July 7th, 2009 by Heather Brunner Chief Operations Officer
This post is guest-written by Michael Stevenson, Content Operations Team Lead at Bazaarvoice.
Moderating global content requires native speakers. Online translation software and non-native moderators lack the skills to interpret nuances and slang that arise in global online communities every day. Reading content in any language is subjective, but when a non-native speaker attempts to moderate content in a language other than their mother tongue, misunderstandings can lead to disastrous – and in some cases, hilarious – consequences for your online community.
The German word “geil” pops up quite often in our reviews. Online translators define geil as “lecherous”; in modern German speech, however, this word means something very different. Rather than describing a recently purchased clock-radio as “lustful”, German reviewers use geil to describe something as “cool” or “popular.”
Major failures can ensue when overlooking the importance of cultural context, as relying on non-native speakers often results in cultural misinterpretations. When one beer brewer offered their slogan “Turn It Loose,” the phrase translated into Spanish as “Get Diarrhea.” And one American fast-food chain found out the hard way that “finger-lickin’ good” gets lost in translation. The chain launched an entire campaign in China with the phrase without consulting native Chinese speakers – buckets of chicken everywhere urged customers to “eat your fingers.”
Whether its colloquialisms or common phrases, in the realm of content moderation, technology cannot surpass the human eye. To ensure the highest level of quality, hiring only native-speakers of the submitted languages will suffice. Bazaarvoice currently handles content volume from over 20 different languages internally, with a staff comprised completely of native speakers.
We hired the first member of non-English content moderation team, a native Dutch speaker, two years ago. Today, our Dutch team is over a dozen members strong, and so are our other high volume language teams – French, German, Spanish, and Italian. The Content Moderation team at Bazaarvoice – and the company as a whole – is truly international, and eager to understand other cultures to accommodate every language with the sensitivity and respect it deserves.
Bazaarvoice is currently hiring in the following languages to join our moderation team: German, Dutch, French, Italian, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Turkish, Finnish, Polish, Russian, Korean, and Belarussian. Native speakers are encouraged to apply!
It was an exciting day on Tuesday at Bazaarvoice when CNN’s Tom Foreman came to visit. His series “Building up America” focuses on towns and companies that have proven “recession proof.” Bazaarvoice has been fortunate enough to be successful in these tough times, and part of that success comes from our stay-at-home workforce of content moderators.
