Kirk LaughlinSource: Mediabistro and Twitter
In a post on its official blog, Twitter has announced new support for Brazilian Portuguese. The network is enormously popular in Brazil and this is a very smart (if slightly overdue) move from Twitter.
The translation took place in three days, which Twitter states is their fastest yet, and brings Twitter’s language support tally, which also includes Turkish, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Korean, French, German, Japanese, and of course English, up to 10.
Studies have shown that Brazil is second to only the USA in Twitter users around the world, with the network having an online adult penetration rate of 23.7%, placing Brazil third amongst Twitter’s most-addicted countries. Moreover, Twitter stand-up comedian Rafinha Bastos was recently named the most influential person on Twitter.
Writes Twitter:
Brazilians have embraced Twitter as a way to keep up what’s happening both locally and globally. When severe flooding hit north of Rio de Janeiro earlier this year, Brazilians used Twitter to organize disaster relief efforts, share details on how to donate money and supplies, and call for medical assistance in affected neighborhoods. In Brazil’s most recent presidential elections, all three candidates (@dilmabr, @silva_marina, @joseserra_) used Twitter to promote their campaigns, interacting directly with supporters and answering their questions. And when one man couldn’t get a customer service response after he purchased a defective refrigerator, he posted his complaint on Twitter, including the name of the store. Other users rallied behind his cause, causing the store’s name to trend for four days — eventually ending with a brand new replacement refrigerator.
To change your language to Brazilian Portuguese, visit the settings page on your profile on Twitter.com, click on the Account tab and select Portuguese from the Language drop-down menu.
As well as Twitter.com, mobile Twitter and Twitter for Android have also been translated. Twitter says they’re working to add support to the other official Twitter applications and these will be available soon.
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