Giving up your job to 'earn' online?
By Jacqui
@euphie (573)
Ballymena, Northern Ireland
October 18, 2015 7:10am CST
Following on from a discussion that I was reading about, it reminded me of something that I was always puzzled about in regards to Bubblews. A lot of people made Bubblews their full time job - giving up their work to instead 'work' for Bubblews. The site was then flooded with people who had been messed around, not received payments or were struggling because the income wasn't as regular as they had hoped. Their Facebook page was full of people who explained how much work they had done for the site, only to not receive their payment for their work. One that I remember vividly was that she literally devoted all her time to Bubblews and yet they weren't rewarding her for her loyalty. She neglected her family (including her children) for the website and then couldn't handle it when they didn't reward her how she thought she should be rewarded.
It does make me wonder what happened those people? Once Bubblews crashed and stopped paying high rates, did they go back to work? How would you explain your absence from the job market on your CV? Or are they in a worse situation because they believed that the money from Bubblews would be a better way of earning than going out to work?
9 people like this
15 responses
@kataomoi (708)
• Japan
18 Oct 15
I don't know what happened to those people, but I feel bad for them. They must've spent a lot of time and effort on Bubblews to make it their "work". I was not one of those people, but I can't even imagine what would've happened if I gave up my job for Bubblews. I would've lost everything.
I seriously think that Bubblews is a good idea. It's just that Arvind and his team didn't do it correctly. They basically ignored the community that was bringing in money for them. They never cared about their users. When people commented on their page or e-mailed them, they just ignored it. We (the users) didn't give up on Bubblews. It was Arvind and his team who gave up on its users.
6 people like this
@jrlcentral (2605)
• Roxas, Philippines
18 Oct 15
Well... I've been planning to quit my job for online jobs.. but never for Bubblews. Perhaps if you plan to leave a regular job to become a freelancer, you must have several options, not just one/
3 people like this
@wiLLmaH (8802)
• Singapore, Singapore
19 Oct 15
@jrlcentral what is your profession?
1 person likes this
@jrlcentral (2605)
• Roxas, Philippines
19 Oct 15
@wiLLmaH Currentyl, I work as an IT administrator here in our city... though I can make ends meet plus I could continue with my investment, the pay is relatively low. not enough to pay off my debts.
I have plans to leave this work, but not all the way. I will still offer my services as a retainer / consultant. And I could get other clients as well (I have at least two hotels waiting for now). The online work --- it's something I want to try my hands on.
What is important is, I want to have a job that would allow me to spend more time with my kid (hopefully kids in the next year or two).
1 person likes this
@jrlcentral (2605)
• Roxas, Philippines
20 Oct 15
well.. I was able to get $25 in my first three or four days when bubblews during the early days of bubblews... but got nothing after that
1 person likes this
@boiboing (13153)
• Northampton, England
18 Oct 15
Arvind and Jason should have the fate of those people on their consciences but I doubt either gives them even the briefest thought. They knew their model was unsustainable. Hundreds of us were reporting the cheats every day only to see the team let people continue posting copied and spam content for many months and then finally (if at all) deleting them when they'd worked for months (if you can call copying 'work'). They allowed the cheating because it brought traffic and money to the site and then they kept all that money for themselves and subsequently pocketed the earnings of all the members in the countries that had problems, plus a large chunk of the earnings of people in their previously 'favoured' countries. If there is any kind of Karma in this world, those two young men are coming back as slugs or leeches next time round.
2 people like this
@boiboing (13153)
• Northampton, England
18 Oct 15
@NeldaHoxie - just a pair of arrogant men with wealthy and indulgent parents who didn't understand that they had responsibilities to the little people who built their site. It's easy for people in high income countries like ours to look at the 'working for Bubblews' idea and think those people were crazy but for a long time the site delivered wealth beyond the dreams of many people in the lower income countries. We can't blame them for getting carried away with it all.
3 people like this
@NeldaHoxie (1381)
• United States
18 Oct 15
Their biggest problem from the start was their inability to communicate clearly. Their rules were very vague and they blamed the users for not following them. I have to admit that I was paid every cent on time, so I can't complain there. Many people were badly hurt and I feel sorry for them. Even Javaman74, their biggest supporter, hasn't been paid recently. It will be interesting to see what happens to Arvind.
