SKAM was never officially translated into English, so the series’ global success is largely attributed to the work of fan translators. Native Norwegian speakers created blogs dedicated to providing translations of clips and the text messages between characters, as well as explaining what certain slang words mean or traditions that international viewers might not be familiar with. The work of these translation blogs allow SKAM to be accessible in countries other than Norway and create dialogue between fans interested in learning more about Norwegian culture. This is a prime example of how networked audiences create spaces that foster cultural exchange and make people more aware of what life is like in other cultures.
This network of creating translations of SKAM to make the series more accessible to international fans carried on throughout the release of the remakes as well. Many of these translation blogs go above and beyond to provide for international fans, and they do it all for free. For example, a blog that translates SKAM Netherlands not only provided English translations, but for all the following languages as well:
This participatory culture of fans creating their own translations is not unique to SKAM. Another example is seen in “fansubbing”, which is when fans of anime distribute their own translations. Cultural policy researcher Dr. Hye-Kyung Lee argues that this form of participatory culture in media is creating a new form of cultural globalization because it helps create a higher global demand and increases the size of the potential market for the translated media.
Fan translations become especially important because many smaller media companies don’t see the profitability in making many official translations and will not expend the money on it. Fan translators fulfill the need of providing the accessibility of media to people who speak other languages, and they do it all for free. Their work has been essential in the international success seen with SKAM.