Kudoz activity ebb Thread poster: Daniel Weston
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Daniel Weston 
United States
Local time: 10:22
French to English
+ ...
Is it only me or has there been an extreme drop in the amount of Kudoz questions in the French to English pair?
Where did all of the questions go? I've noticed this over the past couple of years. So what's going on? Market forces? Better internet search capabilities/more information accessible on the internet? Machine translation has made a dent in the number of actual translations commissioned? New websites like Proz.com? I haven't seen a notable drop in my business, so I w... See more Is it only me or has there been an extreme drop in the amount of Kudoz questions in the French to English pair?
Where did all of the questions go? I've noticed this over the past couple of years. So what's going on? Market forces? Better internet search capabilities/more information accessible on the internet? Machine translation has made a dent in the number of actual translations commissioned? New websites like Proz.com? I haven't seen a notable drop in my business, so I wonder? I'd be interested to hear what others think. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Spanish - English Kudoz questions | Jul 4, 2015 |
By way of comparison, in the English-Spanish pair today July 3, there have been 39 Kudoz questions. This is the usual daily amount of questions in this pair: 30-40.
There might be more because I filter some askers.
[Editado a las 2015-07-05 01:26 GMT]
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Is it conceivable that Prozians have simply become more knowledgeable and don't need to ask for help so often? Or that the Kudoz glossaries now contain more entries and people have been able to find the "tricky terms" they need without entering a new Kudoz question?
| | | | | Same observation here... | Jul 4, 2015 |
...(Eng-Ger + Dutch-Ger, at least in my specialities): The majority of askers (with almost the same askers every time) must have moved to relevant groups in FB and LinkedIn, I assume, where they can plaster each other with "Likes" and "Thumbs up" for helping in underpaid jobs they won by undercutting rates ("best rates") and for which they are not capable of.
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Matthias Brombach wrote:
...(Eng-Ger + Dutch-Ger, at least in my specialities): The majority of askers (with almost the same askers every time) must have moved to relevant groups in FB and LinkedIn, I assume, where they can plaster each other with "Likes" and "Thumbs up" for helping in underpaid jobs they won by undercutting rates ("best rates") and for which they are not capable of.
Yes, and anyway proz.com is probably not "passionately social" enough...
On a side note, I see more and more outsourcers trying to connect with me on LinkedIn. When I accept, nothing happens next.
I suspect however there is a reason behind it. Which is why I chose not to show my relations (ie colleagues and customers) to anybody.
Philippe
| | | | | "passionately social" | Jul 4, 2015 |
Philippe Etienne wrote:
Yes, and anyway proz.com is probably not "passionately social" enough...
That´s why I proposed in an earlier post (30 April) to
add funny icons...
... to KudoZ, like pink horses and little monsters, to keep the younger fellow translators stay away from Facebook
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in my pairs FR-DE, but still more in IT-DE. It's a tendency that I have observed for more than a year now at least.
I would very much doubt, though, that more people than in the past look up the KudoZ glossary or check the internet before posting a question. A large part of askers have become, if ever possible, lazier than before, with all the possibilities they have got nowadays!
The only explanation for me is that they must have migrated to some social network and ar... See more in my pairs FR-DE, but still more in IT-DE. It's a tendency that I have observed for more than a year now at least.
I would very much doubt, though, that more people than in the past look up the KudoZ glossary or check the internet before posting a question. A large part of askers have become, if ever possible, lazier than before, with all the possibilities they have got nowadays!
The only explanation for me is that they must have migrated to some social network and are peeving others with their questions. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Daniel Weston
United States
Local time: 10:22
French to English
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TOPIC STARTER | I had not considered social media | Jul 4, 2015 |
as being a factor, but now that I think about it, it would make a lot of sense. Thanks for all of your comments so far.
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Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 13:22
Spanish to English
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Jenny Forbes wrote:
Is it conceivable that Prozians have simply become more knowledgeable and don't need to ask for help so often? Or that the Kudoz glossaries now contain more entries and people have been able to find the "tricky terms" they need without entering a new Kudoz question?
This is a trend that I have noticed in "Spanish/English" for at least the last 5 years. I think that the glossaries have simply become very populated. A lot of what gets posted now are highly specialized and technical terms in areas that I don't translate.
It is hard to complain about this, but it does mean that there are fewer opportunities for participation for persons like me.
[Edited at 2015-07-04 19:39 GMT]
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I just completed my first year at Proz, but I also noticed a strong decrease in questions specially in EN-PT this year. I was asking myself if people were getting less work.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 19:22
Spanish to English
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Wilsonn Perez Reyes wrote:
By way of comparison, in the English-Spanish pair today July 3, there have been 39 Kudoz questions. This is the usual daily amount of questions in this pair: 30-40.
There might be more because I filter some askers.
[Editado a las 2015-07-05 01:26 GMT]
I think this is largely because there are so many inept people claiming to be translators, taking on jobs in areas where they have little or no knowledge. There is also a lot of intrusion from polyglot Eastern Europeans, whose level of English tends to be higher than many Spanish speakers. Although these are just generalisations and my own opinions, based on observation.
| | | | | Italian to English alive and well | Jul 6, 2015 |
The Italian to English Kudoz department is alive and well - awash with the usual suspects who seem to take whatever comes their way and outsource the whole thing to others who are actually familiar with the subject area concerned.
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Alison Sabedoria (X)
United Kingdom
French to English
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| Few FR>EN questions in my specialist fields... | Jul 6, 2015 |
...so I rarely bother looking. It could be that others who translate in my fields (apart from the free-for-all that is fashion and textiles) know what they are doing, so rarely post questions. I have only ever posted one. 
As winning more KudoZ points is the only way to move up the directory rankings, I stand little chance these days of appearing in any but the most specialised of searches (where I do show fairly promi... See more ...so I rarely bother looking. It could be that others who translate in my fields (apart from the free-for-all that is fashion and textiles) know what they are doing, so rarely post questions. I have only ever posted one.
As winning more KudoZ points is the only way to move up the directory rankings, I stand little chance these days of appearing in any but the most specialised of searches (where I do show fairly prominently, at least).
I'm always happy to help those in genuine difficulties and I do occasionally chip in with a discussion post: a section that is often both informative and friendly. ▲ Collapse
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