Johanna Blakley: Social media and the end of gender

翻译人员: Angelia King 校对人员: Xiaoqiao Xie

I'm going to make an argument today

我今天要提出一个新思想，

that may seem a little bit crazy:

它听上去有一点儿疯狂：

social media and the end of gender.

社交传媒和性别消失。

Let me connect the dots.

让我把这两件事情联系起来。

I'm going to argue today

我今天要讲的是

that the social media applications

那些我们从了解到喜爱，又从喜爱到痛恨的

that we all know and love, or love to hate,

社交传媒

are actually going to help free us

其实在帮助我们

from some of the absurd assumptions

从社会中有关性别的

that we have as a society about gender.

一些荒谬假设中摆脱出来。

I think that social media

我认为社交传媒

is actually going to help us dismantle

正在帮我们消除

some of the silly and demeaning stereotypes

这些愚蠢和带有贬低的关于性别的刻板印象

that we see in media and advertising

我们在媒体和广告中都能看到

about gender.

这些关于性别的陈规。

If you hadn't noticed,

如果你还没注意到，

our media climate generally provides

我们的媒体常常制造

a very distorted mirror

有关我们生活和我们性别的

of our lives and of our gender,

一个非常歪曲的镜像。

and I think that's going to change.

我认为这应该改变。

Now most media companies --

现在多数媒体公司--

television, radio, publishing, games, you name it --

电视，电台，出版社，游戏，你能讲得上名字的媒体 --

they use very rigid segmentation methods

他们使用非常刻板的细分方法

in order to understand their audiences.

来了解他们的观众。

It's old-school demographics.

这是老派的人口统计学。

They come up with these very restrictive labels to define us.

他们想出这些非常带有限制性的标签来定义我们。

Now the crazy thing

最疯狂的是

is that media companies believe

媒体公司相信

that if you fall within a certain demographic category

如果你属于某种统计类别

then you are predictable in certain ways --

他们就可以按某种方式来预测你（的行为）。

you have certain taste,

你就会有某种口味，

that you like certain things.

你就会喜欢某些特别的东西。

And so the bizarre result of this

所以这奇怪的结果是

is that most of our popular culture

我们最受欢迎的文化

is actually based on these presumptions

是建立在这些

about our demographics.

有关统计的假象上。

Age demographics:

年龄统计学说：

the 18 to 49 demo

从18岁到49岁的人，

has had a huge impact

对我国

on all mass media programming in this country

自从1960年代起所有大众媒体

since the 1960s,

的节目安排有一个巨大影响力，

when the baby boomers were still young.

也就是当婴儿潮一代人还年轻时。

Now they've aged out of that demographic,

现在他们已经过了那人口统计年龄段，

but it's still the case

但这还有个例子

that powerful ratings companies like Nielson

像Nielson这样评级优秀的公司

don't even take into account

把年龄段

viewers of television shows over age 54.

超过54岁的电视用户没有考虑在内。

In our media environment,

在我们媒体环境中，

it's as if they don't even exist.

这就好比他们不存在似的。

Now, if you watch "Mad Men," like I do --

假如你和我一样看“MadMen广告狂人” --

it's a popular TV show in the States --

这是在美国的一个流行电视节目 --

Dr. Faye Miller does something called psychographics,

博士费伊·米勒研究所谓的消费心态学，

which first came about in the 1960s,

它在1960年代第一次出现，

where you create these complex psychological profiles

用来描绘消费者的

of consumers.

复杂的心理概况。

But psychographics really haven't had a huge impact on the media business.

但是消费心态学对媒体行业却没有多大的影响力。

It's really just been basic demographics.

它仅是基础的人口统计。

So I'm at the Norman Lear Center at USC,

我在南加州大学诺曼·李尔中心，

and we've done a lot of research over the last seven, eight years

在过去七八年，我们做了很多

on demographics

关于人口统计学的研究

and how they affect media and entertainment

以及在我国和全球范围内

in this country and abroad.

人口统计学是如何影响媒体和娱乐界的。

And in the last three years,

在过去三年

we've been looking specifically at social media to see what has changed,

我们一直仔细观察社交传媒，看它如何变化。

and we've discovered some very interesting things.

