Skip to main content

YouTube needs your help translating video titles and descriptions

Alex Dainis on how enabling translations helped grow her channel | Creator Spotlight
With more than one billion users around the world, YouTube has cemented itself as the destination for content in just about every language. But when it comes to finding that content, things can get a bit tricky, especially with the multiplicity of tongues spoken on the global platform. In fact, the Google-owned entity points out, there are 76 languages represented on YouTube, and in order to connect all these languages, YouTubers are relying on one another.

Two years ago, the video sharing site introduced community-contributed subtitles, which were a boon for people who could actually find content in foreign languages. But now, YouTube is making it possible for “Community Contributions to translate your video’s titles and descriptions in addition to your captions.” As a result, the platform says, “You’re only a few clicks away from having viewers translate your videos so more people around the world easily discover, understand, and ultimately fall in love with your content.”

Related Videos

Thus far, more than 900,000 contributors have translated various videos on YouTube, and some power contributors have made a sizable dent in the YouTube canon. Tee Ponsukcharoen, for example, is a Stanford student who dedicates around 10 hours a week translating YouTube content. And since he’s begun, he’s helped translate more than 2,500 videos.

“Translating content to me now is like washing my face, brushing my teeth, or working out. It’s a part of my daily routine that I do without thinking much,” Ponsukcharoen told YouTube.

“There are three components that drive my motivation to translate videos: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Translating content on YouTube serves all three,” he continued. “I can choose videos that I am interested to translate. I sharpen my English, Thai, and the subject of the video every time that I translated. Finally, I know that my translation will be beneficial to other people. Some Thai students who don’t know English well can use my subtitles to learn better. Our work can be used as language educational examples.”

Editors' Recommendations

Downloaded YouTube Shorts clips will soon include watermarks
Two mobile devices showing two people dancing in YouTube Shorts videos.

YouTube Shorts that are shared to other platforms will soon sport a new feature: a watermark.

On Wednesday, a reply was posted to a YouTube Help Community page titled "New Features and Updates for Shorts Viewers & Creators." The reply was posted by a Community Manager and contained a product update announcement regarding Shorts that essentially said that watermarks would be automatically added to Shorts that are downloaded and shared to other platforms.

Read more
YouTube may finally loosen its rigid rules around copyrighted music
Youtube video on mobile. Credits: YouTube official.

YouTube video creators could one day have the option to use copyrighted music in their videos and still earn money on their videos.

Expanding Partnerships with the Music Industry, Subscribers from Posts, and Studio Mobile Navigation

Read more
These are the 10 most-viewed YouTube videos of all time
The red and white YouTube logo on a phone screen. The phone is on a white background.

Being popular is about the only thing the most-viewed YouTube videos have in common with their top-performing predecessors. Even though YouTube videos like Charlie Bit My Finger or Chocolate Rain went viral during the first few years of YouTube's content, they probably wouldn't be among the kinds of videos that go viral now.

In fact, children's programming and music videos are now among the most-viewed content on YouTube. Music videos, in particular, have enjoyed great success on the streaming site and, until recently, had been the majority of the most-viewed videos in YouTube's history. Music videos still account for a substantial portion of the top 10 most-viewed videos, however. If these view counts are anything to go by, the video-sharing site could be considered a leading platform for music videos and kid-friendly content rather than just the meme-worthy viral videos the site was known for in its early days.
What is the most-viewed YouTube video of all time?
Baby Shark Dance is the most-viewed video ever on YouTube. The children's song overtook the all-Spanish version of Despacito in November 2020.
What are the top 10 most-viewed YouTube videos?

Read more