1 person likes this
@euphie (573)
• Ballymena, Northern Ireland
18 Oct 15
Yep, I always wondered how they dealt with those people but clearly they didn't care. I couldn't deal with that on my conscience but they were probably too busy partying with everyone's hard earned money. People put their all into the site and yet they treated them like rubbish, while others made a fortune out of copying and when it all went wrong, they punished everyone.
@destry (2572)
• Kirkwall, Scotland
18 Oct 15
I would assume that those people were those where the dollar was a lot of money and a daily sum of say $50 was worth giving up a day job for. I would not give up my day job for such a low amount, nor would I enter a "job" that has no signed contract, only terms and conditions (heavily weighted in bubblews favour).
I would question the logic behind anyone who gives up a guarenteed income for a no contract work from home job and rely heavily on it to feed their family.
I earned a nice amount in the Bubblews hay day, peobably in the region of $1500 - I knew it was a cash cow and milked it accordingly, knowing it could not last. But I saw that cash as pocket money, an added extra and not a source of income! I would never aim to buy my children's food with cash from such an uncertain source!
1 person likes this
@euphie (573)
• Ballymena, Northern Ireland
18 Oct 15
A lot of people did give up work and other commitments for the site and then resorted to begging on there when money didn't come in. Clearly a lot of people were seduced by the idea of quick money and put all their eggs in Bubblews baskets. They were warned but they believed the claims from people like Arvind who said that Bubblews would never disappear.
I didn't make that much money but I never use did that much - but it did help me with my Christmas presents last year!
2 people like this
@Sheilamarie78 (2586)
• Canada
19 Oct 15
It's easy to criticize people for being naive for believing they'd get their money, but conditions are such in many places that decent paying jobs are just not available. And people raising children are often trying to find options for staying at home with them.
@destry (2572)
• Kirkwall, Scotland
19 Oct 15
@Sheilamarie78 I understand people want to earn whilst spending time with their children - giving up a job when you need the money and becoming reliant on a contractless website does shout for the people to be criticize!
@DeborahDiane (40322)
• Laguna Woods, California
18 Oct 15
A lot of those people lived in countries where they only earned about $200 a month anyway. I remember one man saying he could earn $200 a month on Bubblews or $200 a month working long hours on a construction job ... and he preferred Bubblews. It is a shame that so many of those people lost their income. It must have been devastating for some of them.
@Lolaze (5093)
• St. Louis, Missouri
18 Oct 15
I feel sorry for those people as well! Nothing online like this is a full income, it just helps a little bit.
@Sheilamarie78 (2586)
• Canada
19 Oct 15
Any ambitions to make a living based on websites such as these have fizzled for most people. Still, a site shouldn't promise to pay and then change their story after people have participated in good faith.
@NeldaHoxie (1381)
• United States
18 Oct 15
I don't know how people were making enough money to live off of Bubblews at any time. I think the biggest earners were making like $1,000 / month. That's not enough in the US to quit a job. I would have told a prospective employer I was a freelance writer and left it at that.
@euphie (573)
• Ballymena, Northern Ireland
18 Oct 15
It's the same in the UK, it wasn't enough to give up work for but other countries, $1000 goes a lot further and that was part of the problem. People got desperate and their methods weren't always fair but they focused on the money.
2 people like this
@Cdjran2015 (273)
• Manila, Philippines
3 Nov 15
As for me, i cannot leave my job because of a writing site. i do writing to entertain myself and to have interaction to other people and to learn too... I still love teaching.
@elizawallner (15)
• United States
25 Oct 15
I am extremely curious about this "bubblews" I had never heard of it until myLot site. I am going to search it and find out what its about. I saw a post somewhere on here that a woman stated she had just received payment from them. Anyone else see that? Or am I mistaken?
On a side note, abandoning your main source of income to go to an earnings website?? sounds risky and unstable. Do people really do that? and how successful is it?
@SimplySara (148)
• Temple, Texas
24 Oct 15
I would never put all my hope and effort into one site like that. I have seen too many sites go under. I would rather invest in myself and my own blog than do that.
@antonbunot (11093)
• Calgary, Alberta
18 Oct 15
I have not met any bubbler who quit his/her job when Bubblews was paying high!