我们发现一些非常有趣的事。

All the people who participate in social media networks

参与社交传媒网的所有人

belong to the same old demographic categories

都能被归入以前旧的人口统计学里的种类

that media companies and advertisers

那些媒体公司和广告商们

have used in order to understand them.

以前用来了解人们的统计种类。

But those categories mean even less now

但是这些旧的统计分类和以前相比，

than they did before,

简直无足轻重。

because with online networking tools,

因为有了在线网络工具，

it's much easier for us

要跳出

to escape some of our demographic boxes.

旧的人口统计的陈规变得容易多了。

We're able to connect with people quite freely

我们能够更自由地与人联系在一起

and to redefine ourselves online.

在网上重新定义我们自己。

And we can lie about our age online, too, pretty easily.

在网上关于年龄问题我们能很容易地撒谎。

We can also connect with people

我们能按我们个人非常特别的喜好

based on our very specific interests.

来结识人们。

We don't need a media company

我们不需要一个媒体公司

to help do this for us.

帮助我们做这个。

So the traditional media companies, of course,

所以当然了，传统媒体公司

are paying very close attention to these online communities.

也特别关注这些在线社群。

They know this is the mass audience of the future;

他们知道这是未来的大众传媒。

they need to figure it out.

他们需要摸清这些人。

But they're having a hard time doing it

但是他们干的很困难

because they're still trying to use demographics in order to understand them,

因为他们还试图使用旧的人口统计学说来了解大众，

because that's how ad rates are still determined.

因为广告收视率是由这些陈规来统计的。

When they're monitoring your clickstream --

当他们监控你的点击流

and you know they are --

你知道

they have a really hard time

他们的确很难

figuring out your age, your gender and your income.

查出你的年龄，你的性别和你的收入。

They can make some educated guesses.

他们可以做一些学识方面的推测。

But they get a lot more information

但是他们得到的很多的信息

about what you do online,

是关于你在线做了什么，

what you like, what interests you.

你喜欢什么，你对什么感兴趣。

That's easier for them to find out than who you are.

这些他们很容易知道，但弄清你是谁就不容易了。

And even though that's still sort of creepy,

尽管这有点恐怖，

there is an upside

这也有个优势

to having your taste monitored.

就是监控你的喜好。

Suddenly our taste is being respected

突然我们的喜好备受尊重

in a way that it hasn't been before.

这在以前从来没有过。

It had been presumed before.

以前我们的喜好都是被假定的。

So when you look online at the way people aggregate,

当你上网看人们聚成社群的方式，

they don't aggregate

人们不是

around age, gender and income.

按年龄，性别和收入而走到一起。

They aggregate around the things they love,

人们而是按他们热爱的东西，

the things that they like,

他们喜爱的东西走到一起。

and if you think about it, shared interests and values

如果你想想看，人类要是按分享爱好和价值

are a far more powerful aggregator of human beings

而不是按统计类别来分，

than demographic categories.

这是一种更强大的聚合力。

I'd much rather know

我更愿意知道

whether you like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"

你是否喜欢“吸血鬼猎人巴菲”

rather than how old you are.

而不是想知道你的年龄。

That would tell me something more substantial about you.

这会让我加深对你的了解。

Now there's something else that we've discovered about social media

目前我们关于社交传媒的一些其它发现

that's actually quite surprising.

的确非常令人惊喜。

It turns out that women

事实证明，女性

are really driving the social media revolution.

真正是社交传媒革命的驱动力。

If you look at the statistics --

如果你看看这些统计 --

these are worldwide statistics --

这些是全世界统计数据 --

in every single age category,

在每一个年龄组，

women actually outnumber men

在使用社交网络技术方面

in their use of social networking technologies.

女性都多于男性。

And then if you look at the amount of time

然后如果你看

that they spend on these sites,

女性在这些网站所花费的时间，

they truly dominate the social media space,

女性真正地主宰了社交媒体空间，

which is a space that's having a huge impact

这种社会媒体空间会

on old media.

