馬克有500個(gè)網(wǎng)友，他每天都要花很多時(shí)間上網(wǎng)，雖然他有很多網(wǎng)友，但他也變得越來越孤單。

So Close, Yet So Far 那么近又那么遠(yuǎn)

Mark never stops socialising with his friends online. But he’s also never felt more alone.

馬克永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)停止與他的朋友在線社交。但是他也從未感到如此孤單。

Where am I? What am I doing? If you’re one of my 500 friends online, you’ll always be the first to know. My phone and laptop are never out of touching distance, so I’m constantly posting updates on social media – whether I’m having a coffee, on my way to school, watching TV … even when I’m in the shower. As soon as I open my eyes in the morning, I check through all my social networking apps, read my emails and answer text messages. I do the same thing all over again while I’m having breakfast.

我在哪里？我在做什么？如果你是我的500個(gè)在線好友之一，那么你將永遠(yuǎn)是第一個(gè)知道我在哪及在干嘛的人。我的手機(jī)和筆記本電腦永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)超出可視范圍，所以我會(huì)不斷在社交媒體上發(fā)布更新狀態(tài)——無論是喝咖啡，去學(xué)校的路上，看電視……甚至是在洗澡時(shí)。早上睜開眼睛，我便會(huì)檢查所有社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)應(yīng)用程序，閱讀電子郵件并回復(fù)短信。我吃早飯的時(shí)候，我會(huì)一遍又一遍地做同樣的事情。

I live in a university dorm with a couple of great roommates. I have a never-ending flow of messages and updates from all the people I associate with online. Yet the truth of the matter is: I feel lonely.

我住在大學(xué)宿舍，有幾個(gè)室友。從手機(jī)的社交媒體里，我每天都接收到源源不斷的信息和狀態(tài)。然而，事情的真相是：我感到孤獨(dú)。

I’m barely the only person who feels this way. According to research, over two-thirds of young people find it easier to make friends online than it is “in real life”. I’m way beyond a shy or reserved person, but I’m wired up every day, like most of my friends. On the surface, I have an active social life.

我?guī)缀醪皇俏ㄒ贿@樣的人。根據(jù)研究，超過三分之二的年輕人發(fā)現(xiàn)在網(wǎng)上結(jié)交朋友比在“現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中”更容易。我遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超出了一個(gè)害羞或內(nèi)向的人設(shè)，但我卻像大多數(shù)朋友一樣每天都在忙碌。表面上，我過著積極的社交生活。

I attend parties and play sports but I’m always distracted. They say that phones bring people closer together but in reality, my mind is always a million miles away. I obsess over exactly how many followers I have on my account, but I can’t remember the birthdays of some of my oldest mates.

我參加聚會(huì)和參加體育運(yùn)動(dòng)，但我總是分心。他們說電話將人們拉近了距離，但實(shí)際上，我的頭腦始終在百萬英里之外。我非常迷戀帳戶上有多少追隨者，但是我不記得我一些老朋友的生日。

Social networking dominates my life in so many ways. Sometimes I set deadlines for myself: I will start doing my homework at 8 pm, and aim to finish in two hours. At 7.50 pm, I’m still scrolling through my friends’ silly posts and photos. Before I know it, it’s 9.30 pm and I still haven’t moved an inch from the sofa.

社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)在很多方面主導(dǎo)著我的生活。有時(shí)我會(huì)為自己設(shè)定截止日期：我將從晚上8點(diǎn)開始做作業(yè)，并計(jì)劃在兩個(gè)小時(shí)內(nèi)完成。晚上7點(diǎn)50，我仍在瀏覽朋友的愚蠢帖子和照片。據(jù)我所知，現(xiàn)在是晚上9點(diǎn)30，而且我還沒有離開沙發(fā)一英寸。

I download song after song, video after video, but I’m not really paying attention. The stimulation is in chasing after the next song rather than truly enjoying it. My friends try to drag me away from my phone, but as soon as I’m alone again, I’m desperate to get back to the online world and the intense activity that it provides.

我不斷地下載歌曲，再不斷地下載視頻，但我并不是很在意下載的是什么。唯一的刺激在于追逐下一首歌，而不是真正享受它。我的朋友們?cè)噲D將我從手機(jī)中拉開，但是一旦我回到一個(gè)人的狀態(tài)，我就迫不及待地想回到網(wǎng)絡(luò)世界及其帶來的激烈活動(dòng)中。

I constantly feel depressed, dissatisfied and alone. Since I spend so much time socialising online, I keep delaying things that are important in my real life: homework, tasks, connecting with my friends and family members in a meaningful way. It’s funny that my friends and I chatter away online so much, but we end up having nothing to say when we meet.

我不斷感到沮喪，不滿和孤獨(dú)。由于我花了很多時(shí)間進(jìn)行在線社交，因此我一直在拖延現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中重要的事情：作業(yè)，任務(wù)，以有意義的方式與朋友和家人聯(lián)系。很可笑的是，我和我的朋友們?cè)诰W(wǎng)上閑聊很多話說，但是當(dāng)我們見面時(shí)，我們最終無話可說。

A few days ago, I went out for a dinner get-together with some friends. My best friend left the table for 30 minutes because he had to take a call. Some spent the dinner bent over their phones, texting friends online but ignoring the ones who sat right in front of them. And the extraordinary thing is nobody thought this was rude; it’s just how life is nowadays.

幾天前，我和一些朋友一起出去吃晚飯。我最好的朋友離開餐桌30分鐘，因?yàn)樗觽€(gè)電話。有些人一晚上都在玩手機(jī)上，在網(wǎng)上給朋友發(fā)短信，卻無視坐在他們面前的朋友。不尋常的是，并沒有人認(rèn)為這是不禮貌的。這就是現(xiàn)代的生活。

On a family holiday last summer, my sister spent all her time complaining that she needed to charge her phone. When it was charged, she just spent hours reading about her favourite popstar; not once did she lift her head to enjoy the view outside her window.

去年夏天，在一次家庭度假中，我姐姐無時(shí)無刻都在抱怨她需要給手機(jī)充電。等充完電后，她花了幾個(gè)小時(shí)閱讀有關(guān)自己喜歡的流行歌星的信息。她沒有一次抬起頭去欣賞窗外的景色。

What is really worrying is that no one I know, including myself, could go cold turkey. I can’t even imagine going without social networking for a week – think of all the important appointments, invitations and news updates you would miss! Alcoholics who want to quit drinking can avoid booze, but how do we give up our phones? After all, I need it for my studies because my teachers and classmates need to contact me at any time.

真正令人擔(dān)憂的是，我認(rèn)識(shí)的任何人，包括我自己，都不可能快速徹底地戒掉網(wǎng)絡(luò)。我甚至無法想象一個(gè)星期沒有社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)——想想你會(huì)錯(cuò)過的所有重要約會(huì)，邀請(qǐng)和新聞更新！想要戒酒的酒鬼可以避免酗酒，但是我們?nèi)绾畏艞壥謾C(jī)呢？畢竟，我的學(xué)習(xí)需要它，因?yàn)槲业睦蠋熀屯瑢W(xué)需要隨時(shí)與我聯(lián)系。

So, that’s the problem with social networking. We’re hard-wired in, but we’re more disconnected than ever.

所以，這就是社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)的問題。我們已經(jīng)深深地捆綁到了網(wǎng)絡(luò)世界，但與以往相比，人與人之間的距離卻更加遙遠(yuǎn)了。