Crowdsourcing & community translation can be a frightening idea to traditional companies. Would we really want to put our life’s work in the hands of a random crowd with the task of localizing our ideas  for the world? Well, if the circumstances are right, yes!

It doesn’t work in every case, but crowdsourcing can be an effective method of translation, especially for tech companies of the last decade who have large communities of users to rely on for support and feedback. But for a company, like Facebook, who has implemented community translation for localization of it’s website into over 100 versions, how can quality be assured?

Build a Community

To initiate crowdsourcing, you first need a crowd. Facebook’s success was due to it’s large following even when it was still new and only available in English. The possibility to connect with and participate in the lives of people from all over the world through the internet was available, but never in such a way that attracted so many people. Once it’s popularity went international, the want for more translations sprouted. But facebook neither had the resources nor the time in it’s early days. Crowdsourcing translation became the obvious choice, and though it wasn’t really cheaper, it enabled a new language to roll-out in a matter of weeks.

With the community in place, a community of translators could be separated and groomed. Facebook’s system of crowdsourcing allows users to post translations for community approval. As people submitted answers, they could grow in popularity or be replaced by “more accurate” translations. When a translation had enough votes, it could move to the review stage where a member of the Facebook team could review the translations. As more and more translations came through, the team at Facebook wouldn’t possibly be able to keep up. A system to allow the community to submit and review translations was put in place.

Ranking & Credentials

Community members with a high number of up-voted translations eventually receive special recognition for their success in translation. With a new credentials, these members would be able to submit translations with more authority than new users. These types of motivations of progress for work done keep members translating and feeling good about it. People are inspired by recognition, and at the same time a high level of quality is assured. Also, translators are trained as they complete more and more translations, so it is as if they have even earned the new credentials, all through volunteering.

On-boarding & Outreach

Facebook is well known for connecting with it’s community. This is also one of the reasons that their community translation is so successful. During a talk from Aaron Babst, Lead Program Manager of Localization at Facebook, Aaron talked about how one of his small language communities was so passionate about their localization efforts, but they lacked some of the technology education and training to complete their translations. They pleaded for Facebook to send out an employee to assist them and work with them in person. The Facebook team obliged and sent out a team member. These types of efforts can motivate translators and ensure that quality is preserved. Also, senior community translators can assist their communities in on-boarding and outreaching activities, whether in person or online.

Communication

One of the most defining factors in successful quality crowdsourcing/community translation is communication. Though it seems obvious, communication within communities and with company representatives ensures that members feel their concerns are heard and that what they are doing is having an impact. If Facebook were to roll out their translation add-on and never communicate with their users, first of all quality would crash and burn, and second user base would evaporate. Crowdsourcing usually isn’t a more cost effective method and more concerning when thinking about Q&A, but if communication is integrated into the crowdsourcing translation method, great success can result.

Final Thoughts

Community is key to successful community translation. Look at the successes of Facebook, Twitter, and Mozilla. They have been shining star examples for the industry. Many things connect these three examples: all young companies, tech companies, user focused, international audiences… Most importantly, all of them are community based.

The video game industry has always been sustained by the community they promote. Customers who buy a certain game join a community upon their purchase. This community shares the experience of following a captivating story, or playing online with friends and acquaintances from around the world. Online communities are formed as a result, hosed by the developer and/or even by enthusiastic fans. These communities have become a standard in the industry. Depending on the success of the game, communities can grow and become influential. Fans can join together to discuss the quality and errors of a game, write to the developers to troubleshoot issues, as the games of today are never truly complete. Changes and updates are released every year for ultra-popular games, improving gaming mechanics and player experiences, all thanks to the online communities of the industry. This culture centered around video games is the perfect setting for crowd-sourcing. As mentioned earlier, when bugs or glitches are found in a game, people post about it in the online communities, and if the error is reoccurring for many players,  it grabs the attention of developers who make the needed changes, thanks to crowdsourcing.

Crowdsourcing in Gaming

We know that crowdsourcing is broadly defined as gathering the talents and energy of the public in an efficient manner for a common goal. This has become standard in the video game industry. Even non-essential changes are made on modern competitive games to improve “fairness” and even-out the gaming experience. This is all done due to the demands and wisdom of the community. Many developers and gaming companies follow the business model of making the games based on what the player sees things should be.

Gaming and the Community

With successful games comes large gaming communities. This sets the perfect situation to gather a large amount of participants for a successful implementation of translation crowdsourcing. The long term success of a game can often depend on the crowd and how it is maintained. Developers need feedback on how they carried out their ideas and if the community approves or not.

But how might we use this community for translation?

If you make the game, the community will come. It’s always difficult for a new gaming company to emerge, but once they have a hit game, they will have a fan-base for life. Think about the Halo series or Call of Duty; any games that their respective studios put out will be discussed worldwide buy their communities. But what would it take to turn these fans into amateur translators?

Public Recognition & Gamification

What motivates gamers most? Gamification and public recognition! Gamers love to be recognized as the best among their peers. In online gaming, success among peers is announced with badges and leaderboards. And offline success is announced through receiving trophies for unlocking achievements. These rewards and recognition can be seen and shared. This would be a priority in crowdsourcing translation in the gaming industry. Possibly it isn’t so common because it is so obvious? Either way, this would be key to keeping gamers interested in translation. Gamers also love to brag, and how many would give anything at the chance to show off that they were the ones who helped translate the game.

For Example…

Take for example, an indie gaming company or small group of organized developers who want to create a new game for people around the world. They might not have the funds or resources to translate the games in more than 2 languages, but if their game becomes a hit, they will eventually create a large enough community to assist in their translation crowdsourcing effort. With the speed at which information travels around the world in this decade, things can go viral in a matter of days.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to translation crowdsourcing, quantity is key to successful translation.  The more speakers of a language there are, the more times a translation can be reviewed and checked for accuracy. In my opinion, the video game industry is the perfect avenue for successful translation crowdsourcing due to the large following behind successful games.