对旧媒体产生巨大冲击。

The question is: what sort of impact

问题是，对我们文化

is this going to have on our culture,

它会起到什么影响,

and what's it going to mean for women?

对于女性这又意味着什么？

If the case is that social media

假如现在的情况是社交传媒

is dominating old media

逐渐主宰旧媒体

and women are dominating social media,

同时女性在主宰社会媒体，

then does that mean that women

那么是否意味着女性

are going to take over global media?

将会主宰全球媒体？

Are we suddenly going to see

我们是否会突然发现

a lot more female characters in cartoons

在卡通里，

and in games and on TV shows?

游戏中和电视秀上出现大量女性角色呢？

Will the next big-budget blockbuster movies

那么下一部大手笔的电影大片

actually be chick flicks?

会变成迎合女性消费者的肥皂剧吗？

Could this be possible,

有没有可能

that suddenly our media landscape

突然我们媒体天地

will become a feminist landscape?

变成女权主义天地？

Well, I actually don't think that's going to be the case.

好吧，我其实不认为会这样。

I think that media companies are going to hire a lot more women,

我认为媒体公司会雇佣更多的女性，

because they realize this is important for their business,

因为他们意识到这对他们行业来说很重要。

and I think that women

我认为女性

are also going to continue to dominate

也会继续主宰

the social media sphere.

社交传媒的领域。

But I think women are actually going to be -- ironically enough --

但我想，很讽刺的是女性的确会

responsible for driving a stake through the heart

挑起大梁，

of cheesy genre categories

给予俗气的流派类别狠狠的一击

like the "chick flick"

就像对肥皂剧

and all these other genre categories

和其他的各种体裁

that presume that certain demographic groups

人们总是假设某种人口统计学里的类别

like certain things --

就会喜欢某种特定的体裁。

that Hispanics like certain things,

比如南美人喜好这个，

that young people like certain things.

或者年轻人总是喜欢那个。

This is far too simplistic.

这太过简单了。

The future entertainment media that we're going to see

我们将会看到未来的娱乐媒体

is going to be very data-driven,

是会以大量数据为基础的，

and it's going to be based on the information

是会基于

that we ascertain from taste communities online,

从我们在线社区文化中感知到的信息，

where women are really driving the action.

这里女性其实真是引擎。

So you may be asking, well why is it important

你可能会问，知道人们喜欢什么娱乐，

that I know what entertains people?

为什么重要？

Why should I know this?

我为什么要知道这个？

Of course, old media companies and advertisers

当然，旧媒体公司和广告商

need to know this.

需要知道这个。

But my argument is that,

但我的论点是，

if you want to understand the global village,

如果你想了解地球村，

it's probably a good idea that you figure out

一个好点子恐怕正是搞清

what they're passionate about, what amuses them,

人们对什么有激情，人们玩什么，

what they choose to do in their free time.

当人们自由时，他们选择做什么。

This is a very important thing to know about people.

了解人们的喜好，这是非常重要的事。

I've spent most of my professional life

我花了我整个职业生涯

researching media and entertainment

研究媒体和娱乐

and its impact on people's lives.

和它们对人们生活的影响。

And I do it not just because it's fun --

我研究这个不仅仅是为了好玩儿 --

though actually, it is really fun --

尽管这的确有很多乐趣 --

but also because

而是因为

our research has shown over and over again

我们的研究不断地证明

that entertainment and play

娱乐和游戏

have a huge impact on people's lives --

会对人们的生活有巨大的影响 --

for instance, on their political beliefs

例如，在人们的政治信仰上

and on their health.

和人们健康问题上。

And so, if you have any interest in understanding the world,

那么，如果你对了解世界有兴趣，

looking at how people amuse themselves

看看人们是怎样自娱自乐的

is a really good way to start.

这就是一个非常好的开始。

So imagine a media atmosphere

想象一个媒体远景

that isn't dominated by lame stereotypes

它不再被

about gender

性别

and other demographic characteristics.

和其他统计类别决定的站不住脚的陈规所主宰。

Can you even imagine what that looks like?

大家能想象这会是什么样吗？

I can't wait to find out what it looks like.

我迫不及待地想知道这远景的样子。

Thank you so much.

十分感谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）