Seeking Tips on Managing Slack Communities for Global Audience | Tightknit Community

Seeking Tips on Managing Slack Communities for Global Audience

April 29, 2025

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Is anyone here managing Slack Communities for International Audience? I need to chat with folks who are successfully moderating globalized channels.

13 comments

Zach H.
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I don’t think I know anyone doing this yet. I see two choices:
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Create language-specific channels. Create a workflow (or use Tightknit) to add users to channels
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Use one channel and allow multiple languages in the channel. We could develop something that converts messages to other languages on demand in the thread.
What would be your preferred experience?
Joel P.
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You could use the translate feature in the message shortcuts to translate each one, not ideal though (I assume).
Kaela A.
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We have Slack AI enabled, which recently released a Translate feature.
Kaela A.
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🤔
Kaela A.
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I’mma give it some thought. Thank you for the suggestions
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Zach H.
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Kaela A., my suggestion is to keep them in separate channels by language. I think it could get noisy otherwise. Then we could build you as the admin a translation tool so that you can respond to messages in that native language (Slack AI doesn’t do that yet).
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Kaela A.
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Cool. thank you Zach!
Felix N.
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👋 Most of the communities I mod are English-only, even if they are international. however, in the communities i've modded that do have other language channels, we have recruited mods who speak that language either natively or are proficient in it. Zack's solution is SUPER cool though !! might be interesting too for communities that can't afford Slack AI's per-member pricing
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Kaela A.
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Coming back to this: we’re having trouble just jump starting conversations in the language based channels. We’ve tried content pushes, thought starters, celebration posts…I’m stalled on how to get the engine even roaring
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Zach H.
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Joshua Z. any thoughts on this? I know you operated a global community at one point. Any advice for Kaela?
Joshua Z.
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Sorry for the delay - just got back from vacation! Kaela A. in my experience, it’s best to offer language-specific channels only if you can properly support them—ideally with a native-speaking leader or moderator. I wouldn’t rely on AI translation here; there are too many cultural nuances that simple translation can’t capture. For engagement, translating English content often isn’t enough (or relevant). I’d ask participants directly what they want to see—there may be language- or region-specific interests, challenges, or topics that matter more to them. In programs I’ve led, we created differentiated content for language- and region-specific channels, and it always landed much better than just repurposing existing materials.
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Zach H.
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Joshua Z. for teams with budget constraints, how do you bring on moderators for countries or push for differentiated content? What’s a good incentive you’ve used in the past?
Joshua Z.
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Great question! When budget was tight, I focused on identifying the most engaged members in each region/language and worked with them directly to understand what they needed and how they wanted to contribute. We’d bring them together virtually as a global group to share learnings, offer guidance, and build community among the leaders themselves. We didn’t offer traditional incentives—instead, we focused on elevated visibility, insider access, and a stronger sense of ownership within the community. That alone went a long way in keeping folks engaged and active.