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a number of Twitter accounts: for example, @
Welocalize driven by the US and @WelocalizeJPN
driven by Japan. The content on both Twitter
accounts is totally unrelated but what they have
in common is that both are written by people
who are passionate about Welocalize and who
are able to communicate a consistent corporate
message in that medium. Many organisations
have the resources to post regular blogs but not
to translate them.
The localisation challenge
Translation of social media content can
potentially be problematic because of its sheer
volume and that has great cost implications all
round. There is great value to an organisation’s
social media content because participants
interact on a more direct, culturally attuned
level. Adapting social media content for
different target audiences may require a lot
more than translation. For example, someone
based in the USA may have very different
opinions from someone based in Germany on
what qualities are important in an automobile.
Simply translating an opinion may not translate
the message and justify the author’s intent. This
poses a challenge when considering localising
the published content. The sheer volume
and speed at which much of this content is
published also creates a localisation challenge:
real-time content is published 24 hours a day all
over the world from PCs, laptops, smartphones
and other mobile devices. If you consider
YouTube.com, this then creates additional
demand for real-time multilingual audio visual.
All this online content creates a continuous
demand for rapid translations from social
media providers and users all over the world.
Another key challenge to localising social media
is cost: to have a human element translating
continual content would be huge (you’d need
a lot of translator hours…). Millions of new
entries, blogs and posts go online every day.
Even if an organisation does not have a
proactive social media presence, they still need
to ‘actively listen‘ and monitor social media sites
for content relating to them, their brands and
industry, such as complaints, product feedback
and trends. One of the unique qualities of social
media is that it is multidirectional: an organisation
is a participant (a consumer) as well as a producer
and publisher. It’s not just about the content you
are pushing out, but also the content that you and
your business are attracting. Once social media
gets hold of an interesting titbit, the effect is
nuclear and your coverage could be worldwide.
If that content is being published multi-lingually,
then do you understand the content as well as all
the cultural nuances that may exist within it?
Most online content contained in standard
corporate websites is static and the user
interface (UI) is typically controlled centrally,
We have the expertise
We have the technology
We have the global presence
We will help you succeed
We are...
The On-Demand Translation Leader
www.welocalize.com
+44(0)1829 730050
Welocalize trading as Lloyd International Ltd.
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Communicator Spring 2012