Can Social Media Improve Voter Turnout?|VOA慢速英语

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Can Social Media Improve Voter Turnout?

更新:06/09/2024来源:VOA Special English 编辑:Geilien.cn

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[ti:Can Social Media Improve Voter Turnout?]

[ar:Steve Ember]

[al:Technology Report]

[by:www.geilien.cn]

[00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。

[00:05.05]We have all witnessed the power of social media.

我们都目睹了社交媒体的力量

[00:09.15]It helped elect Barack Obama president in two thousand eight.

它帮助了奥巴马总统2008年当选

[00:13.90]It also helped to support popular revolutions in two thousand ten and eleven that forced several long-time rulers from office.

也有助于支持了2010/11年推翻数个长期统治者的人民革命。

[00:25.32]Now, research suggests that social networks could have an even greater effect on elections, helping to increase the number of people who vote.

现在，研究表明社交网络对选举能产生更大的影响，有助于增加投票的人数。

[00:37.58]The new report appeared in the journal Nature.

这份新的报告发表在《自然》杂志上。

[00:41.77]It estimates that about one third of a million more people voted in America's two thousand ten congressional elections all because of a single message on Facebook.

据估计，大约有33.3万多人完全因为Facebook上的一条消息而参加美国2010年国会选举投票。

[00:55.73]James Fowler is a political science professor at the University of California, San Diego.

詹姆斯·福勒（James Fowler）是美国加州大学圣地亚哥分校的政治学教授。

[01:03.54]He led the research in partnership with Facebook's Data Science team.

他领导了一项和Facebook数据科学组一起合作的研究。

[01:09.57]They studied the effect of a "get out the vote" message on more than sixty million Facebook users.

他们研究了“出门投票”这条消息对6千多万名Facebook用户的影响。

[01:18.81]The social network placed the message at the top of their Facebook news feeds on Election Day two thousand ten.

2010年选举日当天，Facebook将这条消息放到了它们新闻推送的顶部位置。

[01:27.85]JAMES FOWLER: "And in the message, there was button that says ‘I Voted'."

福勒：“这条消息中有一个按钮显示‘我投过票了’。

[01:31.17]There was also a link that you could click on that allowed you to look up your polling place.

还有一个可以点击的链接让你查找自己的投票站。

[01:35.87]And in some of the messages we also showed people the pictures of their friends who had clicked on the 'I Voted' button earlier in the day."

在一些消息中我们还向人们展示了当天早些时候按过‘我投过票了’的他们的朋友的照片。”

[01:44.64]We spoke to Professor Fowler on Skype.

我们通过Skype采访了福勒教授。

[01:47.24]He says the team later compared this information to publicly available voting records.

他说，该小组随后将这些信息和公开的投票记录做了对比。

[01:54.54]JAMES FOWLER: "And one of the remarkable things that we found was that when we were comparing the people who received these messages to the people who received no messages,

福勒：“当我们把收到这条消息和没收到这条消息的人们做对比时，我们发现的一件显著的事情就是，

[02:02.72]the people who saw the message without the faces of their friends actually voted at exactly the same rate as the people who saw no message at all.

看到消息但没有看到朋友面孔的人的投票率实际上和完全没有看到消息的人一样。

[02:11.57]But the people who saw faces of their friends they actually voted more."

但在消息中看到朋友面孔的人实际上投票率更高。”

[02:15.17]The researchers say the results of the study show that the message directly influenced about sixty thousand extra people to go and vote.

研究人员称，研究结果显示该消息直接影响了约6万额外的人去投票。

[02:26.57]Even more importantly, says Professor Fowler, the friends of the people who saw the message also were influenced to vote.

福勒教授表示，更重要的是，看到了这条消息的这个人的朋友也受到影响去投票。

[02:36.37]He says this led an additional two hundred eighty thousand people to take part in the elections.

他说，这样导致了额外的28万人参加选举投票。

[02:44.03]As a result, the message influenced a total of three hundred forty thousand people.

因此，该消息一共影响了34万人。

[02:51.28]And, Professor Fowler says the experiment led to an even more interesting finding.

而且，福勒教授说，该实验导致了一个更为有趣的发现。

[02:58.72]It is that in the world of social networking, like in the real world, not all friends are equal.

这就是，在社交网络世界中，和在现实世界中一样，并不是所有的朋友都是地位相同的。

[03:07.22]JAMES FOWLER: "It wasn't all of these online connections that matter.

福勒：“并非所有在线好友都受到影响。

[03:10.64]The average person on Facebook today has about one hundred fifty friends.

如今Facebook上每人平均有大约150个朋友。

[03:14.58]And when we just looked at the close friends, those closest ten people on Facebook, we found that they were driving the whole effect.

