Steven Fink recently received an unsolicited email containing nude photos of a woman whose jilted ex-boyfriend wanted to embarrass her. The guy presumably hoped these private photos would go viral online, and now countless strangers are obliging him in his mean-spirited campaign.

　　史蒂芬?芬克(Steven Fink)最近收到一封陌生郵件，里頭有一名女子的幾張裸照，遭到這名女子拋棄的前男友想羞辱她。那個人想來是希望這些私密照片能在網上廣為傳播；而現在無數陌生人也確實在充當幫兇，參與到他這個居心不良的行為當中。

　　In the pre-Internet age, the dumped boyfriend may have expressed his anger by throwing darts at her photo. These days, however, the outlets for vindictiveness have multiplied almost to infinity -- and your reputation is more fragile than ever.

　　在互聯網時代之前，男人被甩后可能會對著前女友的照片擲飛鏢，以此泄憤。但如今，發泄的途徑近乎無窮無盡──人們的名譽變得前所未有的易受攻擊。

   All of us now live under the threat of easy and instant humiliation. It's no longer just celebrities and business executives who need to think about aggressive reputation-protection and face-saving techniques.

　　羞辱別人變得如此簡便和快捷，而我們每個人都活在這種威脅之下。以前只有名人和公司高管需要考慮采取積極措施保護自己名譽，學習挽回臉面的技巧；但現在，這已成為一種大眾需求。 
    　Not long ago, people who routinely plugged their own names into online search engines were thought to be engaging in 'vanity Googling.' These days, it is an act of self-preservation. 'Google yourself at least once a week,' advises Richard Levick, who heads a strategic communications firm in Washington, D.C. 'You need to track what's being said about you' on blogs, message boards and social-networking websites.

　　不久前，總在網絡搜索引擎查詢自己名字的行為被視為虛榮心使然。如今，這是一種自我保護的手段。華盛頓一家公關公司的負責人理查德?萊維克(Richard Levick)說，每周至少搜索一次你的名字，隨時留心關于你的網上言論，無論是在博客、論壇，還是在交友網站上。

　　Any time you leave your house, you could be targeted. Drive over to Wal-Mart for a gallon of milk and you may end up on PeopleofWalmart.com. The site -- not, needless to say, affiliated with the retailer -- runs smirk-inducing photos of overweight or oddly dressed shoppers, most of them sent in by other shoppers.

　　只要你走出家門，也許就會成為別人的目標。開車去沃爾瑪(Wal-Mart)買盒牛奶，你的照片就可能被登在網上。這個網站并不是沃爾瑪搞的，主要張貼一些肥胖人士或奇裝異服的沃爾瑪購物者的搞笑照片，大多是其他購物者拍攝并上傳的。

　　Such sites raise the question: Have we become a more malicious society? There are differing views.

　　這類網站不禁讓我們提出一個疑問：我們這個社會是不是變得越來越惡毒了？對此，人們的觀點不一。 

    'Human nature hasn't changed,' says Jonathan Bernstein, a crisis consultant in Los Angeles. 'There have always been people whose aim in life was to cause pain to others. If they saw people embarrassing themselves, they got pleasure in sharing that information. Before the Internet, they had to gossip with their neighbors. Now they can gossip with the world.'

　　“人性并沒有改變，”洛杉磯危機管理顧問喬納森?伯恩斯坦(Jonathan Bernstein)說，“總有這樣一種人，存在的目的就是給他人帶來痛苦。如果他們看到別人的尷尬之事，就想搞得盡人皆知，并以此為樂。沒有互聯網的時候，他們只能跟鄰居竊竊私語；而現在，他們可以跟全世界的人八卦一下。”

　　Others argue that there has been a ratcheting up of meanness -- that the changes in technology have made us nastier and more cynical. 'It's like a blood sport,' says Mr. Fink, who runs a crisis-management firm in Los Angeles. 'It feels like everyone has their cellphone out, ready to take a photo that will hurt someone else.'

　　另一種觀點認為，人性的卑鄙一面確實在不斷滋生壯大──科技進步讓人們變得更為齷齪，更加玩世不恭。“這是一種傷人的消遣，”在洛杉磯經營一家危機管理公司的芬克說，“似乎每個人都拿著手機，隨時準備拍下一些給他人帶來不利影響的照片。”

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