Multiple-Language Irony
Heard that myspace.com is enforcing Chinese users to enter .cn. I thought this is quite stupid at first. But then I found it actually make sense in some aspects associating with the fact that lots of websites have been developing multiple-language version.
The developing of multiple-language version is like a simple way of localization. Baidu said internationalization is localization, which means you need to localize other places to become international.
From the marketing perspective, the purpose of multiple-language version developing is simple which is to give us a page we could understand. The target user is those “sorry for my English” ones. In reviewing of a few website that have had multiple-language version, like youtube, flickr, myspace and feedbuner, the efforts they made on multiple-language version are not that satisfied. Youtube has blocked or filtered overseas info proceed from the language and culture separation; flickr just simply added passable Traditional Chinese version; Feedbuner was also failed after a Chinese fan did Chinese-characterizing for a few hours; myspace just added Chinese-characterizing function actually.
As will be readily seen, the developing of multiple-language version is not only for those “sorry for my English” ones, but also appeared as an underlying marketing method. Then it’s understandable that myspace.com is enforcing Chinese users to enter .cn. After all, in most instances, a Chinese speaker would rather communicate with people who also speak Chinese. But for the presence of Tower of Babel, we have to make necessary separation. But in fact, the developing of multiple-language version is not just a basic marketing method. For example, why does not flickr develop Simplified Chinese version since the Traditional Chinese version is so bad? Coz it has something to do with the volume of users and direction of management? Why does Google have so many exquisite language versions but still did so bad in the localization in China? Why would youtube filter info of other language by means of the language you choose?
To above questions, we might already know the answers, but still I definitively think that the efforts an international website put into multiple-language version developing is not just translating or marketing, it must contain an in-depth knowledge about their market and a prior protection against difficulties ahead in the foreseeable future.
In China, a website with multiple-language version is something extremely rare. When a website announced its multiple-language version, people would question its necessity. Showing from one side a serious problem: in China, the reason why most websites do not need multiple-language version is because there is already a mature and famous English version, and what we are doing is just a primary translation.