Crowdsourced translation as immaterial labour: a netnographic study of Communities of Practice in the TED translation project

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines crowdsourced translation on TED.com – an initiative to disseminate general knowledge by producing TED Talks. Drawing on the Autonomist concept of immaterial labour and the theoretical model of Communities of Practice, it presents a critical analysis of participatory translation practices in the digital age, focusing on the relations between corporate actors and individual translation agents. By examining dynamics within communities of practice composed of translators on the TED platform, this study found that TED Translators provide immaterial labour as they help push forward both their individual goals and TED’s overall agenda, and both the practice of translation and communication processes among translators become sources of meaning making for translators to negotiate their identities. More importantly, this study identifies tensions caused by the top-down approach taken by TED to manage the self-organised translator communities. While the translators provide immaterial labour for intellectual enrichment, pleasure and meaning making instead of monetary rewards, the corporate approach taken by TED treats translation as a source of add-on value and undermines group dynamics in translator collectivities.