Facebook is beginning to roll out a new translation tool, allowing users to translate posts and comments right on Facebook. The service is powered by Microsoft"s Bing Translator and opens up the possibility for users to read page content regardless of its original language. Should a comment be posted on a page in a language differing from your Facebook settings, a button marked "Translate" will appear, alongside the "Like" button.
According to ZDNet, the translate button currently only appears for users with their language set as Korean, Japanese, Russian, Taiwanese, or Chinese. At present, the system is supposedly far from perfect, and cannot always translate statuses. In the case where it does not recognize the post or comments, a pop-up window will appear, stating that "There is no translation for this story at the moment".
The system also allows for submitting your own translation. After the translation has received enough positive votes, the Bing translation will be replaced with the Facebook community-submitted translation instead. Page administrators need to first activate the service before it is made available to users. They can select how to translate their conten, from a list of different options. The options include to allow it to be translated by the machine alone, by the machine and community, or the machine, community, and the administrator themselves. Perhaps the most important thing is that they can block spam and abusive translations.
The feature will undoubtedly prove popular among large corporations that manage international fan Pages on Facebook. If Microsoft chooses to save Facebook-powered translations to Bing, it could become the most accurate translator online; especially when helped with the vast community of Facebook users.