你經常用的表情包原來是他,美國“假笑男孩”緣何成爲中國網紅?

To the casual observer, the attendance by an eight-year-old American boy at a yearly conference for one of China’s biggest internet companies last week might have been an unlikely sight.

上週，一名8歲的美國男孩出席了中國一家互聯網巨頭公司的年度會議。這對普通觀衆來說，也許有點不可思議。

That child was viral internet star Gavin Thomas, known in China as “fake smile boy”.

這名男孩就是網絡紅人加文·托馬斯，中國人稱他爲“假笑男孩”。

Images of him smirking at the camera – first as a toddler, then as a youngster – looking confused or showing his trademark uncomfortable smile have floated around the internet for years, becoming a staple on social media like Twitter and Reddit.

從學步階段開始，一直到現在，加文在鏡頭前傻笑的照片已經在互聯網上傳播了好幾年，成爲推特和紅迪網站等社交媒體上的重要內容。照片中的他或者一臉困惑、抑或是擺出標誌性尷尬笑容。

Gavin’s success was helped in no small part by his uncle, the internet celebrity Nick Mastodon, who first started posting funny videos of the child at the age of two on the video platform Vine.

加文的成功在很大程度上得益於他的叔叔——網絡紅人尼克·馬斯托東。加文的叔叔最早在視頻平臺Vine上發佈加文的有趣視頻，當時加文只有兩歲。

But after Chinese social media users started making their own memes from Gavin’s photos posted on Instagram a few years ago, his popularity exploded.

自從中國社交媒體用戶幾年前開始用加文在Instagram上發佈的照片製作“表情包”以來，他的人氣開始大幅飆升。

A gif of Gavin's face, smiling awkwardly, might be used as many as 10 million times a day across China's various social media platforms, according to Ann Ding, founder and CEO of , a major distributor of online gifs, told CNN.

動圖宇宙（製作gif的公司）創始人兼首席執行官丁焱告訴美國有線電視新聞網的記者說，加文“尬笑”的動圖表情包在中國各大社交媒體平臺每天使用多達1000萬次。

She estimated that all of the total number of Gavin related gifs used across platforms in China has easily exceeded 1 billion.

據她估算，各大平臺關於加文的動圖總數加起來超過10億。

Gavin’s first Weibo account was set up in July, and now boasts more than 1.8 million followers who eagerly comment on updates from his daily life such as photos and live streams.

加文在今年7月開通了微博賬戶。如今，他的微博粉絲已經超過180萬，粉絲們熱情地評論着有關加文日常生活的更新，包括照片和直播等。

His debut on Weibo was widely reported by Chinese state media, and his first trip to China in August made headlines across the country.

中國官方媒體報道了加文在微博的第一次亮相。今年8月，他的第一次中國行也成爲頭條新聞。

He made the journey to China from his native Minnesota in August to meet fans and tour some of the country’s major attractions.

加文2018年8月第一次從家鄉美國明尼蘇達州來到了中國。他與粉絲會面，並遊覽了中國的一些主要景點。

“He absolutely loved the pandas in Chengdu,” his manager Byron Ashley said, who promised that Gavin would be “back soon”.

經紀人阿什利說：“加文尤其喜歡成都的大熊貓。”阿什利承諾，加文“很快就會回來（中國）”。

Tencent, who invited Gavin to its annual conference recently, even launched a sticker pack of Gavin’s facial expressions on China’s most widely used messaging app.

最近，騰訊公司邀請加文來參加公司年會，還在微信上發佈了用加文的面部表情製作的微信表情包。

Gavin can also be seen on a variety of mugs, posters and clothing hawked on Chinese e-commerce sites.

加文不但被做成“表情包”，還出現在中國電商網站銷售的各種馬克杯、海報和衣服上。

All this shows how an easily recognizable Western meme has broken through language and cultural barriers to appeal to users halfway across the world.

這一切都表明，一張容易識別的西方“表情包”如何打破語言和文化壁壘、吸引地球另一邊的用戶。

“We discovered Gavin’s face being used on T-shirts being sold in China around the beginning of the year,” his manager said.

加文的經紀人表示：“我們在2018年年初發現，加文的肖像被印在了中國人銷售的T恤衫上。”

“And that to us was the first indicator that we needed to start building a presence for him in China.”

“那時候，我們開始意識到要爲他在中國開發市場。”

Now, more and more Chinese fans are jumping on his bandwagon.

如今，加文在中國的粉絲越來越多。

“Because he’s cute!” said Leya, a 20-year-old from Chengdu when asked why she is a big fan of Gavin. “Who could not like such a cute young boy?”

在被問及自己爲什麼是加文的狂熱粉絲時，20歲的成都網友“Leya”說：“因爲他太可愛了！誰不喜歡這麼可愛的小男孩呢？”

Coogie,an 18-year-old from Shanghai, has been following Gavin’s Instagram account for years.

上海一名18歲的網民“Coogie”多年來一直關注加文的Instagram賬戶。

“Afterwards, I noticed a lot of people in China would use screenshots from his videos to make memes or short clips,” she said. “They were so cute and funny, and his memes became really popular.”

她說：“後來，我發現很多中國人用他的視頻截圖製作表情圖片或者視頻片段。這些內容可愛又搞笑，他的‘表情包’真的很受歡迎。”

39-year-old Cai Qianyi, who works in the media industry, said he constantly shares Gavin gifs online.

39歲的媒體從業者蔡千一（音）說，他經常在網上分享加文的動態“表情包”。

"I got to know him from the gifs other people sent me on WeChat. I saved the gifs to use as they are so appropriate to express myself," he told CNN.

他說：“我通過別人在微信上傳給我的動態‘表情包’認識了他。我把這些‘表情包’存起來備用，因爲它們太適合表達我自己的心情了。”

Chinese people, especially millennials, have latched on to Gavin's signature smile, the gif of which is used to express forced positivity in uncomfortable situations.

中國人，尤其是千禧一代，非常喜愛加文標誌性的微笑，這種微笑被用來在不適情形下表達一種“被迫的積極”態度。

Experts say Chinese people's love for animated images in digital conversation is rooted in its culture of politeness.

專家表示，中國人在數字化對話中對動畫形象的喜愛源於其自身的禮節文化。

"Chinese people tend not to be so blunt (in conversation) and are careful to avoid hurting others' feelings. But online communication is inherently straightforward, so people like to use funny images to relax the communication atmosphere," said Liu Qian, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Communications at Beijing Normal University.

北京師範大學新聞傳播學助教劉倩（音）說：“中國人（在對話中）往往不那麼直言不諱，通常比較謹慎，以免傷害他人的感情。但是網絡交流天然就是直截了當的，所以人們喜歡用搞笑表情包來放鬆交流氣氛。”

As far as Gavin himself is concerned, he told CNN he is enjoying his fame in China.

就加文本人而言，他對美國有線電視新聞網的記者表示，自己非常享受在中國“走紅”這件事。

"They love watching my pictures and videos, and they tell me I'm cute. Sometimes, they tell me they love me," he told CNN over email.

他在寫給記者的電子郵件中說：“他們喜歡看我的照片和視頻，他們說我很可愛。有時他們會跟我說，他們愛我。”