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內容簡介：
What would happen if Facebook were turned off?
如果停用臉書，會發什麼？
Facebook is blamed forall sorts of social horrors: from addiction and bullying to the enabling ofgenocide. New research suggests such accusations are not entirely without merit. It may be time to consider what life without Facebook would be like.
從成癮和欺凌，到使種族滅絕成為可能，臉書因為造成各種社會恐慌而受到責難。新的研究表明，這些指責並非毫無價值。也許是時候該考慮一下，沒有臉書的生活會變怎樣了。
Several thousand Facebookers were recruitedand sorted intocontrol and treatment groups. Members of the treatment group were asked to deactivate their Facebook profiles for four weeks in late 2018.
數千名臉書用戶被招募參加實驗，並被分為對照組和實驗組。實驗組成員被要求在2018年底停用他們的臉書帳號四個星期。
Those booted offenjoyed an additional hour of free time on average. They consumed much less news, and were thus less aware of events but also less polarised in their views about them than those still on the network. Leaving Facebook boosted self-reported happiness and reduced feelings of depression and anxiety.
Even so, most are loth tocall it quitsentirely. That reluctance would seem to indicate that Facebook, despite its problems, generates lots of value for consumers, which would presumably vanish were the network to disappear.
那些被迫停用臉書的人平均額外享有一小時的空閒時間。相比那些仍在使用臉書的人，他們獲取到的新聞更少，因此對新聞事件的了解程度也更低，並且對這些事件的看法也不那麼的兩極分化。離開臉書提高了他們自我覺察到的幸福感，也減少了抑鬱和焦慮的情緒。
即便如此，大多數人也不願意完全棄用臉書。這種不情願的態度似乎表明，儘管臉書存在問題，但它為消費者創造了許多價值。如果這個社交網絡平臺消失了，這種價值可能就不復存在了。
How could that be? A social network thrivesthanks to increasing returns to scale. The more people on a network, the more potential connections it facilitates and the larger its value to each user. Such effects helped power Facebook’s rise. You could say Facebook is the world’s first digital megacity, thronging with people, enabling huge amounts of human contact, both good and bad.
怎麼會這樣呢？由於規模報酬遞增，社交網絡得以蓬勃發展。使用一個網絡的人越多，它能促成的潛在聯繫就越多，對於它的每個用戶而言，這個網絡的價值就越高。這些效應助推了臉書的崛起。你可以說，臉書是世界上第一個數位化大都市，人們蜂擁而至，使得大量的、不論好壞的社交聯繫成為了可能。
詞彙詳解：
be blamed for：因……而受責罰
social horrors: 社會恐慌
bully: /bl/ bully is someone who uses their strength or power to hurt or frighten other people. 恃強凌弱者
bullying: n. 恃強欺弱的行為
genocide: /dnsad/ Genocide is the deliberate murder of a whole community or race. 大屠殺; 種族滅絕
enable: /nebl/ If someone or something enables you to do a particular thing, they give you the opportunity to do it. 使…能夠，使…具有某種能力
The new test should enable doctors to detect the disease early.
新的檢驗使醫生能在早期發現該種疾病。
enable…of…: 使…能夠…
accusation: /kjzen/ n. 控告，指控；譴責
merit: /mrt/
If something has merit, it has good or worthwhile qualities. 優點; 價值
例：The argument seemed to have considerable merit.這個論點似乎有相當大的價值。
recruite: /rkrut/
If you recruit people for an organization, you select them and persuade them to join it or work for it. 招收; 招募
be sorted into…: 被分為…
control and treatment groups.: 對照組和實驗組
deactivate: /diktvet/ vt. 使無效；使不活動，解除，停用
profile: 側面；輪廓；配置文件
boot /but/ vt. 引導；踢；解僱；使穿靴
be booted off: 被停用，解僱和拋棄
much less news: 更少的新聞
polarize：If something polarizes people or if something polarizes, two separate groups are formed with opposite opinions or positions. 使兩級分化; 兩級分化
be polarized in…：在…兩極分化
loath /lθ/ =loth
be loth to do…: 不願意做…
If you are loath to do something, you do not want to do it. 不情願的
call it quits停止工作；終止關係; 棄用
After five years of marriage, they suddenly decided to call it quits. 在經歷了五年的婚姻後， 他們突然決定終止婚姻關係。
Reluctance /r'lkt()ns / 磁阻；勉強；不情願
despite its problems, …: 儘管…存在問題
presumably :/ pr'zumbli / adv. 大概；推測起來；可假定
How could that be? 怎麼會這樣呢？
Thrive: /θrav/ vt.興旺發達; 茁壯成長，vi喜歡; 從容應對 (尤指別人不喜歡或認為困難的事)
例：Many people thrive on a stressful lifestyle.
許多人喜歡有壓力的生活方式。
Facilitate：/fsltet/ To facilitate an action or process, especially one that you would like to happen, means to make it easier or more likely to happen. 促進
Power：The device or fuel that powers a machine provides the energy that the machine needs in order to work. 為…提供動力
例：The "flywheel" battery, it is said, could power an electric car for 600 miles on a single charge.
據說，「飛輪」電池每充電一次可驅動一輛電動汽車行駛600英裡。
megacity： /mɡst/ a city with over 10 million inhabitants ( 超過1000萬人口的)大城市
例：digital megacity 數位化大都市
Throng：/θr/ n. 人群；眾多 vi. 蜂擁而至；群集
例：The crowds thronged into the stadium.
人群湧進了體育館。