经济学人250:Facebook对你没好处

 　　Facebook is bad for you

　　Facebook对你没好处

　　Get a life!

　　回到现实中过日子吧！

　　Using the social network seems to make people more miserable¹

　　使用Facebook这种社交网站看起来让人们更加痛苦

　　Aug 17th 2013 |From the print edition

　　THOSE who have resisted the urge to join Facebook will surely feel vindicated² when they read the latest research. A study just published by the Public Library of Science, conducted by Ethan Kross of the University of Michigan and Philippe Verduyn of Leuven University in Belgium, has shown that the more someone uses Facebook, the less satisfied he is with life.

　　那些坚决不加入Facebook的人们读到最新的研究的时候肯定会觉得他们的选择是对的。刚刚发表在《公共科学图书馆》上的一份研究显示，一个人使用Facebook越频繁，他对生活就越不满意，这份研究是由美国密歇根大学的Ethan Kross和比利时鲁汶大学的Philippe Verduyn领导进行的。

　　Past investigations⁴ have found that using Facebook is associated with jealousy⁵, social tension, isolation⁶ and depression. But these studies have all been “cross-sectional”—in other words, snapshots in time. As such, they risk confusing correlation⁷ with causation: perhaps those who spend more time on social media are more prone⁸ to negative emotions in the first place. The study conducted by Dr Kross and Dr Verduyn is the first to follow Facebook users for an extended period, to track how their emotions change.

　　过去的调查研究发现使用Facebook会滋生嫉妒，社交紧张，孤立和压抑等情绪。但是这些研究都是断面的，换句话说就是都是简要说明。这样的话，他们可能把原因与相关因素给混淆了。或许花费大量时间在社交媒体上面的人们本来就是比较悲观的人。而Kross博士和Verduyn博士指导的研究是第一个在一段时间内追踪一群Facebook使用者情绪变化的实验。

　　The researchers recruited 82 Facebookers for their study. These volunteers, in their late teens or early 20s, agreed to have their Facebook activity observed for two weeks and to report, five times a day, on their state of mind and their direct social contacts (phone calls and meetings in person with other people). These reports were prompted by text messages, sent between 10am and midnight, asking them to complete a short questionnaire.

　　研究人员征集了82名Facebook用户参与他们的研究。这些参与者年龄在二十岁左右。他们同意研究人员观察他们的Facebook活动两周，并且每天报告五次他们的心理状况和直接社交联系状况（比如电话和约会）。这些报告通过短信提示，短信发出时间为上午十点到晚上十二点之间，会要求参与者完成一份简短的问卷。

　　When the researchers analysed the results, they found that the more a volunteer used Facebook in the period between two questionnaires, the worse he reported feeling the next time he filled in a questionnaire. Volunteers were also asked to rate their satisfaction with life at the start and the end of the study. Those who used Facebook a lot were more likely to report a decline in satisfaction than those who visited the site infrequently. In contrast, there was a positive association between the amount of direct social contact a volunteer had and how positive he felt. In other words, the more volunteers socialised in the real world, the more positive they reported feeling the next time they filled in the questionnaire.

　　研究人员分析结果的时候发现在两份问卷间隔期使用Facebook越频繁的参与者，填写第二次问卷的时候情绪就越糟糕。在研究开始和结束时，参与者也被要求评价他们生活的满意度。较多使用Facebook的人比较少使用的人满意度下降明显。相反地，直接社交联系则会产生积极的影响。换句话说，参与者越多的参与真实的社交活动，他们下次填问卷的时候情绪就更积极。

　　A volunteer’s sex had no influence on these findings; nor did the size of his (or her) social network, his stated motivation for using Facebook, his level of loneliness or depression or his self-esteem. Dr Kross and Dr Verduyn therefore conclude that, rather than enhancing well-being⁹, Facebook undermines it.

　　参与者的性别对研究结果没有影响，参与者社交圈的大小，其使用Facebook的动机，其孤独，抑郁或者自负的程度对结果都没有影响。Kross博士和Verduyn博士于是得出结论，Facebook降低了人们的幸福程度。

　　Their study does not tease out why socialising on Facebook has a different effect from socialising in person. But an earlier investigation³, conducted by social scientists at Humboldt University and Darmstadt’s Technical University, both in Germany, may have found the root cause. These researchers, who presented their findings at a conference in Leipzig in February, surveyed 584 users of Facebook aged¹⁰ mostly in their 20s. They found that the most common emotion aroused by using Facebook is envy. Endlessly comparing themselves with peers who have doctored their photographs, amplified¹¹ their achievements and plagiarised their bons mots can leave Facebook’s users more than a little green-eyed. Real-life encounters, by contrast, are more WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get).

　　他们的研究没有找出Facebook上的社交活动对不同人的社交活动影响的差异。但是更早的一份由德国的洪堡大学和达姆施塔特工业大学的社会科学家指导的调查研究发现的根本原因。这些研究人员二月份的时候在莱比锡的一个会议上展示了他们的研究结果。他们的实验对象为584名20多岁的Facebook使用者。他们发现使用Facebook最容易引起的情绪是嫉妒。无休止的与自己的同龄人做对比，看他们P过的照片，夸大自己的成就，剽窃别人的名言，这些都让Facebook的使用者心生嫉妒。比较而言，现实生活中的碰面则更真实。

　　What neither study proves is whether all this is true only for younger users of Facebook. Older ones may be more mellow¹², and thus less begrudging¹³ of their friends’ successes, counterfeit¹⁴ or real. Maybe.

　　这些研究都没有证实的是这些研究结果是不是只发生在年轻人身上。年龄稍大的人或许更加成熟，这样他们就不会太妒忌自己朋友的成功。是真是假都说不定。

1 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

2 vindicated   

v.澄清（某人/某事物）受到的责难或嫌疑( vindicate的过去式和过去分词 )；表明或证明（所争辩的事物）属实、正当、有效等；维护

参考例句：

• I have every confidence that this decision will be fully vindicated. 我完全相信这一决定的正确性将得到充分证明。
• Subsequent events vindicated the policy. 后来的事实证明那政策是对的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

5 jealousy   

n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌

参考例句：

• Some women have a disposition to jealousy.有些女人生性爱妒忌。
• I can't support your jealousy any longer.我再也无法忍受你的嫉妒了。

6 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

7 correlation   

n.相互关系，相关，关连

参考例句：

• The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
• A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。

8 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

9 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

10 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

11 amplified   

放大，扩大( amplify的过去式和过去分词 )； 增强； 详述

参考例句：

• He amplified on his remarks with drawings and figures. 他用图表详细地解释了他的话。
• He amplified the whole course of the incident. 他详述了事件的全过程。

12 mellow   

adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟

参考例句：

• These apples are mellow at this time of year.每年这时节，苹果就熟透了。
• The colours become mellow as the sun went down.当太阳落山时，色彩变得柔和了。

13 begrudging   

嫉妒( begrudge的现在分词 )； 勉强做； 不乐意地付出； 吝惜

参考例句：

14 counterfeit   

vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的

参考例句：

• It is a crime to counterfeit money.伪造货币是犯罪行为。
• The painting looked old but was a recent counterfeit.这幅画看上去年代久远，实际是最近的一幅赝品。