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EXPERT DIY TIPS 
A Multi-Lingual Social Media


How do you say LIKE in Indonesian? Or FOLLOW ME in Bulgarian? You can go to google translator, a free online language translation service that translates text and web pages AND has saved my life many times. Or simply go to Facebook, Twitter, Foursquares, MySpace, Tumblr and choose a different language.

With 42% of all Internet users in Asia, 25% in Europe and just over 10% in Latin America, there is no surprise that social networks are embracing every language possible. Even Sign-language on Google+ with a new feature called “Take the Floor” which allows for switching between non-speakers in its live streaming video “Hangouts”.

English still dominates majority of the web but based on recent statistics multi-language capabilities will be an important factor for marketers and developers. One of the major reasons for the increase of foreign languages on the Internet was in May 2010 with ICANN, the Internet regulator, enabled full URLs in non-Latin scripts which means that Arabic and Chinese characters can be used in web addresses. The main way social networks are translating the web is by relying on volunteers for translation. You can join one of many online communities like Twitter’s translation center and simply work on it on your spare time.

Staying connected in multiple languages didn’t only get easier but it also is saving native languages. In a world that globalization wipes out indigenous cultures, the net with its growing multi-language capabilities is helping Navajo languages to Irish Gaelic languages spread via the net. Lost cultures can now “reclaim their voice” thru video language classes like the Nishnaabe language (Native American) or learn Hindi via tweets.

All i can say is μου αρέσει!

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