The focus of this study is mainly on the more traditional signalling systems, the ones attached in some way to political states. It would be naive, however, to overlook the reasons why new systems are developing, notably through Internet technologies.

Informants in various countries, especially in central Europe, report that translators are receiving information and networking less through national associations and more through online sites. Some sites, like LinkedIn and Facebook, provide social networking. Other sites, however, provide an additional range of services for translators and basically function as marketplaces where clients can find translators. Here we review the way status is constructed in the main sites, presented in order of claimed number of translators.

ProZ

Founded in New York in 1999, ProZ.com claims to have “over 300,000 professional translators and translation companies” in 2011. Anyone can sign up for free, but full membership costs US$129 a year. Since the huge number of “translators” listed (i.e. everyone who has signed up for free) would seem to exceed market demands, there must be doubts that all the translators have the same professional status. ProZ has been particularly innovative in the development of signalling devices, which come with their own names-for-things. Members ask questions about translation problems, and when a member answers a question satisfactorily, they gain kudos (or KudoZ) points; the number of points accumulated thus signals relative expertise.