科技公司用Emoji綁架了我們嗎
At last week’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple’s annual showcase of new tech, the company announced a special texting feature coming soon to iPhones near you.
上週，在蘋果(Apple)的年度新技術展示會——全球開發者大會(Worldwide Developers Conference)上，該公司宣佈，一項特殊的輸入功能將很快出現在你身邊的iPhone上。
“You know, sometimes you’ve typed a whole message and you realize at the end that you’re entirely lacking in emojification,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president for software engineering. “So we provided the solution: When you tap on the emoji button, we’ll highlight all the emojifiable words there, and you can just tap, tap, tap, tap and emojify.”
“你知道，有時你打了一大段文字，最後才發現你完全沒用表情符號，”蘋果的軟件工程高級副總裁克雷格·費代裏吉(Craig Federighi)說，“所以，我們提供了一個解決方案：當你點擊表情符號按鈕時，我們會突出顯示所有可以換成表情符號的文字，然後你就點，點，點，它們就變成表情符號了。”
“Children of tomorrow will have no understanding of the English language,” Federighi said jokingly.
“以後的孩子就完全不懂英語了，”費代裏吉開玩笑說。
But Apple’s new emoji feature seems more likely to impede a different kind of skill: creating surprising, figurative and subversive forms of individual expression out of the digital ephemera that populate our devices. In a rush to harness the power of the web’s most evocative cultural units — emoji and their hyperactive cousins, GIFs — tech companies, corporate brands and entrepreneurial social media stars could risk inadvertently flattening the creative world that’s sprung up around them.
但是，蘋果的新表情符號功能似乎更可能妨礙另一種技能：在轉瞬即逝的網絡世界中，創造出人意料的、形象的、顛覆性的個性化表達形式。科技公司、公司品牌以及具有企業家精神的社交媒體明星在競相利用互聯網最形象的文化單元的力量——表情符號以及它極度活躍的表兄弟GIF——他們可能會無意中摧毀周圍興起的創意世界。
“There is a constant push and pull between people finding new ways to express themselves online, and companies trying to make money off that expression,” said Luke Stark, who studies digital communication and psychology.
“人們不斷尋找在網上表達自己的新方法，公司努力從中賺錢，這樣的拉鋸一直在持續，”研究數字傳播和心理學的盧克·斯塔克(Luke Stark)說。
Emoji have emerged as cultural forces in and of themselves. The crisp, candy-colored glyphs form a modern emotional palette. And it’s growing: On Tuesday, the Unicode Consortium, the body that standardizes emoji, will release 72 new ones that will soon make their way to our fingertips, including a black heart, a wilted flower and a pregnant woman.
表情符號本身已經成爲一種文化力量。這些糖果色的新鮮符號形成了現代情緒調色板。而且它還在發展：週二，表情符號標準化機構Unicode Consortium將發佈72個新符號，它們將很快出現在我們的指尖，包括一顆黑心、一朵枯萎的花朵以及一個懷孕的女人。
If emoji encourage visual puns and whimsical juxtapositions, GIFs inspire a sharp curatorial sensibility. The art lies in detecting the richest slices of popular media — film, TV or amateur video — and punctuating their greatness by setting them on infinite repeat. The best “reaction” GIFs — those chosen to inject human expression in online conversation — feel both emotionally familiar and visually surprising.
如果說表情符號鼓勵的是視覺上的雙關俏皮和異想天開的並置，那麼GIF激發的是銳利的策劃能力。它的藝術在於尋找大衆媒體上最精彩的片段——電影、電視或愛好者拍攝的視頻——通過無休止的重複突顯它們的精彩。最好的“反應”GIF——那些被用來把人的表情插入在線交談的GIF——給人帶來情緒上的親切感和視覺上的驚喜。
But when emojis and GIFs are filtered through the interests of tech companies, they often become slickly automated. In addition to Apple’s “emojification” feature, there is Twitter’s new GIF keyboard (a partnership with the GIF company Giphy, which has been pumped with $78.95 million worth of funding since 2013). It directs Twitter users to choose from a suite of emotional reactions, including “Agree,” “Applause,” “Aww” and “Eww,” which conjures a set of appropriate GIFs, front-loaded with those featuring the internet’s most GIFable celebrities, such as Beyoncé and Oprah.
但是當表情符號和GIF被科技公司的利益過濾之後，它們往往就會變成自動化的老套的東西。除了蘋果的emojification功能，還有Twitter的新GIF鍵盤（它是與GIF公司Giphy合作開發的，後者從2013年起被注入了7895萬美元的資金）。它引導Twitter用戶在一系列情緒反應圖標中進行選擇，包括“贊同”、“鼓掌”、“Aww”和“Eww”，它們能帶出一套相應的、提前下載好的GIF，頭像用的是互聯網上最適合做成GIF的名人，比如碧昂斯(Beyoncé)和奧普拉(Oprah)。
Buying into these features means giving tech companies the power to shape our creative expressions in ways that further enrich the companies themselves. A limited emotional range helps collect data on users’ states of mind. Twitter advertisers can now target users based on the emoji they tweet.
使用這些功能意味着我們允許科技公司塑造我們的創意表情，使得這些公司將來可以從中賺錢。用戶常用的有限的表情符號有助於這些公司收集關於用戶心態的數據。Twitter的廣告商現在可以根據用戶在Twitter上使用的表情符號鎖定目標用戶。
The commodification of digital culture has engendered more explicit corporate branding, too. On Snapchat, where users embellish their selfies with emoji, crayon scribbles, and elaborate “lenses” that cover their faces with virtual masks, marketers such as McDonalds are seizing the opportunity to write their messages across people’s faces.
