This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings
  1. KudoZ™ Top
  2. French to English
  3. Media / Multimedia

quand il s’agit de plébisciter Youtube

English translation: in their preference for YouTube

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:quand il s’agit de plébisciter Youtube
English translation:in their preference for YouTube
Entered by: David Howard

20:17 Mar 2, 2020
French to English translations [PRO]
Marketing - Media / Multimedia / Generation Z
French term or phrase: quand il s’agit de plébisciter Youtube
Ils sont d’ailleurs 25% à avoir eu un smartphone avant leurs 10 ans et passent en moyenne 5 heures par jour sur leur mobile, dont 4 heures sur leurs applications mobiles favorites avec en tête Instagram, Youtube et Snapchat. Ils utilisent en moyenne 5 plateformes sociales par jour ! Cette génération donne toute-puissance aux influenceurs versus les blogueurs quand il s’agit de plébisciter Youtube, Snapchat, Instagram ou Tik Tok.

Hi all,

First of all, please note that I have posted the same question on Wordreference: https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/plébisciter-youtube....

In this text about Gen Z, I'm a little stumped by the last sentence "...plébisciter Youtube, Snapchat, Instagram ou Tik Tok." What do they mean exactly? French colleagues of mine are also struggling to make sense of it.

Thanks in advance,
David
David Howard
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:23
in their preference for YouTube
Explanation:
Or you could even use a little poetic licence and say "in their obsession with".
The last example in my reference uses the word in a similar context.
http://en.pons.com/us/translate/french-english/plébisciter

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 30 mins (2020-03-02 20:48:06 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Or you could say "by choosing".
Selected response from:

philgoddard
United States
Grading comment
Thank you Phil! The client also had a preference for your suggestion.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +6in their preference for YouTube
philgoddard
4 +1by overwhelmingly favoring/opting for (YouTube, ...)
Michele Fauble
5 -1when it comes to getting [mass] approval from Youtube, .... audiences (/users)
Daryo
4when you take a straw poll of ...
B D Finch
2 +1because they spend so much time on YouTube
Thomas T. Frost
3 -1when it comes to endorsing Youtube
Juan Arturo Blackmore Zerón
2as [...] have become hugely popular
Wolf Draeger


Discussion entries: 15





  

Answers


20 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
when it comes to endorsing Youtube


Explanation:
https://blog.hollywoodbranded.com/the-power-of-influence-in-...

Juan Arturo Blackmore Zerón
Mexico
Local time: 23:23
Works in field
Native speaker of: Spanish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Daryo: it's the other way round
6 mins
neutral  philgoddard: It's not the other way round (YouTube endorsing them?), but I don't think this is the right choice of word.
8 mins
neutral  SafeTex: Shame about the disagree as I think Daryo may have well got it the wroing way round.
3 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

27 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
in their preference for YouTube


Explanation:
Or you could even use a little poetic licence and say "in their obsession with".
The last example in my reference uses the word in a similar context.
http://en.pons.com/us/translate/french-english/plébisciter

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 30 mins (2020-03-02 20:48:06 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Or you could say "by choosing".

philgoddard
United States
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 12
Grading comment
Thank you Phil! The client also had a preference for your suggestion.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Daryo: could you explain the connection between "un plébiscite" and "being obsessed (with whatever)" ??? It's an overdose of poetic licence for me, can't see any links ... // another small fly in the ointment: how would "influencers" fit in this picture???
7 mins
  -> I suggested three translations. If you think you can do better, feel free. And "influencers" is not part of the question.
agree  Verginia Ophof: giving preference to
39 mins
agree  ph-b (X): overwhelming preference for... It's the idea that there is a vast majority of them in favour of.../Agree with B D as well, YouTube OK if other platforms mentioned as well.
1 hr
  -> Yes, that's a good idea.
agree  SafeTex: I too read it this way, that youngster favour certain platforms
3 hrs
neutral  B D Finch: The preference is for influencers over bloggers, not for YouTube over the other platforms.// So, rather than "in their preference for YouTube", it's "in their (overwhelming) preference when logged on to YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram or Tik Tok".
14 hrs
  -> David only included YouTube in his question header because there was no point listing them all.//Exactly.
agree  GILLES MEUNIER: fluide
17 hrs
agree  James A. Walsh
18 hrs
agree  Libby Cohen: This is the grammatically most direct and faithful rendering of that phrase.
23 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +1
quand il s’agit de plébisciter YouTube
because they spend so much time on YouTube


