Nowadays, technology has developed further combining the cooperation work of translators by sharing technical terms, grammar issues and style problems, educational training, and in general to help each other. The idea of global collaboration might look engaging.
However, I cannot see much use unless there is a structural and strategic organization behind the task. Some of the sites I use are more authoritative than others. For instance Proz.com establishes a hierarchy membership based on expertise and participation history.
In contrast, linguee.com is less synchronised and without a reliable validation system. In recent years, translation companies have extended the use of crowdsourcing to offer a more cost-effective service to clients, e.g. Texminded, Flitto etc.
Although I will question the value of its final product if there is not a strict quality control process. Besides, when clients required a more localised job for a specific region only the experts on the customs of that particular area, and not only on the language, would be able to solve the task.
Nevertheless I understand how crowdsourcing democratises learning and teaching, and I can see its application for translation work. However, there is a risk that false validation (ultimately false democracy) could result in a poor quality outcome and render its use meaningless.
