Facebook launches new inline translation service

Facebook quietly rolled-out a new inline translation feature last night. The service, which uses Bing Translate, allows users to translate public Facebook Page content, like comments, into their own language.

A new ‘Translate’ link now appears under a public page’s post. When clicked, the post’s content is translated inline to a language that the user has specified as their own in their personal profile settings. The translate link only appears when the post is written in a language other that the user’s specified one.

If users wish to revert back to the original post’s language they can click the ‘Original’ link that replaces the ‘Translate’ one upon translation.

Translating a comment into English on Le Monde's Facebook page

Users in Korea, Japan, Russia, Taiwan and Hong Kong are also given the option to suggest their own translation of post content. If their suggested translations receive enough positive votes from other Facebook users, this human translation replaces Bing’s machine transcription.

Page administrators are shown a ‘Manage Translations’ link underneath posts on pages they manage. A popout window appears allowing them to approve translations or to offer their own content translation. Any users offering abusive or spammy translations can be blocked by page administrators.