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Top 5 Hashtags in the Translation and Localization Industry and What They Mean

Top 5 Hashtags in the Translation and Localization Industry and What They Mean

Twitter is a great source when it comes to real-time engagement and breaking news with all things happening around the world. It has also become one the most widely used platforms within the translation and localization industry for individuals to keep up to date with what is happening within the industry.

The use of hashtags (#) has been popularized through social networks, and in particular, Twitter. They are used to mark keywords or topics in a tweet, created by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages.

Nowadays, there are hardly any posts on social media platforms that do not carry the hashtag symbol, and let’s be real, 24 hours is simply not enough to get our work done while staying on top of industry news. So hashtags have become a convenient solution for users, where you can always act like a fly on the wall and follow along with the latest trends.

However, have you ever found yourself scrolling through a post from professionals within the translation and localization industry but have absolutely no clue what they mean? But don’t worry, this post will help you understand what the most popular hashtags used by industry professionals mean.

  1. #xl8 

This stands for “translate”. The “x” stands for “trans”, followed by the consonant “L”, and the number eight to obtain “ate”. The same logic can be applied to another popular hashtag #xl8r, which of course means “translator”.

  1. #t9n

This is an abbreviation for the word “translation”, and here’s how it was created. “T” is the first letter of the word “translation”, whereas “9” refers to the number of letters in the word. This is followed by “n” which is the last letter of the word.

  1. #l10n

Very similar to the example provided above, except the word begins with an “L”. This hashtag is the abbreviated version of “localization”. The same rules can be applied to the words “internationalization” and “globalization”, which are represented as #i18n and #g11n respectively.

  1. #1nt

Stands for interpreting, and is great for any topics related to interpreting or interpretation. Interpreters may also use this hashtag as a way to connect with their community. 

  1. #CAT/#CATtools

Don’t worry, this has nothing to do with cats, industry professionals enjoy using this term to refer to “Computer Assisted Translation” or “Computer Assisted Translation Tools”, which are software that support the translation of text from one language to another, and are also ideal for editing, managing, and storing translations.

So, why are hashtags so important?

From a marketing perspective, the use of hashtags has become crucial to the success of any social media marketing campaign. They boost engagement on your posts and allow you to reach audiences you never thought you could reach.

Hashtags lead to great content discovery, making it easier for social media users to find and connect with your posts.

And by following relevant hashtags in the translation and localization industry, you can gain a better idea of how to adapt your marketing strategies from culture to culture, as well as the changes you can make to help your business grow.