Seeking Tips on Managing Slack Communities for Global Audience
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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.
Reading time: 1 minute
Is anyone here managing Slack Communities for International Audience? I need to chat with folks who are successfully moderating globalized channels.
I donāt think I know anyone doing this yet. I see two choices:
Create language-specific channels. Create a workflow (or use Tightknit) to add users to channels
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?
You could use the translate feature in the message shortcuts to translate each one, not ideal though (I assume).
We have Slack AI enabled, which recently released a Translate feature.
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Cool. thank you Zach!
š 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
Sorry for the delay - just got back from vacation! Kaela A. in my experience, itās best to offer language-specific channels only if you can properly support themāideally with a native-speaking leader or moderator. I wouldnāt rely on AI translation here; there are too many cultural nuances that simple translation canāt capture. For engagement, translating English content often isnāt enough (or relevant). Iād ask participants directly what they want to seeāthere may be language- or region-specific interests, challenges, or topics that matter more to them. In programs Iāve led, we created differentiated content for language- and region-specific channels, and it always landed much better than just repurposing existing materials.
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. Weād bring them together virtually as a global group to share learnings, offer guidance, and build community among the leaders themselves. We didnāt offer traditional incentivesāinstead, 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.
