This is not intended to be a therapy for frustrated translators. However, we will not only have a closer look at the general roles social media play for translators, but also explore different ways to use social media for finding your inner peace.
Being a freelance translator often means that you work alone. As you run your own business, you are also responsible for all tasks. Maybe you have already become a member of different portals or discussion groups on Facebook and LinkedIn where you can ask your colleagues for advice about marketing your services, about the latest CAT tools or collecting outstanding payments from late-paying clients.
But how do we cope with moments of frustration? When we need to let off steam? How can we reduce or even avoid the negative impact frustration might have on our work? Where do we go when partners, friends and neighbours simply can’t understand how annoying and frustrating it can be for a translator when a client wants a badly formatted file translated within the next couple of hours?
We will look at some examples how social media can be used to bring a smile to people’s faces, yet still provide a meeting-place where professional translators and interpreters can vent and get rid of frustration which arises from their daily work. You may be surprised to learn that some of your colleagues have encountered the same problems – or you may be disappointed that they have had more luck than you.
Erik Hansson is a native Swede living in Germany since the beginning of the 1990s. He is a professional translator for German into Swedish and specialized in technical areas such as general engineering, electronics, renewable energy and automation.
His main objective is to strengthen professionalism in the translation sector and to improve the entrepreneurial awareness among colleagues.
Next to these activities, Erik is an active contributor on Twitter and also the founder and moderator of the well-known Facebook group Things Translators Never Say, which was chosen as the most popular Facebook page in the ProZ.com Community Choice Awards in 2014, 2015, and 2016.