moves out of alpha, and I'd have public stats showing my collateral and the mathematically expected date of payout etc etc. It would only be an issue for the "beta" stage anyway, and I would hopefully come up with a better solution tbh...

[gigitrix]

Sorry, I come off as defensive rereading this don't I. I'm not meaning to put words into anyone's mouth, I was just clarifying what my app would hypothetically do, and find it hard to explain stuff as it comes up without it sounding like I asked a question and then complain about the answers 

Well, my way of answering was a bit rude, I confess it.

Not at all!

[grondilu]

Also, I don't believe in this psychological threshold you're talking about.  Maybe it's because I'm a HUGE bitocin fan, but really I trust bitcoin MUCH MORE than I trust euro, dollar or whatever.  I have therefore no problemn in buying bitcoins with so-called "real" money.

I'm pretty sure people would easily do the same once they got a fairly good idea of what bitcoin is exactly.

[Anonymous]

http://www.trialpay.com/

If youre talking about that site I doubt you would get enough traffic to fulfill their tos.

Its a nice idea untill you look into the fine print. 

[marcusaurelius]

I have therefore no problemn in buying bitcoins with so-called "real" money.

But you are selling bitcoins on the site in your signature, right? or is my french that bad?

[grondilu]

But you are selling bitcoins on the site in your signature, right? or is my french that bad?

Well yes, I buy and I sell.    But I've been selling for only about two weeks.

[gigitrix]

http://www.trialpay.com/

If youre talking about that site I doubt you would get enough traffic to fulfill their tos.

Its a nice idea untill you look into the fine print. 

It's not trialpay. Truth be told I'm looking at TapJoy and similar networks, but I'm trying to find one with a low payout threshold so the deflation doesn't screw us. I would try and maximise the payout: I'm not really after a huge amount of profit or anything, but the uncertainty over payout would mean I have to grossly overestimate the value of bitcoins until the USD payout can be converted to Bitcoin to cover user payouts. Found one at $100, sounds like a lot but a few Netflix subscriptions or whatever will add up, along with all the low end "try this facebook app" ones.

It depends if the mining community want to get involved really: there's clearly people in pooled mining who spend weeks trying to get three bitcents, and this might be a better way forward for such people.