Rude to post in other language on fb?

[Tilt Fairy]

SO not rude. In fact, it's so far away from rude that it boggles my mind that anyone would think otherwise. If anyone saw a status in a language they didn't understand, they can just look at it and move on. No need for Drama AT ALL. If they were curious enough and wanted to know, they could google translate it. You shouldn't have to block anything or set up a side group or owe anyone an explanation. English isn't the only language in the world. In fact, I doubt it's even the most commonly spoken language worldwide now.


Facebook is a multi-lingual, multi-national, multi-cultural worldwide platform that encompasses every country in the world. Even if it wasn't, 1) it's a Facebook page - not an emergency government broadcast feed where you have an obligation to alert your countries nationals about the onset of a hurricane and Facebook is the only way which everyone in that country can get that warning, and 2) it's your Facebook page. You can communicate on it however you want. Even if you want to write on your page in gobbledygook or wingdings, morse code or complete gibberish, you are allowed to. Your friend is being very silly. I would be proud if I had a Facebook friend who was smart enough to be bi-lingual. I wish I was. I'd pick French to make myself sound really sexy.

[WillyNilly]

Oh phuleese, what an SS!  Ignore the ignoramus!

I have friends and relatives post in Japanese, Spanish, Turkish and languages I can't understand daily.  Heck I have people who only speak English that makes posts about topics or using acronyms I don't understand as well.  I just skip over and read the next... or if I'm super curious I copy paste it into Google translate.

[ClaireC79]

I think posting on THEIR WALL in a language they don't understand would be rude, posting on YOUR wall which comes up in their feed is not.

[sweetonsno]

It sounds to me like this person doesn't really "get" how Facebook works. She might think that you were posting directly on her wall as opposed to posting a status update that would appear in everyone's feed. While I regularly see non-English status updates in my feed, I'd be surprised to get a wall post in another language.

I suggest replying with a "Just decided to post a status in Language X for my Nationality X friends and family. Here's a link to babel fish if you want to see what I said!"

[Jones]

Funny story....two friends of mine were posting in **certain Asian language** on each other's walls. I had just discovered Google Translate so I copied the figures and pasted them in.

Turns out they had recently begun dating and were posting love notes to each other.
 

I actually thought it was kind of cute. I don't get a lot of multilingual posts in my feed, but I wouldn't ever think someone rude for using another language.

[TootsNYC]

@Rohanna  I only do occasional posts in Other Language which I don't think necessitates its own group just for that 

@O'Dell  I don't think I should have to hide my posts from this one person.  If they don't like it they should hide or even delete me IMO since they are the one with the problem.  But I think next time a rude comment like that is made I will simply respond with a link to google translate  Thanks!

That's what I was going to suggest for you.

i think you're totally fine to post in whatever language you like.

And yes, there are people who don't "get" Facebook, and they don't understand about the newsfeed being for everybody, etc.

(My Rude Political Uncle once got into a pissing match with one of my DH's war-game buddies under a post on my DH's wall. Rude Uncle got really upset that this guy was "emailing" him. He didn't understand that FACEBOOK was sending the emails because of Rude Uncle's preferences.

[Perfect Circle]

On any given day there's posts in about ten languages on my newsfeed. I went to an international school and have a lot of FB friends from there.

It's not rude. Not at all.

I post 99% in English but at times in my native language. Not once has someone told me off. I think your friend is the only rude one here.

[Piratelvr1121]

Not rude at all.  I have someone on my feed who's German so often her posts are in German, which I don't understand, but it doesn't bother me cause it's her language.  No ruder than me posting in English.

[AngelicGamer]

A friend of mine in Japan recently posted in Japanese and I was able to translate it right on Facebook.  I don't know if that's something new or it might be my browser (I use Flamingvixen) but it was really cool that I didn't have to run to Google Translate.

Turns out that she was asking a question of her fellow teachers about the school schedule for the next day. 

[Rohanna]

To clarify I didn't mean you had to create a group, or that you'd be rude not to- just that it was an option (a lot of people don't know you can) if you wanted to post frequently without having to explain yourself all the time

[blarg314]

I get Facebook postings in a variety of languages, and it doesn't bother me - at last count, I get regular postings in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Czech, French, Spanish, German - simply because I have friends with a wide variety of native languages.

Google Chrome has an automatic "Do you want this page translated" mode, but I think it only works if most of the page is in a single language, because it doesn't pop up in Facebook.

[jaxsue]

A friend of mine in Japan recently posted in Japanese and I was able to translate it right on Facebook.  I don't know if that's something new or it might be my browser (I use Flamingvixen) but it was really cool that I didn't have to run to Google Translate.

Turns out that she was asking a question of her fellow teachers about the school schedule for the next day. 

I have 2 nieces who live in Japan (my brother married a Japanese woman). While most of their FB posts are in English, sometimes they are in Japanese. I know nothing about the written language, but it doesn't bother me.

I never thought about translating it. I'm a bit lazy. 

[Tea Drinker]

If anything, it's rude of your friend to insist that you never post in the language your other friends prefer.

I occasionally will find the comments on something slipping from English into Finnish or Italian or French.... If I care that much, there's Google translate, or I can ask about it. But if two friends of mine, both from Italy, are more comfortable speaking Italian, who am I to stop them? And that goes double if it's a friend of mine from Italy, and someone else she knows there and I don't, who may not be fluent in English.

[Violet Tulip]

Not rude at all. It seems kind of SS-y to complain when you can't understand everything, especially when it's so easy to translate.

I regularly see German, Spanish and Portuguese on my feed. A friend from high school is now living and working in Germany, and it never occurred to me that his German posts might be rude, I just assumed that they were meant for his local friends.

Would she complain if you posted about going to the fun street fair in your town, when she can't go because it's on the other side of the country?

[MorningGlory]

I don't think it's rude to post in your other language, if you speak well and aren't trying to flaunt your ability or talk about someone else in a behind-her-back-in-front-of-her-face way.  I have a FB friend who tries to post in French, just to show off, and that bugs me a little.  She doesn't speak well, isn't fluent and sounds pretentious.  Actually, she kind of reminds me of Charlotte from Lolita - desperate and crazy.  But I have another friend who is from Mostar, and she regularly posts in her native language.  I don't understand her posts, but I think they're kind of neat.