What is translation crowdsourcing?

Translation crowdsourcing is a method of utilizing the language skills of the “crowd” to translate content quickly and efficiently, while incentivizing the user base at the same time. Unlike volunteer translation, translation crowdsourcing is not strictly unpaid, though participants often contribute their time and efforts in exchange for other non-monetary compensation. Major companies like Facebook and Google have tapped into the “power of the crowd” to translate their massive volume of content.

Many translation crowdsourcing models use gamification (namely features like leader boards, levels and badges) to motivate translators by making the experience fun. While TMSs geared toward translation crowdsourcing can be purchased, many organizations choose to develop their own proprietary platform that is adapted to their specific needs and allows them to incorporate some of these same features as well as forums and in-context review/style guides to enable both quality control and community building. Many organizations also organize live events both to recruit new volunteers and as incentives for active members that establish a strong sense of community among contributors.

While translation crowdsourcing has numerous benefits it also presents a unique set of challenges. Ensuring that translators remain motivated can be an obstacle, as can being certain that they remain motivated throughout the project and complete it by any potential deadlines. Quality control is also a key issue. Not all content is ideally suited for translation crowdsourcing. Before implementing a crowdsourcing model, an organization should evaluate its different types of content and necessary quality level for each. This will allow them to match the content with the best suited translation method (whether that is machine translation for technical, repetitive content, crowdsourcing for large volume content with medium quality requirements and professional translation for more complex content that is central to their brand image). Translation crowdsourcing that is not strictly volunteer and has specified requirements (such as language skills and translation experience) for volunteers is one way of managing the potential issues presented by quality control.

Interestingly, while on the surface translation crowdsourcing seems like a great way for a company to cut costs on expensive translation and localization services, most companies actually do not save money using this model. Rather, the value of translation crowdsourcing lies in its ability to incentivize and motivate a user base. Contributing to the translation of a company’s content makes users will feel more connected with the organization’s mission and invested in their brand.

References:

Arrington, Michael. Facebook Taps Users to Create Translated Versions of Site. TechCrunch, January 21, 2008.

Roland, Jessica. People-powered Translation at Machine Speed. MultiLingual, January 2014.

Wooten, Adam. Can Companies Obtain Free Professional Services through Crowdsourcing? DeseretNews.com, February 18, 2011