雙語閱讀：我們爲什麼那麼愛自拍

摘要：不論是在日常的臥室或辦公室，還是爲了紀念像沙灘度假或高中畢業舞會這樣的特殊場合，我們都時時不忘自拍。“自拍”一詞在字典中也有一席之地，緊鄰着“自我”和“自私”。

We do it from the mundane comfort of our bedrooms and offices and to commemorate special occasions, like a beach vacation or the high school prom. It has its own spot in the dictionary, right next to "selfhood" and "selfish."

And this year it earned its place as the Oxford English Dictionary's 2013 Word Of The Year. The selfie has taken over our culture -- and our smartphones.

不論是在日常的臥室或辦公室，還是爲了紀念像沙灘度假或高中畢業舞會這樣的特殊場合，我們都時時不忘自拍。“自拍”一詞在字典中也有一席之地，緊鄰着“自我”和“自私”。

我們爲什麼那麼愛自拍

今年，“自拍”還被牛津英語字典列爲“2013年度詞語”。可以說，自拍已經席捲了我們的文化，以及我們的智能手機。

The rise of the selfie has become universal -- between presidents, popes, celebrities and citizens alike -- and the trend is only continuing to grow.

人們對自拍的熱情已經遍佈各行各業，從總統、教皇、明星到普通的民衆無一例外，並且有愈演愈烈的趨勢。

A recent survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 54 percent of Internet users have posted original photos online. And of those hundreds of millions of photos, many are of the self-depicting variety.

最近一項由美國調研機構皮尤組織的調查顯示，54%的網民曾將拍好的原圖直接上傳。在這億萬張照片中，很大一部分是網友各式各樣的自拍照。

For example, currently there are nearly 62 million tagged selfie photos on Instagram, the social media tool that has significantly contributed to the personal portrait's popularity. That figure, which continues to rise every day, doesn't even begin to include the selfies shared on Facebook and Twitter.

比如目前，對個人上傳自拍張風潮功不可沒的社交媒體工具Instagram上有6200萬標籤爲“自拍”的圖片。這個每天都在刷新的數字甚至還不包括在Facebook和Twitter上轉發的圖片。

Despite its dictionary definition, which describes the selfie as "a photograph taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website," the first mention of the word can be traced back to an Australian online forum from 2002 -- long before the days of the iPhone's front-facing cameras and the popularity of social media.

儘管“自拍”一詞在字典裏的解釋是“一種通常用智能手機或網絡攝像頭爲自己拍照並上傳至社交媒體網站的照片”。這個詞語的首次出現卻可以追溯到2002年在澳大利亞舉辦的一次網絡論壇，那時還遠沒有蘋果手機的前置攝像頭，社交媒體也沒有那麼發達。

What makes the selfie so captivating -- and why do we feel compelled to take one? According to Dr. Pamela Rutledge, psychologist and director of the Media Psychology Research Center, the desire to take, post and get "likes" on selfies goes back to a biological behavior all humans are wired for.

是什麼讓自拍如此有吸引力?爲什麼我們對自拍欲罷不能?媒體心理學研究中心主任、心理學家拉特里奇博士認爲，自拍、上傳、求讚的心理是我們人類所共有的一種生物學行爲。

"I think it influences our sense of social connection in the same way as it does when you go to a party and people say 'Oh I love your dress,'" Rutledge told The Huffington Post. "Biological, social validation is a real need and there is even an area of the brain that is dedicated to social activity."

拉特里奇博士告訴《赫芬頓郵報》：“我認爲就像你去派對希望聽到別人說‘哦，我好喜歡你的裙子’一樣，自拍會在社交上影響我們。從生物學角度來說，我們確實需要社會認知度，人腦中甚至有一塊區域專門分管社交活動。”

There is a way to adapt to the growing selfie culture. Whether you're a selfie novice or an advanced poster, there are always things to be mindful of when you're posting, Rutledge advises. She offered two main principles to follow when it comes to posting on social media:

適應日益壯大的自拍文化是有方法的。拉特里奇建議，不論你初涉自拍界還是已對自拍頗有心得，上傳自拍照的時候都應該留心。關於在社交媒體上上傳自拍照，她提供了兩大主要原則：

Grandmother Rule

奶奶原則

"Don't post anything online, whether text or visual, that you don't want grandmother or future employer to see," Rutledge said. "Selfies especially."

“不管是文字的還是圖片的，不要把什麼都一股腦兒放上網;有些東西你是不會想讓你的奶奶或未來的老闆看到的。自拍照尤其要注意。”

Elevator Rule

電梯原則

"You wouldn't say something in an elevator that you or no one else wants to hear -- the whole world of social media is an elevator," Rutledge said. "Be aware of the breadth of platform. It's easy to think you're sharing a photo with a few people, but Instagram is public and people can stumble across things."

“在電梯裏你是不會說一些你自己或者其他人不想聽到的東西的——整個社交媒體就是一個大電梯。要注意舞臺的寬度。你很容易想當然地認爲你僅僅是在和少數人分享圖片，但實際上照片分享應用Instagram是公開的，人們隨時可能偶爾發現什麼。”