“網(wǎng)絡(luò)口水戰(zhàn)”戰(zhàn)火蔓延

During this summer vacation, battle lines have been drawn in the worlds of popular culture and politics, with tempers *flaring, insults flying and general hatred *spewing out all over the place – mostly onto smartphone and computer screens.

今年暑假，(美國(guó))流行文化圈和政壇都燃起了一場(chǎng)戰(zhàn)火。怒火發(fā)酵、謾罵紛飛、敵意從四面八方涌來(lái)——而這些大部分都被拋到了手機(jī)和電腦屏幕上。

There was the DC vs Marvel *debacle as web users hotly debated comic-book franchises. Old-school Ghostbusters fans spoke viciously from behind their keyboards about the new *reboot’s female stars. Kanye West and Kim Kardashian locked horns with Taylor Swift in a Twitter *feud involving song lyrics and Snapchat videos. And then there’s the US presidential race, which is more *akin to an online mud-slinging match than a bid to lead one of the world’s most powerful nations.

網(wǎng)友們熱議DC漫畫(huà)與漫威漫畫(huà)之間的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。《捉鬼敢死隊(duì)》的一些粉絲化身鍵盤(pán)俠，對(duì)新啟用的女星惡言相向?？惨?bull;維斯特和金•卡戴珊夫婦在推特上與泰勒•斯威夫特因一些歌詞和“閱后即焚”小視頻而爭(zhēng)吵不休。美國(guó)總統(tǒng)競(jìng)選則更像是一場(chǎng)互揭老底的比賽，而非努力爭(zhēng)取這個(gè)世界大國(guó)的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)權(quán)。

“What I see right now is the whole world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket, and that’s creating a lot of tension and anger,” says Devin Faraci, editor-in-chief of US film site Birth.Movies.Death.

“在我眼中，現(xiàn)在整個(gè)世界似乎都越來(lái)越無(wú)可救藥，充斥著無(wú)窮無(wú)盡的沖突和憤怒，”美國(guó)電影網(wǎng)站Birth.Movies.Death的主編德溫•法拉奇說(shuō)道。

People have long held strong views but didn’t always have the medium in which to express them, save for *venting to friends at dinner or telling all their problems to the poor woman behind the post office counter when dropping off mail. But the *anonymity, ease of use and instant worldwide audience of social media has changed all that.

人們?cè)缇捅в袕?qiáng)烈的偏激，但卻往往找不到渠道去表達(dá)，只能在晚飯時(shí)找朋友發(fā)泄，或是在寄郵件時(shí)向可憐的郵局女柜員吐苦水。然而，社交媒體的匿名性、便捷性和易用性將這一切都改變了。

“I had a great-uncle who complained about everything, but we were the only ones who heard it,” says Robert Thompson, a professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University, US. “Now everyone would hear about it.”

“我有一個(gè)愛(ài)發(fā)牢騷的伯祖父，我們這些家人是唯一能聽(tīng)他發(fā)牢騷的，”美國(guó)雪城大學(xué)電視與流行文化教授羅伯特•湯普森說(shuō)道。“而現(xiàn)在，所有人都能充當(dāng)他的聽(tīng)眾。”

The social media space has become free of age boundaries, which in turn has led to an *influx of *trolls, according to Faraci. A 14-year-old could be arguing with an adult on the internet, and the latter would never know it, even if the teenager’s profile picture was a Pokémon. Adults aren’t above getting into the *fray, either – just follow any celebrity’s Twitter account and you’re bound to come across a popcorn munching-worthy exchange sooner or later. “If celebrities and politicians – who aren’t so very different these days – are constantly taking the negative path, it can feel like the status quo, the way things are done, an acceptable way to act,” says Kate Erbland, film editor at Indiewire.com.

法拉奇認(rèn)為，社交媒體并無(wú)年齡的界限，而這也帶來(lái)了大量惡意挑釁的帖子。一名14歲的少年可以在網(wǎng)上和一位成人發(fā)生爭(zhēng)執(zhí)，而后者卻對(duì)此一無(wú)所知，即便這位少年的頭像是只“寵物小精靈”。而成年人之間也無(wú)法免于爭(zhēng)吵——只要隨意關(guān)注一位名人的推特賬號(hào)，不久你便會(huì)看到一場(chǎng)好戲。“如果名流政客們——時(shí)至今日已他們不再與眾不同——總是消極待世，人們便會(huì)覺(jué)得，這種現(xiàn)狀、這種處事方式，是一種可接受的行為方式，”Indiewire.com 網(wǎng)站的電影編輯凱特•厄蘭說(shuō)道。

So do we just all need to hug it out?

所以，我們僅僅是需要擁釋前嫌嗎?

“Eventually, people might become so sick of this that it becomes not cool, something people don’t respect in the marketplace of ideas and emotion,” says Thompson.

“最終，人們可能對(duì)此感到無(wú)比厭倦，這變的一點(diǎn)都不酷，人們對(duì)于大家的觀(guān)點(diǎn)和情感毫不尊重，”湯普森說(shuō)道。

Erbland suggests three things that may just help turn our collective online frown upside down: “Better movies, better discussion and maybe less time on social media.” But Faraci contends that if people just realized they were actually talking to other people when they interact with one another on social media, they might not be so hostile.

厄蘭提出的三件事，或許有助于我們扭轉(zhuǎn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)上的這種歪風(fēng)：“看好電影，更恰當(dāng)?shù)赜懻?，少花點(diǎn)時(shí)間在社交媒體上。”但法拉奇則稱(chēng)，人們?cè)谏缃幻襟w上和他人交流時(shí)，如果能意識(shí)到他們正在和活生生的人對(duì)話(huà)，或許他們便不會(huì)如此充滿(mǎn)敵意。

“We’re not just talking to an *avatar or a statement,” he says. “We’re talking to a real human being who got up this morning, had breakfast, maybe something bad happened to them, maybe something good happened to them, but they’re living an actual life outside of their opinion.”

“我們并不是在和一個(gè)頭像或是一段話(huà)對(duì)話(huà)，”他說(shuō)道。“我們是在和一個(gè)活生生的人交流。他們今早也會(huì)起床、吃早飯，或許他們有些不順，又或許他們好運(yùn)當(dāng)頭。但在他們的這些觀(guān)念之外，他們真實(shí)地存在并生活著。”