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经济学人精读 [64上] The Economist | Ma

2018-02-05  本文已影响0人  京酱Jing

经济学人精读 The Economist [64上]

选自| January 27 2018 | Business | 商业板块


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Social media[社交媒体]

Mark Zuckerberg’s other headache[另一个让马克扎克伯格头疼的事]        

o   Headache 令人头疼的事

WhatsApp shows that Facebook’s efforts to fight fake news may fail[WhatsApp表明Facebook反击假新闻的努力可能失败了]

o  One’s effort to do sth做…的努力

“THERE’S too much sensationalism[耸人听闻], misinformation and polarisation[分化]in the world today,” lamented[对…表示失望]Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of Facebook, recently[Facebook的老板马克扎克伯格最近表示很失望,“如今的世界有太多耸人听闻,错误信息和分化”].To improve things, the world’s largest social network will cut the amount of news in users’ feeds by a fifth and attempt to make the remainder more reliable by prioritising information from sources which users think are trustworthy[为了改善这一情况,世界最大的社交网络将减少五分之一用户订阅的新闻的数量,并尝试通过优先推送那些用户认为来自可信来源的信息,让剩余的新闻更加可靠].Many publishers are complaining: they worry that their content will show up less in users’ newsfeeds, reducing clicks and advertising revenues[很多出版商开始抱怨:他们担心他们的内容将在用户的新闻订阅中出现的更少,使点击量和广告收入减少]. But the bigger problem with Facebook’s latest moves may be that they are unlikely to achieve much—at least if the flourishing of fake news on WhatsApp, the messaging app which Facebook bought in 2014 for$19bn, is any guide[但是,Facebook最近举措的最大问题在于,他们可能不大会实现(他们的目标)——至少,Facebook在2014年花190亿收购的通讯软件WhatsApp上猖獗的假新闻是一些根据]. 

o  To improve things:things,情况,形式

o  Cut the amount of … by …

o  Attempt to do … by doing…:通过…尝试去做…

o  In users’ feeds; in users’ newsfeeds;用户新闻订阅

o  Moves:行动,措施

o  Guide:准则,根据

In more ways than one[在更多方面], WhatsApp is the opposite of Facebook[在更多方面,WhatsApp与Facebook相反]. Whereas posts on Facebook can be seen by all of a user’s friends, WhatsApp’s messages are encrypted[Facebook上的帖子是可以被用户所有的朋友可见的,然而在WhatApp上的信息是加密的]. Whereas Facebook’s newsfeeds are curated by algorithms that try to maximise the time users spend on the service, WhatsApp’sstream of messages is solely generated by users[Facebook上的新闻是由算法操控,试图使用户花在他们服务上的时间最大化,然而WhatsApp的信息仅通过用户生成]. And whereas Facebook requires a fast connection, WhatsApp is not very data-hungry[Facebook要求快速连接,然而WhatsApp对数据服务并不是非常需要].

o  Whereas然而;We use the conjunctionwhereasto indicate a contrast between two facts or ideas,表示两个事实或观点的对比

o  In more ways than one在更多方面

o  Be the opposite of …与… 相反

As a result, WhatsApp has become a social network to rival Facebook in many places, particularly in poorer countries[因此,WhatsApp成为了与Facebook在很多地方竞争的社交网络,尤其在更贫困的国家]. Of the service’s more than 1.3bn monthly users, 120m live in Brazil and 200m in India (see chart)[在WhatsApps超过13亿的月用户中,1亿2千万用户居住在巴西,2亿用户在印度(见图表)]. With the exceptions of America, China, Japan and South Korea, WhatsApp is among the top three most-used social apps in all big countries[除美国、中国、日本和韩国外,WhatsApp是在所有大国中排在前三的使用最多的社交软件]. 

o  As a result因此

o  become sth to rival sb成为与…竞争的…

o  , particularly…尤其…

o  with the exceptions of…除…之外

o  among the top…排在前几名

Most of the 55bn messages sent every day are harmless, but WhatsApp’sscale attracts all sorts of mischief-makers[每天发送的550亿条信息中的大多是都是无害的,但是WhatsApp的规模吸引着各种各样的搬弄是非的人]. In South Africa the service is often used to spread false allegations[指控]of civic corruption and hoax[恶作剧]warnings of storms, fires and other natural disasters[在南非,信息服务通常被用来传播错误的公民腐败的指控和暴风雨、火灾和其他自然灾害的恶作剧警告]. In Brazilrumours about people travel quickly: a mob[暴民]recently set upon[攻击]a couple they suspected of being child traffickers[贩子]based on chatter on WhatsApp (the couple escaped)[在巴西,关于人的谣言快速传播:一个暴民最近攻击了一对夫妇,他们根据WhatsApp上的聊天(这对夫妇逃走了)怀疑这对夫妇是儿童贩子]. 

o  Rumours about peopletravelquickly.

o  Set upon sb攻击某人

o  suspected of doing/being…怀疑做了/是…

o  child trafficker儿童贩子

o  based on

But itis in India where WhatsApp has had the most profound effect[但是,在印度,WhatsApps有着最为深远的影响]. It is now part of the country’s culture: many older people use it and drive younger ones crazy by forwarding messages indiscriminately[不分青红皂白,不加选择的]— sometimes with tragic results[现在已经成为了这个国家文化的一部分:很多上了年纪的人用WhatsApps,并通过随机转发信息使年轻人快要疯了——有时伴随着悲剧性的结果]. Last year, seven men in the eastern state of Jharkhand were murdered by angry villagers in two separate incidents after rumours circulated on WhatsApp warning of kidnappers in the area[去年,WhatsApp上流传着东部省份Jharkhand这一区域有绑匪的谣言,在这之后这一地区的7名男子被愤怒的村名分别在两次事故中杀害]. In a gruesome[可怕的]coda[附加部分]to the incident, pictures and videos from the lynching[以私刑处死]also went viral[作为这件事情的可怕的附加内容,以私刑处死的图片和视频也疯狂传播起来].

···文章未完·明天继续···

o   It is in somewhere where…强调地点的强调句

o   Profound effect深远影响

o   Drive sb crazy让人疯狂,让人恼怒

o   With tragic results伴随着悲剧性的结果

o   Rumours circulate on WhatsApp warning of sth

o   In a coda to…作为…的附加部分

o   Go viral疯狂传播快速传播

#内容总结#

Facebook已经对其用户订阅新闻来源的可靠性采取了行动,但是这一次,WhatsApp上谣言和虚假信息的传播使得马克扎克伯格对虚假信息的管控再一次遇到难题。相比于由出版商发出的新闻,WhatsApps上的信息更加难以管控,因为这些信息是由个人制造传播。并且,在一些贫困国家,通过WhatsApp传播的谣言已经产生了严重的后果。Eva看完后,不由得再次感叹人言可畏,谣言在社交通讯如此便利的今天,着实让人颤栗。

#以上,个人翻译、理解和总结,欢迎批评指正,欢迎留言讨论

#有输出才有进步

Feb 05 | 452 words


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