威爾斯美語補習班【新聞英文】
Facebook and Twitter are creating a vain generation
臉書與社交網站養育的空洞時代
臉書與社交網站養育的空洞時代
Facebook and Twitter have created a generation obsessed with themselves, who have short attention spans and a childlike desire for constant feedback on their lives, a top scientist believes. Repeated exposure to social networking sites leaves users with an 'identity crisis', wanting attention in the manner of a toddler saying: 'Look at me, Mummy, I've done this.'
名頂尖科學家認為，臉書（Facebook）及推特（Twitter）創造出空洞世代，此世代的人自我著迷、注意力短暫，且像小孩一樣，渴望生活中大小事都不斷得到他人的回應。倫敦「每日郵報」（Daily Mail）報導，持續暴露在社交網站下，讓使用者出現「認同危機」，和蹣跚學步的幼兒一樣想得到關注，就像是在說：「媽媽，看我，我做了這個。」
Baroness Greenfield, professor of pharmacology at Oxford University, believes the growth of internet 'friendships' – as well as greater use of computer games – could effectively 'rewire' the brain. This can result in reduced concentration, a need for instant gratification and poor non-verbal skills, such as the ability to make eye contact during conversations. More than 750million people across the world use Facebook to share photographs and videos and post regular updates of their movements and thoughts.
牛津大學（Oxford University）藥理學教授葛林斐德（Baroness Greenfield）認為，網路交友盛行且大家越來越常玩電腦遊戲，可能會大大地改變人腦。 這種趨勢會造成民眾注意力降低，需要立即得到滿足，及像是交談時與對方眼神交流的能力，非語言溝通技巧不佳等問題。 全世界有超過7億5000萬人使用臉書，分享照片及影片，並定期更新動態消息及想法。
Millions have also signed up to Twitter, the 'micro-blogging' service that lets members circulate short text and picture messages about themselves. Baroness Greenfield, former director of research body the Royal Institution, said: 'What concerns me is the banality(4) of so much that goes out on Twitter. 'Why should someone be interested in what someone else has had for breakfast? It reminds me of a small child (saying): “Look at me Mummy, I'm doing this”, “Look at me Mummy I'm doing that”. 'It's almost as if they're in some kind of identity crisis. In a sense it's keeping the brain in a sort of time warp.'
另外也有數以百萬計民眾加入微網誌推特，在上頭發表與自身有關的短訊及照片。葛林斐德表示：「推特上發出這麼多乏善可陳的訊息，讓我感到憂心。」「為什麼某人需要讓某人知道今天早餐吃了什麼, 這讓我想起 幼兒在說 媽咪我在做這個 媽咪我做了那個。」「像是認同危機一樣。好比你的大腦進入了時間暫停。」
The academic suggested that some Facebook users feel the need to become 'mini celebrities' who are watched and admired by others on a daily basis. They do things that are 'Facebook worthy' because the only way they can define themselves is by 'people knowing about them'. 'It's almost as if people are living in a world that's not a real world, but a world where what counts is what people think of you or (if they) can click on you,' she said.
該學者暗示，某些臉書用戶覺得，自己需要成為他人每天關注及仰慕的「小名人」。 這些人以臉書為出發點來做事情，因為他們只能仰賴「認識他們的人」，為自己下定義。 葛林斐德說，這彷彿是居住在不真實的世界，在這個世界裡，重要的是別人對你的看法，或是（他們是否）能點擊你。
listen 'Think of the implications for society if people worry more about what other people think about them than what they think about themselves.' Her views were echoed by Sue Palmer, a literacy expert, who said girls in particular believe they are a 'commodity they must sell to other people' on Facebook. She said: 'People used to have a portrait painted but now we can more or less design our own picture online. It's like being the star of your own reality TV show that you create and put out to the world.'
「人們似乎生活在一個分現實的世界裡, 那裡的評判獲准建立在人們對你的看法多過於自我意識」。 文學專家 Sue Palmer重申了Baroness Greenfield 的觀點, Palmer 指出在Facebook上尤其是女孩子認為他們是待售給他人的商品。 她說「人們過去常常有畫像, 而現在我們或多或少可以在網路上設計自己的畫像。這好比你自己的構建, 然後向全世界推出的實境明星電視秀」。
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