你經(jīng)常用的表情包原來是他！美國“假笑男孩”緣何成為中國網(wǎng)紅？
“假笑男孩”在中國走紅
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.
上周，一名8歲的美國男孩出席了中國一家互聯(lián)網(wǎng)巨頭公司的年度會議。這對普通觀眾來說，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(wǎng)絡紅人加文·托馬斯，中國人稱他為“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(xiàn)在，加文在鏡頭前傻笑的照片已經(jīng)在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上傳播了好幾年，成為推特和紅迪網(wǎng)站等社交媒體上的重要內(nèi)容。照片中的他或者一臉困惑、抑或是擺出標志性尷尬笑容。
加文第一次出現(xiàn)在美國公眾視野，是他和叔叔尼克·馬斯托東玩耍的短視頻上傳到網(wǎng)絡后，獲得大量點擊。
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于他的叔叔——網(wǎng)絡紅人尼克·馬斯托東。加文的叔叔最早在視頻平臺Vine上發(fā)布加文的有趣視頻，當時加文只有兩歲。
而當加文的短視頻在中國網(wǎng)絡平臺播放后，漸為人所知，其中一個視頻是，一只壁虎在他頭上，加文露出了緊張的微笑，這一表情讓他“名聲大噪”。
加文的反應和表情立馬就戳中了很多網(wǎng)友的笑點。從那以后，加文的神表情就火了。
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(fā)布的照片制作“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 Dongtu.com, a major distributor of online gifs, told CNN.
動圖宇宙(制作gif的公司)創(chuàng)始人兼首席執(zhí)行官丁焱告訴美國有線電視新聞網(wǎng)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(jù)她估算，各大平臺關于加文的動圖總數(shù)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(jīng)超過180萬，粉絲們熱情地評論著有關加文日常生活的更新，包括照片和直播等。
對比之下，他在推特上只有不到46萬粉絲。
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為頭條新聞。
開設微博賬號不久后，加文來到中國與粉絲見面。
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(xiāng)美國明尼蘇達州來到了中國。他與粉絲會面，并游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(jīng)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(fā)布了用加文的面部表情制作的微信表情包。
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(xiàn)在中國電商網(wǎng)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(jīng)紀人表示：“我們在2018年年初發(fā)現(xiàn)，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，我們開始意識到要為他在中國開發(fā)市場。”
還有一些網(wǎng)店銷售與他有關的各種商品，比如背面印著加文笑容的手機殼。
假笑“表情包”引發(fā)中國網(wǎng)友共鳴
8歲的加文“不自在但禮貌的微笑”引發(fā)了無數(shù)中國網(wǎng)友的共鳴。
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?”
在被問及自己為什么是加文的狂熱粉絲時，20歲的成都網(wǎng)友“Leya”說：“因為他太可愛了!誰不喜歡這么可愛的小男孩呢?”
Coogie,an 18-year-old from Shanghai, has been following Gavin’s Instagram account for years.
上海一名18歲的網(wǎng)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：“后來，我發(fā)現(xiàn)很多中國人用他的視頻截圖制作表情圖片或者視頻片段。這些內(nèi)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(yè)者蔡千一(音)說，他經(jīng)常在網(wǎng)上分享加文的動態(tài)“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(tài)‘表情包’認識了他。我把這些‘表情包’存起來備用，因為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，非常喜愛加文標志性的微笑，這種微笑被用來在不適情形下表達一種“被迫的積極”態(tài)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(shù)字化對話中對動畫形象的喜愛源于其自身的禮節(jié)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.
北京師范大學新聞傳播學助教劉倩(音)說：“中國人(在對話中)往往不那么直言不諱，通常比較謹慎，以免傷害他人的感情。但是網(wǎng)絡交流天然就是直截了當?shù)模匀藗兿矚g用搞笑表情包來放松交流氣氛。”
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(wǎng)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。”
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