數字文化的商品化也引發了更明顯的公司品牌推廣。Snapchat的用戶們用表情符號、蠟筆塗鴉和複雜的“透鏡”裝飾自拍照——“透鏡”是用虛擬面具遮蓋臉部，麥當勞(McDonalds)等商家利用這個機會把自己的信息寫在人臉上。
Even celebrities have tried to encode themselves. In December, Kim Kardashian West released her latest pioneering app, Kimoji, which serves up an alternative emoji set (and a suite of GIFs) designed around her own image. It inspired a boomlet of celebrity emoji offerings, including Stephen Curry’s StephMoji app, Amber Rose’s MuvaMoji, Justin Bieber’s Justmoji and the actor Ansel Elgort’s Anselfie. Even Drake’s dad has emoji now.
甚至連名人們也努力讓自己數碼化。去年12月，金·卡戴珊·韋斯特(Kim Kardashian West)發佈了自己最新的、開創性的應用程序Kimoji——根據她的形象設計的一套表情符號（以及一套GIF）。這引發了一陣名人表情符號熱潮，包括斯蒂芬·庫裏(Stephen Curry)的StephMoji應用程序，安伯·羅絲(Amber Rose)的MuvaMoji，賈斯汀·比伯(Justin Bieber)的Justmoji，以及演員安塞爾·埃爾格特(Ansel Elgort)的Anselfie。甚至連德雷克(Drake)的爸爸現在都有了表情符號。
With Kimoji, and its micro images of breasts and butts, Kardashian West isn’t just sexy: She represents sex itself. But as more stars jump on the bandwagon, these apps begin to represent little more than a branding opportunity: Ansel Elgort sticking out his tongue; Ansel Elgort pouting; Ansel Elgort wearing headphones.
Kimoji上有卡戴珊·韋斯特的胸部和臀部微型圖片——她不只是性感：她代表着性本身。但是隨着更多明星加入這一熱潮，這些應用程序開始僅僅淪爲品牌推廣機會：安塞爾·埃爾格特伸出舌頭；安塞爾·埃爾格特噘嘴；安塞爾·埃爾格特戴耳機。
Meanwhile, as traditional emoji expand beyond their Japanese roots, tech companies such as Apple, Microsoft and Google (all are voting members of Unicode) have become responsible for making cultural, and sometimes political, choices in determining which new emoji will make the cut.
與此同時，隨着傳統表情符號超越它們的日本起源，蘋果、微軟(Microsoft)和谷歌(Google)等科技公司（它們都是Unicode的投票成員）開始負責做出文化（有時是政治）選擇，決定哪些新表情符號合格。
Some additions to the emoji repertoire are informed by experts: Unicode has consulted the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for bird emoji advice. Others are culled from “popular requests from online communities” and proposals submitted by the public.
新增加的表情符號參考了專家們的建議：Unicode向康奈爾鳥類學實驗室(Cornell Lab of Ornithology)諮詢鳥類表情符號建議。其他一些符號採集自“虛擬社區的普遍請求”以及公衆提交的方案。
Companies have also made bids to influence the result, although Unicode says it rejects emojis “strongly associated with a particular brand.” Last year, the ad agency Havas London started a campaign on behalf of Durex, calling for a condom emoji. Cerveza Indio wants a dark beer emoji. Ballantine’s has championed a glass of whiskey. The rice company La Fallera suggested a paella emoji. (The whiskey and paella made the cut; both are coming on Tuesday.)
很多公司也爭取影響最後的結果，不過Unicode稱，它拒絕推出“與特定品牌具有密切聯繫的”表情符號。去年，廣告公司Havas London開始爲杜蕾斯(Durex)做推廣，呼籲發佈一個避孕套表情符號。Cerveza Indio想要一個黑啤表情符號。百齡壇(Ballantine’s)主張設計一款威士忌表情符號。稻米公司La Fallera建議推出一款平鍋菜飯表情符號（威士忌和平鍋菜飯獲得批准；兩款都將於週二推出）。
For the Olympics, Unicode recently considered encoding a rifle emoji alongside other sport-themed glyphs, but members voted it down. “When vendors looked at it, they didn’t see a lot of additional value in adding it,” said Mark Davis, a Unicode spokesman. “There’s already a firearm in Unicode.”
爲了迎接奧林匹克運動會，Unicode最近考慮加入一個來福槍圖標，以及其他一些以運動爲主題的符號，但是被成員們否決了。“銷售商進行考慮時，沒有看到它能帶來多大的額外價值，”Unicode的發言人馬克·戴維斯(Mark Davis)說，“Unicode裏本來就有槍支圖標。”
That decision has helped stoke concerns that modern visual language is being shaped by the political or financial priorities of gigantic tech companies. While many don’t see the advantage of emojifying another gun, others wonder whether heightened scrutiny could lead to less idiosyncratic, less interesting characters.
那一決定讓人們擔心，現代視覺語言正在被大型科技公司從政治或財務角度進行塑造。雖然很多人並不覺得再做一個槍支符號有什麼益處，但其他人擔心更嚴格的審查可能會導致表情符號不夠有特色、不夠有趣。
“One of the things that make emoji fun is this quirky weird list that came about through accidents of history,” said Jeremy Burge, the founder of Emojipedia and a member of Unicode’s emoji subcommittee. “The bomb, the cigarette, the dripping syringe — it’s crazy to think that all of those would make it in today.”
“表情符號的一個有趣之處在於，這個古怪的列表是因爲很多歷史偶然事件形成的，”Emojipedia創始人、Unicode表情符號分委會成員傑里米·伯格(Jeremy Burge)說，“炸彈、香菸、滴血的注射器——現在想想，這些東西能進入列表，真是瘋狂。”
