社交网络:世界的距离只是一次点击

Whether on a crowded subway during the rush hour, playing online games in an Internet cafe or checking e-mail at work, one thing is for sure -- China's population is increasingly connected. But as Zhao Yunjie finds out, the current generation of Chinese Internet users are no longer content with online gaming or shopping, but they are seeking to express themselves and to be heard by the world.
不管是上下班高峰时间挤在拥挤的地铁上，或者是在网络咖啡屋里玩网游，还是工作时查看电子邮件，有一件事是肯定的——中国人群的联系越来越紧密。但是正如Zhao Yunjie发现的，中国当代的因特网用户已不再满足于网游或网购了，而是一直在想方设法把自己的想法传递给世人听。

Sina Weibo, the Chinese version of twitter has just celebrated its second birthday. In such short time, it has become the most popular social network in China.
中国版的推特，新浪微博刚刚过完它的第二个生日。在这么短的时间内，它已经成为中国最受欢迎的社交网络。

Weibo literally translates to "micro-blogging". With its red eye logo, the company has reshaped China's digital landscape, just like Facebook or Twitter has done worldwide.
微博，字面上翻译为“micro-blogging”。新浪公司用其红色眼睛的标志重塑了一道中国数码风景，就像Facebook或Twitter在全世界范围做的那样。

Today, over one hundred million registered users spend time on Weibo everyday, where they chat with friends, post pictures, and comment on the latest news stories. Ji Yunping, a Weibo user, said, "I use my Weibo account to see what messages entrepreneurs post or to find out information about my favorite celebrities."
现今，每天有超过一亿的注册用户花时间在微博上与朋友聊天、张贴图片、评论最新的新闻报道。微博用户Ji Yunping表示：“我用我的微博账号来看看企业家发布了什么消息，或者了解一些我喜欢的名人的信息。”

Not everything on Weibo is easy and casual. Strong opinions are expressed on the website every time an important event takes place. The most recent case was the deadly July 23rd train crash.
微博上的每件事并不都是容易和随便的。无论何时，当重大的事情发生时，微博上都有激烈的言论。最近的一个例子是7月23日严重的列车撞车事故。

Ten minutes after the crash, a young female passenger updated her microblog in a desperate call for help. Her post was one of the first reports of the accident that reached the outside world. And it was after seeing the news on Weibo that many locals rushed to donate blood.
在撞车事故发生10分钟之后，一名年轻的女乘客更新她的微博，发出危急的求救信号。她发布的内容是该事故第一个到达外界的报道。正是看了微博上的新闻之后，很多当地人冲去献血。

Another example happened just weeks before. A 20-year-old girl claiming to be the general manager of the country's national Red Cross Society, exhibited her luxurious lifestyle on Weibo. The case triggered great concern among microbloggers about whether their donations are being misused. Discussions on the Internet were so intense that the debate soon spilt over into traditional media and an investigation has now been launched.
另一个例子是数星期前发生的。一名20岁的女孩，声称自己是中国国家红十字会总经理，并在微博上炫耀其奢侈的生活方式。该事件在微博中引起了极大的担忧，他们担忧他们捐的款是否被滥用。网上的争论是如此激烈，以至于该争论很快扩展到传统媒体中，现在已经开展调查。

Microblogs can sometimes also help save lives. In January, a professor from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences set up an Internet campaign against child-trafficking. The idea is simple: Microbloggers take photos of young beggars they see in the street and upload them to a Weibo accounts.
微博有时候也可以挽救生命。一月份，中国社会科学院的一名教授成立了一个反对贩卖儿童的网络运动。该做法很简单：微博用户给他们在街上看到的小乞丐拍照，然后把照片上传到一个微博账号上。

Seven-year-old Peng Wenle was saved thanks to this. He was kidnapped three years ago outside his father's store in the city of Shenzhen. After many false leads, the boy's dad turned to the professor's microblog and after more than 6,000 photos were posted online, father and son were finally been reunited.
七岁的Peng Wenle就是多亏这次活动才被救的。三年前，他在深圳市他爸爸的商店门口被拐走。在收到很多错误的线索之后，男孩的爸爸把目光投向教授的微博，在6000多张照片被张贴到网上之后，父子终于团聚了。

With over 470 million Internet users, China has long-since grown accustomed to the rising popularity of social networking sites. Before Weibo, there were renren and kaixin, two "facebook" style real-name-based websites.
有着4.7亿的因特网用户，中国早已习惯社交网站的日益流行。在新浪微博之前，还有人人和开心这两个“Facebook”风格的实名制网站。

After just two years in the market, Weibo dominates the market. In the online world, things change fast and Weibo could be replaced one day soon but the importance of social networks and the lessons of citizenship they teach will undoubtedly remain.
进入市场仅仅两年之后，新浪微博成为市场的主导。在网络世界里，事物变得很快，有一天，新浪微博可能很快就被代替了，但是社交网络的重要性以及它们教的公民权课程将会保留下来，这是毋庸置疑的。