Reddit’s latest translation tool ensures that you can read toxic comments in your native language
Key Takeaways
- Reddit introduced a translation tool in France earlier this year. It is now expanding to over 35 countries.
- Live now in Brazil and Spain, the tool allows users to translate their entire Reddit feed, including posts and comments, into the language of their choice.
- Users can now contribute in their preferred language, and Reddit will auto-translate it into the subreddit’s native language.
Arguably the most popular community-driven discussion platform, Reddit, went public in March this year, and since then we’ve seen it focus on enhancing the user interaction experience. The social network forum giant sped up comment loading, paired with a shortcut to quickly access a post’s comment section on the platform’s mobile app.
We subsequently saw the platform introduce new policies to prevent companies from scraping its vast user-generated data to train their AI models, followed by interest-based strategically placed ads.
A different Reddit feature, which was announced earlier this year but went under the radar for many, is a machine translation tool. The feature, which previously landed only in France, is now rolling out to redditors in more than 35 additional countries across Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
Reddit is English-dominated, hence the feature hasn’t landed here. It essentially aims to break down the language barrier within posts in countries where English might not be the primary language — with translations for native languages. The tool should now allow users to translate their entire Reddit feed, including posts and comments, into the language of their choice.
Source: Reddit
The new feature is already live in Brazil and Spain, and will roll out in Germany, Italy, the Philippines, and countries throughout Latin America “in the coming weeks.” Additionally, the tool works regardless of your platform of choice, namely, the Reddit mobile web experience, the app, and on desktop. It’s worth noting that the tool will only translate the Reddit page into the primary display language you’ve set as default.
To use the feature, users in supported countries will be able to tap the overflow menu on the top right and find a translation option, as seen in the short GIF above. In the coming weeks, posts that have been translated will be clearly labeled with a banner, and users will have the option to view the original language if desired.
Elsewhere, another key feature is that users will be able to contribute to a post in their preferred language, and the platform will automatically translate it into the subreddit’s native language.
A complete list of supported languages and countries for the inclusivity feature is yet to be published.
