广告的轰炸式推广已威胁新闻业生态

One study of 7,000 New York Times articles by two professors at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School found that sad stories were the least shared because sadness is a low-arousal, negative state. People were more likely to share positive stories because it was a way to show generosity and boost their reputations. Sharing pleasant things in public made them appear nice themselves.
宾夕法尼亚大学(University of Pennsylvania)沃顿商学院(Wharton)两位教授研究了《纽约时报》(New York Times)的7000篇文章。他们发现，悲伤的报道被分享得最少，因为悲哀是一种刺激性较低的负面状态。人们更喜欢分享正面报道，因为这是一种体现宽容和提高声誉的方法。在公开场合分享愉快事物能令人们自身显得很善良。

This is enough to make old hands tear their hair out (“What works in viral is fake piety,” says one); and it has combined with a shift to video as broadband speeds increase. The internet, originally a means for academics to share information, is becoming primarily an entertainment medium where a juicy headline on a video is text enough.
这一点足以令新闻界的老手抓狂（其中一位曾说道：“病毒式推广生效的原因是一种假惺惺的虔诚”）。而随着宽带网速的提升，视频内容日益增多也助长了这一现象。最初只是学术界信息共享手段的互联网，如今却主要成了一种娱乐媒介——在这种媒介上，一个吸引眼球的视频标题就足以替代所有文字。

Not all viral content is trite and shallow. The techniques pioneered by Mr Peretti can, like advertising campaigns, be applied to all kinds of products. Upworthy, which drew 88m unique users in November, according to Quantcast, uses them to lure people to videos on liberal causes such as gay marriage and poverty alleviation, and persuade them to donate money. “Content on important topics is often dry, like the Brussels sprouts part of the meal that you have to choke down,” says Eli Pariser, co-founder of Upworthy. “We thought: why does it have to be that way? Why can’t you make it taste good, so people want to eat?”
不是所有病毒式内容都陈腐而肤浅。和广告营销一样，由佩雷蒂首创的这种技术能被运用到所有产品上。根据Quantcast的数据，2013年11月份Upworthy网站吸引了8800万不同用户。该网站就利用这种技术，以同性婚姻和消除贫困等自由派的事业来吸引人们观看视频，并说服他们捐钱。Upworthy共同创始人伊莱•帕里泽(Eli Pariser)表示：“有关重要话题的内容总是干巴巴的，就像是一顿饭里总有不得不咽下的球芽甘蓝。我们的想法是：事情为何一定要这样？为什么不能把它弄得好吃一些，让人喜欢吃呢？”

Meanwhile, BuzzFeed has stepped up its journalistic efforts, adding in-depth reporting on politics and business to its fluffier material. It has 140 reporters, started a UK site in 2013 and will add an investigative journalism unit this year.
与此同时，BuzzFeed也加大了在新闻领域的动作，在十分温情的内容中加入了政治和商业方面的深度报告。该网站拥有140名记者，在2013年启动了一个英国站点，今年还将增加一个新闻调查部门。

Virality could eventually strike its limits. People may tire of clicking on Upworthy’s saccharine headlines (“Watch This 6-Year-Old Give You The Most Adorable Guilt Trip Ever”). BuzzFeed’s lists of “10 Adorable Photos” and “40 Astonishing Facts” could go out of fashion.
病毒式推广最终可能会走到尽头。人们可能会厌倦于点击Upworthy的情绪化标题（“看看这个，6岁孩子为您展示超萌负疚之旅(Watch This 6-Year-Old Give You The Most Adorable Guilt Trip Ever)”）。而BuzzFeed的“10大萌照(10 Adorable Photos)”和“40个惊人事实(40 Astonishing Facts)”也可能不再流行。

News publishers should not count on it. Not only are BuzzFeed and others growing fast but they are flexible enough to adjust tactics in response to audience demand. They can also expand around the core of viral content, as BuzzFeed has done. Like television networks with news divisions, they can combine the serious and the amusing.
对此，新闻出版商不能做太多指望。BuzzFeed和其它类似网站不但增长十分迅速，而且也足够灵活，能够改变战术适应观众需求。它们还有可能BuzzFeed那样扩充病毒式内容的内核。它们和拥有新闻部门的电视网一样，能够做到集严肃性和趣味性于一身。

Ultimately, entertainment is a bigger business than news. That was true of the analogue world and there is no reason to think it will change online. The lesson of the viral epidemic for news publishers is that, if you battle for attention with entertainment, you lose.
归根结底，娱乐业务的规模比新闻更大。这一点适用于模拟世界，我们没理由认为到了在线世界，情况会有所不同。对于新闻出版商来说，病毒式推广的教训就是：如果要和娱乐争夺眼球，那就必输无疑了。