Nataly Kelly blogged about this week’s Localization Industry Standards Association conference in Dublin, where a colleague tipped her off to a surprising Facebook message. When the friend accessed his Facebook account via a Wi-Fi connection, the application’s geolocation discovered where he was, and asked: “Hello Brian, do you speak English? (UK) Help translate Facebook into English (UK) so that it can be used by people all over the world, in all languages.” The message included a checkbox where Brian could select his wish to participate in Facebook’s language translation project.

Kelly notes that while Facebook’s geolocation device is a resourceful way recruit potential translators, it is indicative of a larger problem: the negligance of other regional markets.

However great it is to see collaborative translation and geolocation working in harmony to advance localization, the fact that Facebook users who speak the variety of English spoken used in the Emerald Isle are asked to lend their expertise in the British version is symptomatic of a wider problem that we’ve noticed among other dot coms.

For example, Amazon.ie redirects to Amazon.co.uk. The British site displays all prices in pounds sterling instead of euros, making it somewhat inconvenient for those Irish shoppers who wish to quickly see if a gift falls within the 50 euro limit for their family’s Chris Kindle (holiday gift exchange). So,  those frustrated patrons might instead click on the most popular result of a Google search for the keywords “Amazon Ireland.” No, it isn’t Amazon.co.uk that appears first, but rather shopireland.ie, a site that allows Irish shoppers to see the prices of Amazon’s wares in euros.

Kelly says that some companies have recognized this discrepancy, such as as YouTube, which created both Irish and British versions.

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