网络口水战 战火蔓延到现实世界

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，（美国）流行文化圈和政坛都燃起了一场战火。怒火发酵、谩骂纷飞、敌意从四面八方涌来——而这些大部分都被抛到了手机和电脑屏幕上。

There was the DC vs Marvel *debacle as web users hotly debated comic-book franchises.

网友们热议DC漫画与漫威漫画之间的竞争。

Old-school Ghostbusters fans spoke viciously from behind their keyboards about the new *reboot’s female stars.

《捉鬼敢死队》的一些粉丝化身键盘侠，对新启用的女星恶言相向。

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian locked horns with Taylor Swift in a Twitter *feud involving song lyrics and Snapchat videos.

坎耶•维斯特和金•卡戴珊夫妇在推特上与泰勒•斯威夫特因一些歌词和阅后即焚小视频而争吵不休。

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.

美国总统竞选则更像是一场互揭老底的比赛，而非努力争取这个世界大国的领导权。

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，现在整个世界似乎都越来越无可救药，充斥着无穷无尽的冲突和愤怒，美国电影网站Birth.Movies.Death的主编德温•法拉奇说道。

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.

人们早就抱有强烈的偏激，但却往往找不到渠道去表达，只能在晚饭时找朋友发泄，或是在寄邮件时向可怜的邮局女柜员吐苦水。

But the *anonymity, ease of use and instant worldwide audience of social media has changed all that.

然而，社交媒体的匿名性、便捷性和易用性将这一切都改变了。

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.

我有一个爱发牢骚的伯祖父，我们这些家人是唯一能听他发牢骚的，美国雪城大学电视与流行文化教授罗伯特•汤普森说道。

Now everyone would hear about it.

而现在，所有人都能充当他的听众。

The social media space has become free of age boundaries, which in turn has led to an *influx of *trolls, according to Faraci.

法拉奇认为，社交媒体并无年龄的界限，而这也带来了大量恶意挑衅的帖子。

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.

一名14岁的少年可以在网上和一位成人发生争执，而后者却对此一无所知，即便这位少年的头像是只宠物小精灵。

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.

而成年人之间也无法免于争吵——只要随意关注一位名人的推特账号，不久你便会看到一场好戏。

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.

如果名流政客们——时至今日已他们不再与众不同——总是消极待世，人们便会觉得，这种现状、这种处事方式，是一种可接受的行为方式，Indiewire.com 网站的电影编辑凯特•厄兰说道。

So do we just all need to hug it out?

所以，我们仅仅是需要拥释前嫌吗？

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.

最终，人们可能对此感到无比厌倦，这变的一点都不酷，人们对于大家的观点和情感毫不尊重，汤普森说道。

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.

厄兰提出的三件事，或许有助于我们扭转网络上的这种歪风：看好电影，更恰当地讨论，少花点时间在社交媒体上。

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.

但法拉奇则称，人们在社交媒体上和他人交流时，如果能意识到他们正在和活生生的人对话，或许他们便不会如此充满敌意。

We’re not just talking to an *avatar or a statement, he says.

我们并不是在和一个头像或是一段话对话，他说道。

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.

我们是在和一个活生生的人交流。他们今早也会起床、吃早饭，或许他们有些不顺，又或许他们好运当头。但在他们的这些观念之外，他们真实地存在并生活着。