马克有500个网友，他每天都要花很多时间上网，虽然他有很多网友，但他也变得越来越孤单。

So Close, Yet So Far 那么近又那么远

Mark never stops socialising with his friends online. But he’s also never felt more alone.

马克永远不会停止与他的朋友在线社交。但是他也从未感到如此孤单。

Where am I? What am I doing? If you’re one of my 500 friends online, you’ll always be the first to know. My phone and laptop are never out of touching distance, so I’m constantly posting updates on social media – whether I’m having a coffee, on my way to school, watching TV … even when I’m in the shower. As soon as I open my eyes in the morning, I check through all my social networking apps, read my emails and answer text messages. I do the same thing all over again while I’m having breakfast.

我在哪里？我在做什么？如果你是我的500个在线好友之一，那么你将永远是第一个知道我在哪及在干嘛的人。我的手机和笔记本电脑永远不会超出可视范围，所以我会不断在社交媒体上发布更新状态——无论是喝咖啡，去学校的路上，看电视……甚至是在洗澡时。早上睁开眼睛，我便会检查所有社交网络应用程序，阅读电子邮件并回复短信。我吃早饭的时候，我会一遍又一遍地做同样的事情。

I live in a university dorm with a couple of great roommates. I have a never-ending flow of messages and updates from all the people I associate with online. Yet the truth of the matter is: I feel lonely.

我住在大学宿舍，有几个室友。从手机的社交媒体里，我每天都接收到源源不断的信息和状态。然而，事情的真相是：我感到孤独。

I’m barely the only person who feels this way. According to research, over two-thirds of young people find it easier to make friends online than it is “in real life”. I’m way beyond a shy or reserved person, but I’m wired up every day, like most of my friends. On the surface, I have an active social life.

我几乎不是唯一这样的人。根据研究，超过三分之二的年轻人发现在网上结交朋友比在“现实生活中”更容易。我远远超出了一个害羞或内向的人设，但我却像大多数朋友一样每天都在忙碌。表面上，我过着积极的社交生活。

I attend parties and play sports but I’m always distracted. They say that phones bring people closer together but in reality, my mind is always a million miles away. I obsess over exactly how many followers I have on my account, but I can’t remember the birthdays of some of my oldest mates.

我参加聚会和参加体育运动，但我总是分心。他们说电话将人们拉近了距离，但实际上，我的头脑始终在百万英里之外。我非常迷恋帐户上有多少追随者，但是我不记得我一些老朋友的生日。

Social networking dominates my life in so many ways. Sometimes I set deadlines for myself: I will start doing my homework at 8 pm, and aim to finish in two hours. At 7.50 pm, I’m still scrolling through my friends’ silly posts and photos. Before I know it, it’s 9.30 pm and I still haven’t moved an inch from the sofa.

社交网络在很多方面主导着我的生活。有时我会为自己设定截止日期：我将从晚上8点开始做作业，并计划在两个小时内完成。晚上7点50，我仍在浏览朋友的愚蠢帖子和照片。据我所知，现在是晚上9点30，而且我还没有离开沙发一英寸。

I download song after song, video after video, but I’m not really paying attention. The stimulation is in chasing after the next song rather than truly enjoying it. My friends try to drag me away from my phone, but as soon as I’m alone again, I’m desperate to get back to the online world and the intense activity that it provides.

我不断地下载歌曲，再不断地下载视频，但我并不是很在意下载的是什么。唯一的刺激在于追逐下一首歌，而不是真正享受它。我的朋友们试图将我从手机中拉开，但是一旦我回到一个人的状态，我就迫不及待地想回到网络世界及其带来的激烈活动中。

I constantly feel depressed, dissatisfied and alone. Since I spend so much time socialising online, I keep delaying things that are important in my real life: homework, tasks, connecting with my friends and family members in a meaningful way. It’s funny that my friends and I chatter away online so much, but we end up having nothing to say when we meet.

我不断感到沮丧，不满和孤独。由于我花了很多时间进行在线社交，因此我一直在拖延现实生活中重要的事情：作业，任务，以有意义的方式与朋友和家人联系。很可笑的是，我和我的朋友们在网上闲聊很多话说，但是当我们见面时，我们最终无话可说。

A few days ago, I went out for a dinner get-together with some friends. My best friend left the table for 30 minutes because he had to take a call. Some spent the dinner bent over their phones, texting friends online but ignoring the ones who sat right in front of them. And the extraordinary thing is nobody thought this was rude; it’s just how life is nowadays.

几天前，我和一些朋友一起出去吃晚饭。我最好的朋友离开餐桌30分钟，因为他要接个电话。有些人一晚上都在玩手机上，在网上给朋友发短信，却无视坐在他们面前的朋友。不寻常的是，并没有人认为这是不礼貌的。这就是现代的生活。

On a family holiday last summer, my sister spent all her time complaining that she needed to charge her phone. When it was charged, she just spent hours reading about her favourite popstar; not once did she lift her head to enjoy the view outside her window.

去年夏天，在一次家庭度假中，我姐姐无时无刻都在抱怨她需要给手机充电。等充完电后，她花了几个小时阅读有关自己喜欢的流行歌星的信息。她没有一次抬起头去欣赏窗外的景色。

What is really worrying is that no one I know, including myself, could go cold turkey. I can’t even imagine going without social networking for a week – think of all the important appointments, invitations and news updates you would miss! Alcoholics who want to quit drinking can avoid booze, but how do we give up our phones? After all, I need it for my studies because my teachers and classmates need to contact me at any time.

真正令人担忧的是，我认识的任何人，包括我自己，都不可能快速彻底地戒掉网络。我甚至无法想象一个星期没有社交网络——想想你会错过的所有重要约会，邀请和新闻更新！想要戒酒的酒鬼可以避免酗酒，但是我们如何放弃手机呢？毕竟，我的学习需要它，因为我的老师和同学需要随时与我联系。

So, that’s the problem with social networking. We’re hard-wired in, but we’re more disconnected than ever.

所以，这就是社交网络的问题。我们已经深深地捆绑到了网络世界，但与以往相比，人与人之间的距离却更加遥远了。