Facebook和Twitter令新一代人变得自恋

Facebook和Twitter令新一代人变得自恋、注意力短暂，而且像小朋友那样，渴望得到别人对他们生活的持续回应。

Facebook and Twitter have created a generation obsessed with themselves, who have short attention spans and a childlike desire for constant feedback on their lives, a top scientist believes.

Repea ted exposure to social networking sites leaves users with an …identity crisis', wanting attention in the manner of a baby saying: …Look at me, Mummy, I've done this.'

Baroness Greenfield, professor of pharmacology at Oxford University, believes the growth of internet …friendships' – as well as greater use of computer games – could effectively …rewire' the brain. This can result in reduced concentration, a need for instant satisfaction and poor non-verbal skills, such as the ability to make eye contact during conversations.

More than 750 million people across the world use Facebook to share photographs and videos and post regular updates of their movements and thoughts. Millions have also signed up to Twitter, the …micro-blogging' service that lets members release short text and picture messages about themselves.

Baroness Greenfield, former director of research body the Royal Institution, said: …What concerns me is the featureless of so much that goes out on Twitter.?

Why should someone be interested in what someone else has had for breakfast? It reminds me of a small child (saying): “Look at me Mummy, I'm doing this”, “Look at me Mummy. I'm doing that”. It's almost as if they're in some kind of identity crisis. In a sense, it's keeping the brain in a sort of time warp.

The academic suggested that some Facebook users feel the need to become …mini celebrities' who are watched and admired by others on a daily basis. They do things that are …Facebook worthy? because the only way they can define themselves is by people knowing about them.

…It's almost as if people are living in a world that's not a real world, but a world where what counts is what people think of you or (if they) can click on you,' she said. Think of the influence on society if people worry more about what other people think about them than what they think about themselves.

文章挖潜

1 what?s twitter? What can we do on twitter?

2 Discuss the side effect of twitter/ facebook on its user?

3 Translate the underlined sentence .

知识拓展

1 rewire及物动词vt. 不及物动词vi. (给...)重装电线(向...)再发电报

2 define 解释,给...下定义规定,限定,使明确为...的特性,是...的特色The powers of the courts are defined by law.

法庭的权力是由法律规定的。

3 release释放,解放豁免;赦免;免除发行;发表

A new movie is to be released tonight. 今晚要发行一部新电影。

4 be obsessed with 迷恋沉迷于

David was obsessed with a girl he had just met. 戴维被一个他刚刚认识的女孩迷住了。

4 remind of 提醒;使想起,使记起

The story reminds me of an experience I once had.

这个故事使我想起我的一次亲身经历。

5 in a sense 在某种意义上说在某种程度上

就某种意义来说你是对的。Y ou are right in a sense.