Explanation:
I'm guessing here, because as the sentence is written, there is no apparent connection between the two parts. The sentence lacks meaning. If we think about it, the reason those influencers become so, well, influential is that Gen Z spend so much time on platforms with influencers, compared to platforms with blogs. In any case, this is not what the sentence says in a literal sense.

Thomas T. Frost
Portugal
Local time: 05:23
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in DanishDanish, Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Wolf Draeger: I think this is the right idea (spending all their time on).
1 hr
  -> Thanks.
disagree  Daryo: there IS a connection - and there IS a meaning - rather obvious if you look at it according to the logic of influencers / spin-doctors / marketeers /master BS(/hot air) producers (scratch that one, not really nice, never mind it's true ...)
1 hr
agree  philgoddard: Just to offset Daryo's ten millionth disagree. This is a perfectly good answer
8 hrs
  -> Thanks.
disagree  B D Finch: YouTube isn't picked out in the source text, the sentence relates to all the platforms listed.
13 hrs
  -> The Asker only listed YouTube in the term to translate, probably for simplicity, as most would understand that it applies to all the platforms listed.
agree  James A. Walsh
17 hrs
  -> Thanks.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
as [...] have become hugely popular


Explanation:
It's a strange use of plébisciter to be sure, and the whole sentence is clumsy, but one meaning that makes sense to me in the context is that these social media have become wildly popular with youngsters at the expense of blogging and other platforms.

In the beginning of the Web, forums were cool but noncommercial (they still are among oldies or specific communities like this one). When blogging came along, some people earned a (meagre to good) living by punting this or that company (many still do this). But now the real action is on YouTube and Instagram where top influencers (there's another word along with selfie that I hope does not survive the apocalypse) do very well for themselves and a tiny few are (multi)millionaires.

So I think the idea behind plébisciter here is that kids are voting with their fingers and eyeballs, so to speak, and are totally immersed in these social media.

Example sentence(s):
  • For this generation influencers are king as YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram and Tik Tok have become hugely popular and left blogs in the dust.
  • Influencers rule as YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram and Tik Tok have become hugely popular with this generation and left blogging in the dust.
Wolf Draeger
South Africa
Local time: 06:23
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Daryo: "kids are voting with their fingers and eyeballs", YES but that's **only a fraction** of the whole picture painted by this text
10 mins
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): -1
when it comes to getting [mass] approval from Youtube, .... audiences (/users)


Explanation:
or if you want to put less kindly, but more literally:

"when it comes to getting approval from Youtube, .... plebeians (/crowds /users ....)

HERE "Youtube" is a shorthand for "Youtube users", same as very often "The Internet" is used to mean "PEOPLE using the Internet", instead of the literal meaning for "The Internet" = a huge pile of networked HARDWARE and SOFTWARE.

step one: what is a most literal plébiscite:

Plébiscite

Un plébiscite (du latin plebiscitum — de plebs, « plèbe, peuple », et scitum, « décision, décret ») est une consultation sur le désir d'une population à propos d'une importante décision, comme celle de relever d'un État ou d'un autre. Au sens latin du terme, le plébiscite est conçu comme un instrument véritablement démocratique, et non comme celui du césarisme1.
....
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plébiscite

IOW it's a vote by the whole population to approve or not some proposal.

Step two: what it could mean in this ST

so the verb "plébisciter" would mean seeking the mass approval for some idea / proposition [soumettre une proposition au plébiscite (=au vote direct par l'ensemble de la population] OR someone getting massive support (se faire plébisciter), depending on the sentence.

