i don't think people do. there's a reason gig work in service-level jobs is illegal in most of the civilised world. when uber started up here they were instantly penalised for breaking every law there is about taxi certification, and when they actually conformed (by actually hiring taxi drivers) and started to bring in uber eats they were sued into oblivion again because those are two different areas of work with different rules for tidiness and hygiene.
Even as a musician I’ve done very little gig work; most is arranged well in advance through venue and event operators. Most stages these days don’t want the hassle of managing gigs. Even busking is usually a “pay to get slots on the calendar at this location a year in advance” type of thing these days.
Mainly post on like craigslist or nextdoor. "mowing lawns" or "house cleaning" etc... Not a fan of churches but that used to be a standard way for word of mouth.
Before those apps appeared (and still to this day), people who needed extra money to make ends meet would approach people who might have work for them: offering to clean windows for locally-owned downtown businesses, walking dogs, mowing lawns, cleaning houses, detailing cars, doing odd fix-it jobs for homeowners. It requires some social skills to get going, and it works better if you bring consistency to it, but it also pays better and sucks less. Unfortunately, the places you can approach people are dwindling (by design) as we allow ourselves to become more averse to interaction, so it's harder than it used to be.
Post signs in your local community center and other physical locations where people usually visit. Ask your friends if they need a dog walker. Ask them if they know anyone who does. Use whatever is locally popular as a classified system. Ask local gyms if you can advertise the service with them for people who might want their pets exercised while they work out. Same for restaurants and pubs/bars.
Social networking was a thing before social media and gig proxies. It’s all about finding the people.
Flyers/meeting the neighbors classic for a reason. Be flexible and stay active even when it's not obvious where the money's going to come from. Selling weed or delivering food can turn into child care or home maintenance, helping someone move or haul off trash can get you treasures to sell, ranting about big tech all the time could get you set up doing cloud-free home automations. "Get in where you fit in", we used to say. Never forget that every interaction those apps try to mediate is a human one long predating their existence, and you're not alone in being fed up with them. Uber/lyft/doordash/uhaul type activities were called "gypsy cab" and were a lot more lucrative for the worker/affordable for the consumer before some prick in a datacenter managed to insert themselves
We don't do gig jobs. Simple as that. If I want extra money, I would go to a pizza shop to do delivery driving vs uber eats or door dash and make cash that way. A phone isn't required for that, and my car has navi, if needed.
My "side jobs" include IT consulting and small side jobs that don't conflict with my main work. Because a lot of installs need to be done after-hours anyway, it's convenient, and paid cash. Though, harder to find work that pays well enough, usually small businesses are happy to pay cash if you're cheap enough. I have to be less expensive than the other companies that compete for contracts, but still be worth doing myself in a reasonable amount of time.
I use to do IT for friends and family but that's either free/cheap or constant phone calls like I'm their personal pro bono IT guy.
I once took a prison job as a guard/correctional officer when I needed money. Getting in was easy and the experience made me grow as a person, but because they let anybody in, you'll have to prepare yourself mentally to work with the occasional asshole(s) with just the worst outlook on humanity and incarcerated people's ability to change.
Is babysitting still a thing? And walking people's dogs? Perhaps (home) tutoring? Proofreading, although this one might require a degree, not sure. Postal services?
For what little it’s worth, here you can’t have a felony conviction and legally work in corrections (or even as a security guard.)(though a lot of desperate security cos will ignore that until they get shut down for not running/ignoring the background checks.)
23 replies
i don't think people do. there's a reason gig work in service-level jobs is illegal in most of the civilised world. when uber started up here they were instantly penalised for breaking every law there is about taxi certification, and when they actually conformed (by actually hiring taxi drivers) and started to bring in uber eats they were sued into oblivion again because those are two different areas of work with different rules for tidiness and hygiene.
So... what gigs do people do without gig apps?
i don't know, i've never met anyone that does gig work. i guess musicians?
