As a business with customers from around the world, it’s been difficult engaging with customers who communicate in a different language on social networks. And unfortunately, we’ve missed out on opportunities to build relationships with them through social channels such as Twitter and Facebook because we can’t understand posts written in languages other than English! Fortunately, Google + has released a new Chrome browser extension to translate Google + posts into more than 50 languages, known as Google Translate for Google+. This is great for any business looking to engage with customers regardless of the language barriers.
Google Translate front-end and mobile development lead Josh Estelle explained, “We’ve heard from a lot of Google+ users wanting an easier way to understand posts written in other languages. I’m an engineer on Google Translate and thought we could do something about that…Once you’ve installed the extension, refresh Google+ and you’ll see Translate links next to posts and comments. Click the links to instantly see translations.”
How it works
1. Go to Google Translate for Google+ and click on “Add to Chrome” button. The following pop up will appear. Just click on “Install”.
2. Follow the prompts. After installing the extension will automatically appear in your browser toolbar.
3. Now you just browse one of your Google + streams and if someone has written something in a language you do not understand, you can just click on the “Translate” option under the post.
4. Then it will translate the post into English, highlighting the words so you know this is what has been translated.
Of course, the extension isn’t 100% accurate. But, considering your customer base will be made up of people of all nationalities and often from people around the world, this makes it a lot easier for users to communicate with others who make posts in a different language. Will you be using this feature to connect with Google + users? Let us know in the comments.
Copyright © 2012 - SocialMotus, an Apex Pacific company. All rights reserved.
