英语原文

In a recent study of 70 undergraduate students at Assumption College in Massachusetts, researcher Maria Kalpidou found that the number of Facebook friends you have can predict social adjustment to college. Freshmen with 200 or more friends scored with lower levels of self-esteem and personal and academic adjustment than freshmen with less than 200 friends. That’s right — the more “friends” you have on Facebook, the less likely you are to have, well, actual friends.

These effects wore off over time, however, as upper-class students surveyed with 200 or more friends showed higher levels of social adjustment and enthusiasm for their school (”school spirit”). Kalpidou suggested this may be due to upper-class students using Facebook more effectively as a way to enhance their social life, rather than a means to an end.

Such results should be not surprising. Freshmen often arrive on campus feeling disconnected from others, especially if this is the first time away from home for an extended period of time and living with strangers. And while traditionally it’s been relatively easy to make friends with other freshmen, Facebook has made it all too easy to make “virtual” acquaintances instead of actual, face-to-face friendships. Why deal with the social anxiety of talking to people in real life when you can “talk” with them on Facebook instead?

中文翻译

在最近的一项实验中，Maria Kalpidou研究了马萨诸塞州Assumption学院的70个本科生，她发现Facebook上面好友的数量可以预测学生对大学的适应性。有超过 200个好友的新生在自尊、个人适应和学业适应问卷的分数，低于那些没有那么多好友的新生。这没错，在Facebook上你的“好友”越多，就越不可能拥有现实中的朋友。

不过这个效应会随着时间变化，受访的高年级学生中，那些有200或更多好友的人，在社会适应和对学校的热情（“学校精神”）方面，反而表现出了更高的水平。Kalpidou认为，这可能是由于高年级的学生将Facebook当做了一种更有效地扩展社交生活的途径，而不是一种生活方式。

这样的结果没什么可奇怪的。新生们刚进校门往往觉得和别人隔绝，尤其是如果这是他们第一次长时间离开家和陌生人住在一起。在过去，和其他新生交朋友并不难，但是Facebook让结交“虚拟”朋友变得过于容易，而不是建立真实的、面对面的友谊。在现实生活里需要面对和陌生人相处的社交紧张，那干嘛不在facebook上和他们“交谈”呢？