Gesicht Buch?
Bianca — March 3, 2008 — Pop Culture
References: uk.reuters
Ich Liebe Facebook! Apparently, a lot of other Germans love Facebook too; so much so that the social networking site, which has 66 million users, has officially launched a version of the site auf Deutsch!
How Wunderbar! But why German and not other languages like French or Japanese? Because that would require work and cost money. Over 2,000 German language speakers offered to translate the entire site in under two weeks... for free! According to Facebook's VP of product management, the site has over a million active users in Germany... that doesn't include people like me who are fluent yet living in North America.
A Spanish version of the site was already created in a similar way in February. Facebook said there is a plan for a French version too.
"Germany does not rank among the top 10 countries for Facebook users," Reuters explained. "After the United States, Britain is No. 2 with 8 million active users and Canada is 3rd with 7 million users. Turkey is fourth, followed by Australia, France and Sweden.
"As the company releases new features, Facebook said it plans to rely on volunteers to help it translate the site into non-English languages, borrowing a strategy popularized by Wikipedia, the anyone-can-edit Web encyclopedia."
So what do you all think, should we follow in Facebook's shoes and launch Trend Hunter Deutschland?
How Wunderbar! But why German and not other languages like French or Japanese? Because that would require work and cost money. Over 2,000 German language speakers offered to translate the entire site in under two weeks... for free! According to Facebook's VP of product management, the site has over a million active users in Germany... that doesn't include people like me who are fluent yet living in North America.
A Spanish version of the site was already created in a similar way in February. Facebook said there is a plan for a French version too.
"Germany does not rank among the top 10 countries for Facebook users," Reuters explained. "After the United States, Britain is No. 2 with 8 million active users and Canada is 3rd with 7 million users. Turkey is fourth, followed by Australia, France and Sweden.
"As the company releases new features, Facebook said it plans to rely on volunteers to help it translate the site into non-English languages, borrowing a strategy popularized by Wikipedia, the anyone-can-edit Web encyclopedia."
So what do you all think, should we follow in Facebook's shoes and launch Trend Hunter Deutschland?
Trend Themes
1. Localization of Social Media Platforms - Opportunity for other social media platforms to localize their sites in different languages to increase user engagement and worldwide reach.
2. Crowdsourced Translation - Potential for other companies to leverage the power of crowdsourcing to translate their websites or products, reducing costs and increasing speed of translation.
3. Volunteer-based Localization - Opportunity for companies to engage with their user communities and utilize volunteers to help translate their platforms, following the Wikipedia model.
Industry Implications
1. Social Media - Opportunity for social media platforms to expand their user base by localizing their sites in different languages and catering to specific regions.
2. Translation Services - Growth potential for translation service providers to offer crowdsourced translation solutions to companies looking to localize their products or websites.
3. Community Engagement Platforms - Opportunity for platforms that facilitate user engagement and community building to offer volunteer-based localization services to companies seeking translation assistance.
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