Even as a musician I’ve done very little gig work; most is arranged well in advance through venue and event operators. Most stages these days don’t want the hassle of managing gigs. Even busking is usually a “pay to get slots on the calendar at this location a year in advance” type of thing these days.
Mainly post on like craigslist or nextdoor. "mowing lawns" or "house cleaning" etc... Not a fan of churches but that used to be a standard way for word of mouth.
Before those apps appeared (and still to this day), people who needed extra money to make ends meet would approach people who might have work for them: offering to clean windows for locally-owned downtown businesses, walking dogs, mowing lawns, cleaning houses, detailing cars, doing odd fix-it jobs for homeowners. It requires some social skills to get going, and it works better if you bring consistency to it, but it also pays better and sucks less. Unfortunately, the places you can approach people are dwindling (by design) as we allow ourselves to become more averse to interaction, so it's harder than it used to be.
What if I wanted to walk dogs for people? How would I get started with that?
Post signs in your local community center and other physical locations where people usually visit. Ask your friends if they need a dog walker. Ask them if they know anyone who does. Use whatever is locally popular as a classified system. Ask local gyms if you can advertise the service with them for people who might want their pets exercised while they work out. Same for restaurants and pubs/bars.
Social networking was a thing before social media and gig proxies. It’s all about finding the people.
Thanks, I think I might try that!
I don't do gigs, but I have a second phone for work-related stuff. All work apps go in the second phone. It also stays off if I'm not working.
Flyers/meeting the neighbors classic for a reason. Be flexible and stay active even when it's not obvious where the money's going to come from. Selling weed or delivering food can turn into child care or home maintenance, helping someone move or haul off trash can get you treasures to sell, ranting about big tech all the time could get you set up doing cloud-free home automations. "Get in where you fit in", we used to say. Never forget that every interaction those apps try to mediate is a human one long predating their existence, and you're not alone in being fed up with them. Uber/lyft/doordash/uhaul type activities were called "gypsy cab" and were a lot more lucrative for the worker/affordable for the consumer before some prick in a datacenter managed to insert themselves
A literal surveillance app will likely not work well on lineage or any other degoogle/privacy rom...
Yeah, I know that already. What I'm asking is, how do people make extra money WITHOUT gig apps.
We don't do gig jobs. Simple as that. If I want extra money, I would go to a pizza shop to do delivery driving vs uber eats or door dash and make cash that way. A phone isn't required for that, and my car has navi, if needed.
My "side jobs" include IT consulting and small side jobs that don't conflict with my main work. Because a lot of installs need to be done after-hours anyway, it's convenient, and paid cash. Though, harder to find work that pays well enough, usually small businesses are happy to pay cash if you're cheap enough. I have to be less expensive than the other companies that compete for contracts, but still be worth doing myself in a reasonable amount of time.
I use to do IT for friends and family but that's either free/cheap or constant phone calls like I'm their personal pro bono IT guy.
By doing temp work. Nurcing homes, daycares, stores, kitchens ++ often need extra sets of hands around here with no particular education needed.
What about Fiverr?
Make night shifts in places where nobody likes to work.
I don't know anyone like that but if I were to I'd have a second phone which I would only use for said gig apps and nothing else.
If this is a technical question: https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/doordash-inc/doordash-food-delivery-grocery-more/doordash-food-grocery-more-15-295-4-release/
DoorDash is not likely to work on De-Googled operating systems. What I’m asking is, how do people make extra money WITHOUT gig apps.
I once took a prison job as a guard/correctional officer when I needed money. Getting in was easy and the experience made me grow as a person, but because they let anybody in, you'll have to prepare yourself mentally to work with the occasional asshole(s) with just the worst outlook on humanity and incarcerated people's ability to change.
Is babysitting still a thing? And walking people's dogs? Perhaps (home) tutoring? Proofreading, although this one might require a degree, not sure. Postal services?
For what little it’s worth, here you can’t have a felony conviction and legally work in corrections (or even as a security guard.)(though a lot of desperate security cos will ignore that until they get shut down for not running/ignoring the background checks.)
...wow