The internationalization and localization of social networking sites poses a different set of challenges from the globalization of other types of software products. Yes, we still start by generalizing the software so it can accept other character sets, cultural standards and UI languages (internationalization can be seen as a generalization exercise). But localization of a social networking site such as Plaxo Pulse means much more than simply translating the product or adapting images and examples. It means customizing Pulse so that it makes sense to the users in each country. People in other parts of the world may use sites to upload photos, post blogs or share videos that are different from the ones we use in the US -- so those feeds should be made available. And it should be easy for them to import their address books into Pulse leveraging the services they already use, which also vary from country to country.
So after making Pulse available in our supported languages (which we will be expanding soon) we are now looking at each of our major markets and adding custom features that can bring life and meaning to people’s Pulse experience.
Last week we targeted our growing number of users in India and made it possible for them to import their Indiatimes or Rediff mail address books into Pulse. And we are also offering some beautiful eCards celebrating the popular Holi festival or Festival of Colors.

We will continue to be busy at work bringing other custom features to different countries each week!
Regina Bustamante
Director, Globalization

Joining a web 2.0 start-up to lead its Globalization effort was an eye opener for me in many ways. It required a bit of work-style adjustment on my part: from a no-walls environment where we may be visited at any time by one of our mascot dogs, to doing some coding myself, to the sound of a foosball game, to a more informal development process than I was used to (oops, did I use the p word?), to a do-it-yourself, hands-on attitude on just about everything.

But nowhere was the difference more noticeable than in the budget. At a small company every single dollar counts, and I knew right away that I would have to adopt a leaner and meaner approach to managing the internationalization and localization of our next generation product. That's where Skype came in.

Skype had been part of my life for a while already. I use it to communicate with family and friends in the UK, Brazil, France and Japan. Now I've put it to use at Plaxo, eliminating one of the most obvious costs in globalization: communication with partners, localizers, testers and power users of our product who live half a world away.

I simply ask people if they Skype. If they don't, I suggest they install it and recommend an inexpensive headpiece set. That way I can talk with any of my international associates for as long as needed. We use it to discuss bugs, test a feature real-time in different locales to gauge its implications for non-US users, or make sure localization instructions are well understood.

SkypingAround has become such an integral part of my day that I can no longer justify using the phone -- not even with one of the VoIP plans -- for any business related long distance calls. If other globalization managers are not following this model they should. It's one more budget line item they can eliminate.

By the way, stay tuned for the all new localized Plaxo, coming to you soon!

-- Regina Bustamante
Director, Globalization