Does Swagbucks and my points do the same thing? I participate in paid online surveys and earn a little extra money to help pay for household expenses and to treat my family special things like dinner out or an electronic gadget like an tablet computer. Surveys can be on many different topics, like your TV-watching habits, your favorite places to eat, what material of sweater you prefer in the fall, etc. Since they are being paid by the brands themselves, they are basically passing off some of their compensation to you. I know a couple of people who said that they indeed was paid for taking online surveys.