China’s new social media craze: Paying random people to shower you with over-the-top compliments

中國社交媒體新熱潮：付錢給別人，讓他們對你進行最高程度的贊美

Chinese internet users are flocking to groups on social media and messaging platforms like Tencent-owned WeChat to pay to be in groups where they can be given compliments.

中國網(wǎng)民紛紛涌向社交媒體和信息平臺（如騰訊旗下的微信）上的群體，付費加入可以得到稱贊的群。

One administrator of a group who spoke to CNBC said he charges 15 yuan ($2.23) for three minutes or 25 yuan ($3.72) for five minutes of praise.

一位與CNBC交談的組群負責人說，他3分鐘收取15元人民幣（2.23美元）的費用，5分鐘的表揚收取25元人民幣（3.72美元）。

CNBC spoke to participants and even got involved in one of the groups — known a “kuakuaqun,” Mandarin for “praising groups” — to find out how they operate.

CNBC記者與參加者進行了交談，甚至親自加入了其中一個小組——被稱為“夸夸群”，漢語中的“贊美小組”的意思——以了解他們的運作方式。

Users can search for the groups on Taobao, an e-commerce site run by China’s Alibaba. Several different groups are listed there with different pricing options, starting from around 35 yuan ($5.21).

用戶可以在中國阿里巴巴運營的電子商務網(wǎng)站淘寶上搜索到這些相關(guān)群。有幾個不同的群在那里出售服務，有不同的定價選擇，最低起步價大約35元人民幣（5.21美元）。

Once you purchase a round of compliments on Taobao, the seller will contact you with an invitation to a group on WeChat. There, you will be showered with praise from various people.

一旦你在淘寶網(wǎng)上買了一次服務，賣家就會與你聯(lián)系，邀請你參加微信上的一個小組。在那里，你會受到來自不同人的贊揚。

There appears to be varying business models, however. One group administrator who spoke to CNBC said they offer a service where you can invite another person into a group, and that individual will be given custom-made compliments. It could be a friend or partner, for example.

然而，似乎不同的小組商業(yè)模式也不同。一位與CNBC交談的團隊管理員說，他們提供了一項服務，你可以邀請其他人加入這個小組，該個人將得到定制的稱贊。例如，他可以是親友或伙伴。

Users were firing compliments at each other within seconds. CNBC posted the following message: “Good morning. I just moved to a new place and spend a lot of time alone.”

用戶們在幾秒鐘內(nèi)互相致意。CNBC記者發(fā)布了以下信息：“早上好。我剛搬到一個新地方，一個人孤孤單單了很常時間?！?br/>
Shortly after, one WeChat user replied: “This is awesome! Now you have more spare time. Take this opportunity to enjoy your ‘me time.’ One can be very happy by himself. And you have us here!”

不久后，一位微信用戶回復道：“太棒了！現(xiàn)在你擁有更多的空閑時間了。利用這個機會享受你的“個人時光”吧?？梢宰x出也是件快樂的事情。我們支持你！“

The CNBC reporter, who recently moved to Guangzhou, then told the group he was learning Chinese.

最近搬到廣州的CNBC記者告訴記者，他正在學習中文。

“There is no limit to your learning. You are a really studious person. I believe you will master Chinese well in the future,” one user replied.

“學無止境。你真是個好學的人。一位用戶回答說：“我相信你將來會很好地掌握漢語的?！?br/>
The groups are quite large. One group CNBC joined had nearly 500 people in it and another had over 240.

這些團體相當大。CNBC加入的一個小組有近500人，另一個超過了240人。

Why is this happening?

為什么會發(fā)生這樣的事情呢？

It appears the trend has picked up steam in the past few days with groups and discussion threads appearing on forum-like sites. One post on Zhihu, which is China’s answer to Quora, shows a post from March 7 from a praise group that belongs to a university.

這一趨勢在過去的幾天里逐漸升溫，在各論壇網(wǎng)站上出現(xiàn)了大量類似群組和討論主題。在知乎上——中國版的Quora，有一篇3月7號來自某所大學關(guān)于夸夸群的帖子。

“We don’t praise ourselves and we become stingy while giving praise to others” he said in a message in Chinese, which was translated by CNBC.

CNBC翻譯了他用中國寫的一條留言“我們中國人不太會贊美自己，也吝嗇于去夸獎別人?！?br/>
“The initial purpose of this group is to make us learn to praise others and accept others’ praise confidently. Here we can drop everything, use our heart to affirm and support others.”

“建立這個群的初衷是讓我們學會去贊美別人，同時也淡定的接受別人的夸獎。在這里我們可以放下一起，讓我們發(fā)自內(nèi)心的去肯定和贊揚別人?！?/span>