爲何網絡多"暴民"? Antisocial networking

Mi Lan loves to buy clothes from Taobao. It saves time and sometimes you can find really amazing bargains.

米蘭（音譯）喜歡在淘寶上買衣服。這既節省時間，有時你也會發現真正的驚喜折扣。

After a recent online shopping spree, Mi took photos of some of her most satisfying purchases and uploaded them to a lifestyle forum on . The 25-year-old hadn’t expected it would be the beginning of a nightmare.

在最近的一次淘寶血拼之後，米蘭用照片拍下一些自己最爲滿意的購物成果，並將它們上傳到天涯社區的生活論壇上。25歲的她沒有想到這將是噩夢的開始。

The comments Mi received were mean. “You call this fashion? How old are you? 50?”, read one entry. Another accused Mi of advertising for these clothes: “Get out of here with your ugly goods! Don’t waste people’s time!” Yet another comment questioned Mi’s financial situation, saying the clothes looked cheap but that even poor people should have a better fashion sense.

米蘭收到的評論都是些刻薄的話語。一條評論寫道：“你把這叫做時尚？你多大了？50歲嗎？”；還有人指責米蘭是在爲這些衣服打廣告：“帶着你那些難看的衣服滾出去！不要浪費人們的時間！”；而更有甚者質疑米蘭的經濟狀況，表示這些衣服看起來很廉價，就連窮人也比這些有時尚品味。

“I just wanted to share my online shopping experience,” said a deeply mortified Mi, who deleted her photos from the website the next day. “But now I’ve lost confidence in my image. None of my friends told me before that I dressed in bad taste. Why are people so nasty online?”

對此，米蘭十分傷心，第二日她便刪除了網站上的所有照片。她說：“我只想分享一下自己的網購經驗，但現在我對自己的形象徹底喪失了自信。從沒有朋友說我穿衣品味很差。網友們爲何如此惡毒？”

Why? We used to think that people are rude online because hiding behind anonymity, we feel like we can get away with anything. But since the rise of social networking sites, we are not as anonymous as we used to be.

爲何會這樣？我們過去認爲網絡暴民的產生是因爲有匿名作掩護，我們認爲自己可以爲所欲爲。但在社交網絡崛起之後，我們也不再是匿名用戶了。

Still, rudeness prevails. Sina’s Weibo, for example, requires users to register with their real identity, yet people do not shy away from using harsh words whenever they disagree with each other. It is worse with pundits and so-called “public intellectuals”, some of who might even resort to personal attacks. Politeness and good manners do not get you noticed on micro blogs, opinionated and provocative words will.

而“網絡暴行”依舊十分普遍。例如，新浪微博要求用戶實名制註冊，而當人們出現意見分歧時，仍是惡語相向。而對於一些權威人士已經所謂的“社會公知”而言，這一現象更甚，他們中的一些人甚至會採取人身攻擊的方式。微博上想賺眼球，靠的不是禮貌與禮節，而是那些自以爲是、煽動性的言論。

Losing self-control

難以自制

Scientists and researchers have tried to find out why we misbehave when using social networking sites. According to a Wall Street Journal article, recent research suggests that browsing social networking sites lowers our self-control.

科學家以研究人員試圖解密我們爲何在使用社交媒體時會胡作非爲。《華爾街日報》的一篇文章稱，最新研究顯示瀏覽社交網站會降低我們的自控能力。

This is because most of us present an enhanced image of ourselves on Facebook or Weibo. This positive image–and the encouragement we derive from positive comments–boosts our self-esteem.

這是因爲我們中的大多數人在Facebook或者微博上都呈現出一個放大的個人形象。這種積極形象以及我們從正面評論中獲取的鼓勵，使我們變得自滿。

But when we have an inflated sense of self, we tend to show poor self-control. It’s a bit like drinking: alcohol might make us feel good, but too much booze impairs our judgment and makes us lose our self-control.

而當我們自我膨脹時，往往會表現是極差的自制力。這有點像喝酒一樣：酒精有可能讓我們感覺良好，但狂飲無度就會破壞我們的判斷力，令我們失控。

Keith Wilcox, assistant professor of marketing at Columbia Business School and co-author of the study, explains: “You feel good about yourself so you feel a sense of entitlement. And you want to protect that enhanced view, which might be why people are lashing out so strongly at others who don’t share their opinions.”

進行這項研究的哥倫比亞大學商學院市場營銷學助理教授凱斯•威爾克斯解釋說：“因爲自我感覺良好，所以你覺得理所當然。而且你想保護這種良好形象，這或許就是人們如此猛烈地抨擊和自己觀點不一樣的人的原因吧。”

We’re also less inhibited online because we don’t have to see the reaction of the person we’re addressing. Many people forget that they’re speaking out loud when they communicate online, especially when posting from a smartphone. “You are publishing but you don’t feel like you are,” says Sherry Turkle, professor of social studies of science and technology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US. “So what if you say ‘I hate you’ on this tiny little thing? It’s like a toy. It doesn’t feel consequential,” she told The Wall Street Journal in an interview.

我們在網上肆無忌憚，是因爲我們不必看到說話對象的反應。很多人在線交流時，忘記了自己這是在公開場合發表言論。特別是使用智能手機時。麻省理工學院科技社會學研究教授雪莉•特克表示：“你在公開發表言論，但自己可能沒意識到。”她在接受《華爾街日報》採訪時表示：“所以如果就因爲件小事，你說‘我恨透你了’，那又如何呢？這就好比一件無關緊要的東西，沒什麼大礙。”

Many social networking sites promise us a place where we are going to make friends. “If you get something hurtful there, you’re not prepared. You feel doubly affronted, so you strike back,” Turkle says. Thus starts the vicious circle.

很多社交網站都承諾給我們一個交友平臺。雪莉•特克說：“一旦你在那受到傷害，便會覺得措手不及。你會感覺受到了雙重侮辱，所以會無情地反擊。”這樣一來便啓動了惡性循環。