My Outlier account was deactivated during the Aether screening — copy/paste misunderstanding
Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice from other Outlier contributors.
My Outlier account was suddenly deactivated while I was taking the Aether screening test. The reason given was related to a copy/paste issue.
During the screening, I had to listen to audio and type the transcription. The text box provided for the transcription was extremely small, which made it difficult for me to work comfortably. Because of that, I wrote my transcription in Notepad first and then copied/pasted the transcription into the provided textbox.
I did not use copy/paste to obtain answers, bypass the test, or use someone else’s work. I was simply using Notepad to prepare the transcription because the actual textbox was difficult to work with.
What is frustrating is that my account was deactivated without, as far as I understand, anyone actually reviewing the context of what happened. I have a 4+ rating and have spent a significant amount of time contributing to Outlier, so getting suddenly deactivated over something like this is extremely disappointing.
I completely understand that Outlier needs to have rules against cheating or unauthorized assistance. But in this situation, I feel the copy/paste activity was misunderstood. I was only transferring my own transcription from Notepad into the textbox.
I have already tried to explain this through the appropriate channels, and I’m hoping someone here might know:
● Has anyone experienced a similar deactivation?
● Is there a way to request a manual review/appeal of the account?
● Can the Aether screening session be reviewed to verify that I was actually transcribing the audio myself?
I genuinely enjoyed contributing on Outlier and would really appreciate any advice from people who have dealt with a similar situation.