90后的顯著特征 一天到晚發(fā)短信

A 17-year-old boy, caught sending text messages in class, was recently sent to the vice principal's office at Millwood High School in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

在加拿大新斯科舍省哈利法克斯的米爾伍德高中，最近有一位17歲的男生被抓到在課堂上發(fā)短信，隨后他被送到了副校長的辦公室。

The vice principal, Steve Gallagher, told the boy he needed to focus on the teacher, not his cellphone. The boy listened politely and nodded, and that's when Mr. Gallagher noticed the student's fingers moving on his lap.

副校長加拉格爾告訴這個男孩，要把注意力放在老師身上，而不是他的手機上。男孩禮貌地聽著，頻頻點頭，而就在這個時候，加拉格爾發(fā)現(xiàn)他放在膝頭的手指還在動個不停。

He was texting while being reprimanded for texting.

他在發(fā)短信，在因為發(fā)短信而受訓的時候。

"It was a subconscious act," says Mr. Gallagher, who took the phone away. "Young people today are connected socially from the moment they open their eyes in the morning until they close their eyes at night. It's compulsive."

加拉格爾拿走了手機。他說，男孩的動作是下意識的。如今的年輕人，從早晨睜眼直到晚上睡覺，一直都處在社交網(wǎng)絡中。都已經上癮了。

Because so many people in their teens and early 20s are in this constant whir of socializing--accessible to each other every minute of the day via cellphone, instant messaging and social-networking Web sites -- there are a host of new questions that need to be addressed in schools, in the workplace and at home. Chief among them: How much work can 'hyper-socializing' students or employees really accomplish if they are holding multiple conversations with friends via text-messaging, or are obsessively checking Facebook?

很多十幾歲、二十出頭的人就像這樣一刻不停地進行著社交活動。他們無時無刻不在通過手機、即時通信和社交網(wǎng)站相互聯(lián)絡。這個人群之龐大，讓學校、工作單位和家庭面臨著一大堆新問題需要應對。而其中首要的問題是：如果都在通過短信跟不止一位朋友交談，或者是止不住地查看Facebook，那么這種“高度社交”的學生或雇員到底能夠完成多少課業(yè)或工作？

Some argue they can accomplish a great deal: This generation has a gift for multitasking, and because they've integrated technology into their lives, their ability to remain connected to each other will serve them and their employers well. Others contend that these hyper-socializers are serial time-wasters, that the bonds between them are shallow, and that their face-to-face interpersonal skills are poor.

一些人認為，他們可以完成大量工作：這一代人天生就會同時處理多重任務，而且由于他們把科技融入到了生活之中，他們相互之間保持聯(lián)絡的能力將會給自己和雇主帶來很大幫助。另一些人則認為，高度社交的人群浪費著大量時間，他們相互之間的關系很淡薄，而面對面的人際交往能力也很弱。

It's hard to quantify whether the abbreviated interchanges of text messaging are beneficial in the workplace, but this much is known: Young workers spend more time than older workers socializing via their devices or entertaining themselves online. In a 2008 survey for Salary.com, 53% of those under age 24 said this was their primary 'time wasting' activity while at work, compared to just 34% for those between ages 41 and 65.

這種簡短的文字信息交流是否有益于工作，這很難量化，但有一點是可以確定的：年輕員工通過手機進行社交或在網(wǎng)上娛樂的時間比年長的勞動者更多。2008年為Salary.com進行的一項調查中，24歲以下的人群有53%表示這是他們消磨時間的主要活動，而41到65歲的人群中，這一比例僅為34%。

Online social networking while at work hampers business productivity, according to a new study by Nucleus Research. Almost two-thirds of those with Facebook accounts access them at their workplaces, the study found, which translates to a 1.5% loss of total employee productivity across an organization.

