The last of Facebook\u2019s 10 Guiding Principles is that the \u201cservice should transcend geographic and national boundaries and be available to everyone in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since anywhere between 93% and 96% of the world\u2019s people do not know English, FB\u2019s wish to be the world\u2019s social network has sparked its interest in translation. FB\u2019s translation tool, described by David Kirkpatrick in The Facebook Effect (2010) as \u201camong the company\u2019s greatest product innovations (Kindle ed. 4794)\u201d launched in 2008, and, according to Kirkpatrick, operated in 75 languages as of 2010.<\/p>\n
The particular innovation that Kirkpatrick describes is that FB\u2019s translation is grass roots: \u201cRather than ask its own employees or contractors to spend precious years translating the site\u2019s three hundred thousand words and phrases into numerous other languages, Facebook turned the task over to the crowd and found an enormous amount of wisdom there\u201d(Kindle ed. 4794).<\/p>\n
So when I open up my Slovak language FB, I can load a translation app which is designed to permit me or any other Slovak language users to translate the English that we encounter. Translations are collected and then arranged in a list to be voted on by a translation team consisting of FB users who are native speakers of Slovak (how are these claims to native language proficiency verified?). Translation thus speeds along. Kirkpatrick points out that the French version was completed by 4,000 users in less than two days (Kindle ed. 4802).<\/p>\n
Kirkpatrick observes that in this way \u201cadding new languages . . . costs Facebook virtually nothing\u201d(Kindle ed. 4802). He goes on to give the impression that the crowd of translators can thus assert their own particular ingenuity to creatively echo FB\u2019s new modes of communication, such as poking.<\/p>\n
Kirkpatrick quotes Zuckerberg commenting on his hands off approach: \u201cI\u2019m proud that I wasn\u2019t even involved. . . . This is what you hope for when you\u2019re building an organization . . . . That there will be people who will just build things that fit so well with the values of the company without you even having to say anything.\u201d(Kindle ed. 4809)<\/p>\n
Ah yes, the values of the company: one world, what does this mean in terms of the multi-form world of human languages?<\/p>\n
Clicking on the languages icon in the low left corner of the screen, I count 77 languages available, which includes such options as Canadian French, two versions of Portuguese, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, and English written upside down or in \u201cPirate\u201d form (\u201cWhat be troublin\u2019 ye?\u201d). However, when I scroll through these languages, I see that 32 are still in \u201cbeta\u201d form\u2014a trial run anticipating full-release at a later date.<\/p>\n
Anyhow, that still leaves 45 languages to choose from. I begin to explore FB, heading for the \u201chelp\u201d function. But clicking on icons in \u201chelp\u201d, I\u2019m greeted with instructions in English, along with a list of alternative languages to address this lack of coverage of Slovak: 24 alternatives other than Slovak for help with \u201cregistration,\u201d 14 others for \u201cnetworks,\u201d 4 for \u201cpayment terms\u201d . . . .<\/p>\n
Checking FB\u2019s platform policies, promotion guidelines, copyright, intellectual properties, page terms, and rights and privileges pages, there are no alternative languages listed for the English presentation that is provided. Kirkpatrick writes that in 2010 that FB had 300,000 words of content. The translation application lists that now 126, 478 of those words and phrases have been translated into Slovak. It is interesting that, by some magic of arithmetic, my translation application proclaims that this ratio of 126,478 to 300,000 translates to \u201c96% complete.\u201d<\/p>\n
Odder still, is the headline that greets the user upon opening the translation app:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe translation of Slovak is now complete.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The last of Facebook\u2019s 10 Guiding Principles is that the \u201cservice should transcend geographic and national boundaries and be available to everyone in the world.\u201d Since anywhere between 93% and 96% of the world\u2019s people do not know English, FB\u2019s … Continue reading