導讀：近期，社交媒體上的“口水戰”可謂是層出不窮：侃爺和霉霉的口水戰數度升級、DC和漫威大戰一觸即發……那么，究竟為何社交媒體上會頻發“口水戰”甚至是網絡暴力呢？

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）流行文化圈和政壇都燃起了一場戰火。怒火發酵、謾罵紛飛、敵意從四面八方涌來——而這些大部分都被拋到了手機和電腦屏幕上。

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.

網友們熱議DC漫畫與漫威漫畫之間的競爭。《捉鬼敢死隊》的一些粉絲化身鍵盤俠，對新啟用的女星惡言相向。坎耶?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”小視頻而爭吵不休。美國總統競選則更像是一場互揭老底的比賽，而非努力爭取這個世界大國的領導權。

“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，現在整個世界似乎都越來越無可救藥，充斥著無窮無盡的沖突和憤怒，”美國電影網站Birth.Movies.Death的主編德溫?法拉奇說道。

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.

人們早就抱有強烈的偏激，但卻往往找不到渠道去表達，只能在晚飯時找朋友發泄，或是在寄郵件時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.”

“我有一個愛發牢騷的伯祖父，我們這些家人是唯一能聽他發牢騷的，”美國雪城大學電視與流行文化教授羅伯特?湯普森說道。“而現在，所有人都能充當他的聽眾。”

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.

法拉奇認為，社交媒體并無年齡的界限，而這也帶來了大量惡意挑釁的帖子。一名14歲的少年可以在網上和一位成人發生爭執，而后者卻對此一無所知，即便這位少年的頭像是只“寵物小精靈”。而成年人之間也無法免于爭吵——只要隨意關注一位名人的推特賬號，不久你便會看到一場好戲。“如果名流政客們——時至今日已他們不再與眾不同——總是消極待世，人們便會覺得，這種現狀、這種處事方式，是一種可接受的行為方式，”Indiewire.com 網站的電影編輯凱特?厄蘭說道。

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，人們可能對此感到無比厭倦，這變的一點都不酷，人們對于大家的觀點和情感毫不尊重，”湯普森說道。

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網絡上的這種歪風：“看好電影，更恰當地討論，少花點時間在社交媒體上。”但法拉奇則稱，人們在社交媒體上和他人交流時，如果能意識到他們正在和活生生的人對話，或許他們便不會如此充滿敵意。

“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頭像或是一段話對話，”他說道。“我們是在和一個活生生的人交流。他們今早也會起床、吃早飯，或許他們有些不順，又或許他們好運當頭。但在他們的這些觀念之外，他們真實地存在并生活著。”

導讀：近期，社交媒體上的“口水戰”可謂是層出不窮：侃爺和霉霉的口水戰數度升級、DC和漫威大戰一觸即發……那么，究竟為何社交媒體上會頻發“口水戰”甚至是網絡暴力呢？

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）流行文化圈和政壇都燃起了一場戰火。怒火發酵、謾罵紛飛、敵意從四面八方涌來——而這些大部分都被拋到了手機和電腦屏幕上。

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.

網友們熱議DC漫畫與漫威漫畫之間的競爭。《捉鬼敢死隊》的一些粉絲化身鍵盤俠，對新啟用的女星惡言相向。坎耶?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”小視頻而爭吵不休。美國總統競選則更像是一場互揭老底的比賽，而非努力爭取這個世界大國的領導權。

“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，現在整個世界似乎都越來越無可救藥，充斥著無窮無盡的沖突和憤怒，”美國電影網站Birth.Movies.Death的主編德溫?法拉奇說道。

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.

人們早就抱有強烈的偏激，但卻往往找不到渠道去表達，只能在晚飯時找朋友發泄，或是在寄郵件時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.”

“我有一個愛發牢騷的伯祖父，我們這些家人是唯一能聽他發牢騷的，”美國雪城大學電視與流行文化教授羅伯特?湯普森說道。“而現在，所有人都能充當他的聽眾。”

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.

法拉奇認為，社交媒體并無年齡的界限，而這也帶來了大量惡意挑釁的帖子。一名14歲的少年可以在網上和一位成人發生爭執，而后者卻對此一無所知，即便這位少年的頭像是只“寵物小精靈”。而成年人之間也無法免于爭吵——只要隨意關注一位名人的推特賬號，不久你便會看到一場好戲。“如果名流政客們——時至今日已他們不再與眾不同——總是消極待世，人們便會覺得，這種現狀、這種處事方式，是一種可接受的行為方式，”Indiewire.com 網站的電影編輯凱特?厄蘭說道。

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，人們可能對此感到無比厭倦，這變的一點都不酷，人們對于大家的觀點和情感毫不尊重，”湯普森說道。

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網絡上的這種歪風：“看好電影，更恰當地討論，少花點時間在社交媒體上。”但法拉奇則稱，人們在社交媒體上和他人交流時，如果能意識到他們正在和活生生的人對話，或許他們便不會如此充滿敵意。

“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頭像或是一段話對話，”他說道。“我們是在和一個活生生的人交流。他們今早也會起床、吃早飯，或許他們有些不順，又或許他們好運當頭。但在他們的這些觀念之外，他們真實地存在并生活著。”