研究公司Nucleus Research的一項新研究顯示，工作時進行網(wǎng)絡社交活動會妨礙工作效率。研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，擁有Facebook賬戶的人中，接近三分之二的人在工作場所登陸賬戶，這給整個組織的總體員工生產率帶來1.5%的損失。

A study this year by psychology students at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga., found that the more time young people spend on Facebook, the more likely they are to have lower grades and weaker study habits. Heavy Facebook users show signs of being more gregarious, but they are also more likely to be anxious, hostile or depressed. (Doctors, meanwhile, are now blaming addictions to 'night texting' for disturbing the sleep patterns of teens.)

佐治亞州了望山圣約學院心理學專業(yè)學生今年進行的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，年輕人在Facebook上花的時間越多，他們的學習成績就越有可能更差，學習習慣越有可能更弱。大量使用Facebook的人顯示出更愛交際的征象，但他們也更有可能焦慮、不友好或抑郁。（現(xiàn)在許多醫(yī)生認為，沉迷于夜間發(fā)短信是青少年睡眠模式被打亂的一個原因。）

Almost a quarter of today's teens check Facebook more than 10 times a day, according to a 2009 survey by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit group that monitors media's impact on families. Will these young people wean themselves of this habit once they enter the work force, or will employers come to see texting and 'social-network checking' as accepted parts of the workday?

監(jiān)測媒體對家庭影響的非營利組織“常識媒體”2009年的一項調查顯示，今天的青少年中，接近四分之一的人每天查閱Facebook超過10次。當這些年輕人參加工作之后，他們會戒掉這種習慣嗎？還是說，雇主最后只能將發(fā)短信和查看社交媒體視為工作時間內不得不接受的一部分？

Think back. When today's older workers were in their 20s, they might have taken a break on the job to call friends and make after-work plans. In those earlier eras, companies discouraged non-business-related calls, and someone who made personal calls all day risked being fired. It was impossible to envision the constant back-and-forth texting that defines interactions among young people today.

讓我們回顧一下過去。今天年齡較大的勞動者在他們二十幾歲的時候，或許也會暫停手中的工作去給朋友打電話，或者是計劃下班以后的事情。在那個時代，公司反對撥打跟工作無關的電話，整天打私人電話的人可能會被炒魷魚。不停地收發(fā)短信已經成為如今的年輕人的主要交往方式，但在當時卻是無法想象的。

However, now that these older workers are managers, they're being advised by consultants to accept the changed dynamics, so long as young employees are doing good work and meeting deadlines.

而當這些年齡更大的勞動者如今成為管理人員，顧問公司建議他們，只要年輕雇員工作做得不錯、能按時完成，就得接受這種變化了的情況。

Educators are also being asked by parents, students and educational strategists to reconsider their rules. In past generations, students got in trouble for passing notes in class. Now students are adept at texting with their phones still in their pockets, says 40-year-old Mr. Gallagher, the vice principal, "and they're able to communicate with someone one floor down and three rows over. Students are just fundamentally different today. They will take suspensions rather than give up their phones."

教育從業(yè)者也面對著家長、學生和教育策略人士的呼吁，希望他們重新考慮相關規(guī)定。文首40歲的副校長加拉格爾說，在過去幾代人中，學生在課堂上傳紙條會遇到麻煩。而現(xiàn)在，學生把手機放在衣服口袋里就可以熟練地發(fā)短信，而且他們還能夠跟樓下隔三排的某個人交流。今天的學生已經具有根本上的不同。他們會暫時停止下來，但不會放棄自己的手機。

It may feel like a strange new world, but Mr. Gallagher's wife, Holly, is among those who say it's time for educators and employers to embrace it. As a human-resources manager, she believes that as the generation now aged 15 to 24 enters the work force, managers must adjust to the new ways they socialize and communicate.

這看上去好像是一個奇異的新世界，但包括加拉格爾的妻子霍莉在內的一些人認為，教育界人士和雇主該接受這種情況了。身為人力資源經理的霍莉說，隨著現(xiàn)在年齡在15到24歲之間的這一代人參加工作，管理人員必須適應他們新的交往、交流方式。