当我们只看他们在Facebook上最亲密的10个朋友，我们发现他们推动了这个整体效应。

[03:22.59]That all of the extra two hundred eighty thousand voters were coming from just ten out of your one hundred fifty friends."

额外的那28万投票者都来自你150个朋友中的这10个朋友。”

[03:27.60]The researchers say the study suggests that voting is a social behavior.

研究人员称，这项研究表明投票是一种社会行为。

[03:33.30]They say social networking may be the best way to get more people involved in the democratic process.

他们说，社交网络可能是让更多人参与民主进程的最好方式。

[03:41.74]And they think this in not only true in politics, but in other areas as well, including public health.

他们还认为这不仅体现在政治上，还体现在包括公共卫生在内的其它领域。

[03:51.09]And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, written by June Simms.

[03:58.33]I'm Steve Ember.

From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report. 这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。

It seems that electronic devices just keep getting smaller. Scientists in the United States have announced the creation of the first transistor with only two dimensions. 看来电子器件只会变得越来越小。美国科学家宣布创建了首个二维晶体管。

A transistor is a small electronic device that transfers or carries electronic current. The device helps to create an electrical circuit that provides power to other devices. Scientists hope these new 2D transistors will be used for building high-resolution displays that need very little energy. 晶体管是传输电流的小型电子设备。该设备帮助创造一个电路为其它设备提供电源。科学家希望这些新型2D晶体管能被用于开发耗能极少的高解析度显示器。

Two groups of scientists created these 2D transistors. One group is at the Argonne National Laboratory outside of Chicago, the other group is at the University of California. They report that the transistors are only a few atoms thick, any layer of any material that thin may be considered two-dimensional. 两组科学家创建了这些2D晶体管。其中一组在芝加哥郊外的阿贡国家实验室，另一组在加州大学。他们报告说，这种晶体管只有只有几个原子厚，任何材料的任何一层极薄都可以被认定为二维。

Usually transistors are made with the element silicon. But the scientists say they use materials that have even better electronic properties. Computer processors, memory chips, TV screens and other electronic devices contain billions of silicon-based transistors. But these very small electrical parts have certain limitations. 通常晶体管由硅元素制成。但科学家表示，他们使用了具有更好电学性能的材料。计算机处理器，存储芯片，电视屏幕和其它电子装置包含了数十亿个硅基晶体管。但这些极小的电气部件都有一定的局限性。

Dimitris Ioannou is an electrical engineering professor at George Mason University. He says the traditional transistor has been improved as much as it can be. He adds that researchers have been looking for new materials with special features. He says researchers want transistors to be see through and soft. 伊奥努（Dimitris Ioannou)是乔治·梅森大学的一位电气工程教授。他说传统晶体管已经耗尽其潜能。他补充说，研究人员一直在寻找具有特殊功能的新材料。他说，研究人员希望晶体管能够透明、柔软。

"If the layers are very thin the transistor can become flexible, so it doesn't have to be rigid, like it would be in a silicon chip. So people can think of applications like wearable electronics, like, you know, television screens and other things," said Ioannou. 伊奥努说，“如果各层非常薄，晶体管就能变得更灵活。它不一定要像它在硅芯片上那样是刚性的。人们能想象到的应用包括可穿戴电子产品，电视屏幕等等。”

These new transistors can also carry higher current. They also can move the current much faster than traditional transistors. This is important for high-definition screens. 这种新型晶体管可以传输更高的电流。与传统晶体管相比，它们的传输速度也更快。这对高清晰屏幕来说非常重要。

Dimitris Ioannou says the scientific success could prove very useful in the future. 伊奥努表示，这一科学成就在未来将被证明非常有用。

"This is the first time every layer is a single [atom] layer, more or less, and that's the novelty of it. Now, how good and how useful it will be, it's still in research phase, but it certainly is an advance," said Ioannou. 伊奥努说，“这是第一次每层都是单个原子层左右，这就是它的新颖。现在来说，它未来的优点和用途仍处于研究阶段，但它肯定是一大进步。”

Scientists say there is no good method for printing a large number of these new transistors on one base material, but they believe that someday it may be possible. 科学家说，目前尚没有什么好办法基于一种基础材料打印大量这种新型晶体管，但他们认为某天终可实现这点。

And that's the VOA Learning English Technology Report. For more technology stories, go to our website 51voa.com. Give us a like on the VOA Learning English Facebook page. Follow us on twitter at VOA Learning English. You can also watch vedios on the VOA YouTube Channel. I'm Jonathan Evans. 以上就是本期美国之音慢速英语科技报道的全部内容，我是乔纳森·埃文斯（Jonathan Evans）。

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