What makes sense in in this ST is:

when it comes to getting [mass] approval from Youtube, .... audiences (/users)

I'll try to avoid "la preuve par l'absurde" as being too easy.

"Ils utilisent en moyenne 5 plateformes sociales par jour ! Cette génération donne toute-puissance aux influenceurs versus les blogueurs quand il s’agit de plébisciter Youtube, Snapchat, Instagram ou Tik Tok.

Cette génération donne toute-puissance aux influenceurs
=>
"les influenceurs" are those who have an influence on social media users - are in position to make social media users change their mind about whatever is the object of the "influence" they are exercising - some product, some ideas, whatever.

IOW "les influenceurs" make them symbolically "vote for" whatever "les influenceurs" are peddling - and because this category of users is exposed 4 hours per day to "influencers", it gives them (the influencers, not these users) "une toute-puissance" (overwhelming power over users?)

As Youtube, Snapchat, Instagram ou Tik Tok. have massive user bases, if influencers are successful, it's potentially a "massive vote / vote by the masses" (see definition of "plébiscite" ...)

101% sure of the meaning, and find it rather obvious. Basics of the trade for any spin-doctor, BTW ...









--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2020-03-02 23:26:29 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

... if influencers are successful, it's potentially a "massive vote / vote by the masses" for whatever they are pushing that they can achieve (see now the definition of "plébiscite" ...)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2020-03-03 01:12:12 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

another way of dissecting this sentence:

Cette génération donne toute-puissance aux influenceurs versus les blogueurs quand il s’agit de plébisciter Youtube, Snapchat, Instagram ou Tik Tok.
=
if you want to obtain a massive YES vote(/approval /support) [from the Generation Z] through their favorite social networks (Youtube etc) for whatever products or ideas you are pushing, don't bother with bloggers, for this target audience the real impact can be achieved through "influencers" operating on these social networks, as this generation Z has allowed these "influencers" to have huge influence on them.

Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:23
Native speaker of: Native in SerbianSerbian, Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  philgoddard: I'm glad you find your answer "rather obvious". I thought this was a tricky question.
12 mins
  -> at the risk of repeating myself: "Basics of the trade for any spin-doctor" // when you have to deal with them at close range - getting into their logic makes life easier ... understanding what you are interpreting is a MUST (and helps in the long term)
disagree  GILLES MEUNIER: C'est une formule assez lourde...
16 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

14 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
quand il s’agit de plébisciter Youtube ...
when you take a straw poll of ...


Explanation:
You've parsed it wrongly. This is saying that if one takes a straw poll (or possibly even a real poll) of Youtube, Snapchat, Instagram or Tik Tok users, it will show that influencers have more followers than bloggers.



B D Finch
France
Local time: 06:23
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 18

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  ph-b (X): Agree with the explanation, but does "(straw) poll" really translate plébiscite(r)?/Quite, but the extended meaning of plébiscite(r) is "opinion massively in favour of" (CNTRL, etc.) + R&C: "tremendous/overwhelming", etc.
1 hr
  -> I think it could; there wouldn't be a real plebiscite.
neutral  Daryo: this makes FAR MORE sense that the idea that "plébiscite(r)" = "obsessed with Youtube", but would fit only in a "neutral" context, not really when it's about "Marketing" (= i.e. HERE forms of advertising in the digital age)
12 hrs
  -> On the contrary, it's a guide to advertisers about the location of clickbait .
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

20 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
by overwhelmingly favoring/opting for (YouTube, ...)


Explanation:
My suggestion.

Michele Fauble
United States
Local time: 21:23
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Daryo: that makes no sense whatsoever if you look at the whole sentence
6 hrs
agree  ph-b (X): ... overwhelmingly favoring/opting for... or... or...
14 hrs
  -> thanks
agree  philgoddard: Just agreeing with this because Daryo disagreed with it.
7 days
  -> thanks
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:
ProZ.com term search
Search millions of term translations
Close search
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search