In order to make Facebook available in many different languages, the company could have paid dozens of professional translators rather large fees.  Instead, in what we’ll call an "accountant-approved alternative," Facebook has decided to involve its users and crowdsource the issue.

A new application called Facebook Translations allows people to suggest translations and vote alternatives up and down.  Or would allow them, anyway – the accountants may have pinched a few too many pennies, as the app isn’t in working order at the moment.

Still, we know it was running, because Rodney Rumford reports, "There are already 839 people translating the site to Spanish.  All for a whopping cost of ZERO Dollars."  And he offers several screenshots of Facebook Translations if you can’t get the link to function, either.

Once working, the app should make Facebook more accessible in a number of countries; this will likely translate into a large number of new users.  The project should, at the least, result in added dedication from its participants, since they’ll have something invested in the outcome.

On a less optimistic note, given its failures in English, we have to wonder how well Facebook can handle privacy issues in multiple languages.