A micro blog with space for 140 Chinese characters had once been a source of endless amusement for Wang Ganghui, a senior majoring in biochemistry at Ji’nan University.
对于在暨南大学主修生物化学专业的大四学生王刚辉(音译)来说，能够容纳140个汉字的微博曾是带给他无限快乐的源泉。
Until last month, the 21-year-old had believed that he was part of a broader movment, one of enlightenment and open criticism. Recently, however, Wang’s micro blog is silent.
直到上个月，21岁的他还相信自己是这项广泛的微博运动的参与者，以为自己是一个思想开明且可以公开发起声讨的一份子。然而最近他的微博却沉默了。
The reason? It’s because of a woman known as “Zhao Meimei”. Earlier this month, Wang joined many other users to criticize the US-based student for her wealthy overseas life, because they thought her money came from corruption since her mother was a local official.
究竟是什么原因呢?全是因为一位被人们称为“赵美美”的女士。本月月初，王刚辉同其他网友一起声讨这位留美学生在国外的奢华生活，因为他们认为她的钱都来自于贪污腐败，只因她的妈妈是一名地方官员。
But later Wang found out that the woman student was actually being supported by her father, a hard-working businessman.
但后来王刚辉发现，事实上那名女学生是由她的父亲、一位刻苦工作的商人供读的。
“I felt guilty… Someone hid part of the truth to make a conflict. The worst thing is – I did not even have a chance to apologize to her,” he says.
“我有一种负罪感……有人掩盖了部分事实，目的是为了制造事端。最糟糕的是，我甚至连向她道歉的机会都没有，”他说。
Wang is not the only young Internet user to be confounded by an online world made up entirely of fragmented information.
同很多年轻网友一样，王刚辉被全由支离破碎的信息组成的网络世界给弄糊涂了。
This year saw a phenomenal boom in micro-blogging in both private and public life.
今年，无论是在私人还是公众生活中，人们都清楚看到了微博的繁荣壮大。
According to statistics from the International Communication Office of the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee last month, the number of micro bloggers in China now exceed 300 million.
根据中央外宣办上个月公布的数据显示，现在中国的微博用户超过3亿人。
For private users, a micro blog can provide real-time updates from anyone a user chooses to “follow”. These can range from family members to celebrities. Information can instantly be spread through “re-tweeting”.
对于私人用户来说，微博可以提供来自于你所关注的任何人实时更新的消息，包括家庭成员和明星。这些信息可以通过被转发而迅速传播开来。
In the public sphere however, a micro blog can also become a link between users and the authorities.
而在公众领域里，微博可以成为连接用户同政府部门的纽带。
According to an annual government affairs report on micro blogs, over 20,000 governmental agencies in China launched official accounts this year, increasing 200 percent from last year.
据微博上的一份政府年度工作报告显示，今年中国有超过2万个政府机构开通了自己的官方微博，比去年增长了两倍。
However, with the increasing popularity of micro blogs comes a number of problems.
然而，伴随着微博的人气与日俱增，一系列问题也随之而来。
Chen Changfeng, deputy director of the School of Journalism and Communication at Tsinghua University, highlighted two major types of misbehavior that can occur on micro blogs and upset young users.
清华大学新闻与传播学院的副院长陈昌凤强调了微博上的两类主要不良品行，它们可能会扰乱年轻用户。
“Some marketers engage in sensational promotion in an effort to generate hype for some person or product; others use the free channel to manufacture and spread fake news and rumors like a virus,” Chen says.
“一些从事鼓吹式宣传的营销人员会极力地为一些人或产品进行大肆宣传;另一些人则会利用这个免费的渠道来捏造虚假新闻以及谣言，并使得它们像病毒一样传播开来。”陈昌凤副院长表示。
He says that an average micro blogger receives and transmits info, but when faced with such a vast amount of information, lacks the ability to discern the difference between the real and the fake stories.
（责任编辑:admin）
