Recently, Cheng Li had to block another friend on his WeChat account who constantly shared links to various health tips.

近日，程力（音譯）不得不屏蔽了一位總是不停分享保健貼士的微信好友。

“At first, they looked useful, but now they’re just cliched,” said Cheng, 22, a Beijing-based reporter. In fact, Cheng is not the only one who has to endure such bombardments on social media platforms, from intimate couple selfies, photos of meals, to bag sales and if-you-don’t-share-this-bad-things-will-happen links.

“起初，這些信息看起來很有用，但現在看來都只是些老生常談罷了。”這位來自北京的22歲記者說道。實際上，并非只有程力一人忍受著社交媒體上的這種“狂轟濫炸”：從曬情侶肉麻自拍，到曬各種美食照，再到打折包包以及各種“不轉發就會有厄運降臨”的帖子。

Let’s just say that while sharing is indeed a virtue, oversharing, especially on social media platforms, can not only sour friendships but also hurt career prospects. Experts advise people to maintain a good balance between their private life and their professional life, between sharing and showing off, and between goodwill and annoyances. But it’s a tricky business.

雖說分享的確是種美德，但過度分享，尤其是在社交媒體上過度分享，不僅會傷害友情更是會殃及事業前途。專家建議，人們需要在私生活與職場生活、分享與炫耀、好心與惹人厭之間尋求一種良性平衡。而這是個麻煩事兒。

Identification and false reality

認同與偽造真實

Feng Shanshan, 20, an economics major at the University of International Business and Economics, feels frustrated when she checks her WeChat only to see photos from her friends eating in fancy restaurants or enjoying exotic trips and exciting events. “It feels like I’m a failure with hardly any highlights in my life,” said Feng.

20歲的馮珊珊（音譯）是對外經濟貿易大學經濟學專業的一名學生。她最近很郁悶，因為一打開微信，滿目都是好友曬高級餐廳、出國旅行、參加各種精彩活動的信息。她說：“感覺上我就是一個生活毫無精彩之處的失敗者。”

Zhang Yijun, a Shanghai-based psychologist, says this is a common reaction. But the truth is that the information shared online is designed to construct a certain illusion of reality.

來自上海的心理學家張怡筠說，這是一種常見的反應。而事實上，網上分享的信息是人們精心設計出的對現實的粉飾。

“Deep down, sharing anything is showing off,” said Zhang. “But when we see the best side of everyone’s life in such a fragmented way, we tend to connect the pieces and think of them as reality, which can cause an anxiety of missing out or being left out.”

“實際上，任何分享行為都是一種炫耀，”張怡筠表示。“但當我們以一種碎片化的方式來看每個人生活中最好的一面時，我們往往會將這些片段連接起來并認為這就是真實的現實，從而產生一種被忽視或者被隔離的焦慮感。”

Friendship and career at stake

危及友情和事業

Chen Canrui, a psychologist at South China Normal University, says oversharing online undermines effective communication in real life.

華南師范大學心理學專家陳燦銳表示，網絡“分享控”行為正在破壞現實生活中實際的溝通。

“Having such easy access to so many people makes communication really superficial,” said Chen. “In the end, the lack of deep communication hurts strong social connections, namely friends, more than weak connections.”

“如此輕而易舉地接觸到這么多的人，使得溝通交流變得流于表面，”陳燦銳說道。“最終，相對于微弱的社會關系，深度溝通的缺乏更容易令友誼這種強大的社會關系受傷。”

Not only friendships are at stake in the era of oversharing, but career prospects could also be at risk if a good balance between private life and professional life is not maintained.

在一個“分享控”的時代，不僅人與人之間的友情面臨考驗，如果你不能平衡好個人生活與職場生活間的關系，你的職業生涯也很可能岌岌可危。

“Companies don’t care if you’re oversharing photos of a Habitat for Humanity house you helped build,” Vinda Rao Souza, marketing manager at Bullhorn, a US recruitment software company, told Glassdoor, a US-based job recruitment website. “But they will care if you’re sharing your innermost thoughts on political matters or if you throw around racial epithets.”

招聘軟件開發商Bullhorn的市場經理Vinda Rao Souza在接受美國招聘網站Glassdoor采訪時稱：“如果你只是一味地上傳自己參與‘仁愛之家’建房計劃的照片，想必沒有公司會在意這回事。而他們真正看重的是你就政治熱點發表的內心看法，或者看你是否隨意使用著涉嫌種族歧視的用語。”

“The biggest thing is to make sure you are aware of the privacy settings and use them,” Pamela Skillings, co-founder of US-based job coaching firm Skillful Communications, told Glassdoor. “You don’t have to give up social media, but you have to understand that what’s available publicly can hurt the professional side of your life.”

美國職業咨詢公司Skillful Communications的聯合創始人帕梅拉？斯基林告訴Glassdoor網站：“關鍵是要弄清所有隱私設置，并加以利用。盡管你無需逃離社交媒體，但你必須要弄清哪些公開可見的內容會危害到你的職業生涯。”

Are you an oversharer?

你是“分享控”嗎？

With the Fear of Missing Out （FOMO） compelling us to update our sharing apps every 15 minutes, we easily become culprits of oversharing annoying contents, ranging from showing off to chicken soup for the soul. Over the weekend, 21st Century conducted a survey through its official WeChat account that received more than 400 responses from readers, most of whom are enrolled students in college and senior middle school. Shopping advertisements ranked top of the most annoying shared contents on social media.

人們由于“社交控情結”（譯者注：忙于眼前事的時候，總是害怕會錯過更有趣或者更好的人和事），每隔15分鐘便會更新自己的社交網絡；這樣一來，我們很容易淪為分享無聊內容的“刷屏怪”，從單純的炫耀到心靈雞湯不一而足。上周末，《21世紀英文報》在其官方微信上進行了一項用戶調查活動，共搜集到400多位熱心讀者的反饋，這些讀者大都是在校大學生及高中生。而購物小廣告被票選為“社交媒體最惹人厭的行為”。

The most annoying shared contents on social media:

“社交媒體最惹人厭行為排行榜”

Shopping advertisements: 28%

購物小廣告：28%

Superstition and if-you-don’t-share-this-bad-things-will-happen links: 24%

迷信帖以及“不轉發就會遭厄運”帖：24%

Complaints: 9%“

抱怨不停”型：9%

Intimate pictures of couples: 8%

秀恩愛：8%

Duplicated chicken soup for the soul: 6%

轉發心靈雞湯：6%

Photoshopped selfies: 6%

自拍加PS：6%

Endless food and meals: 5%

永遠是吃吃喝喝：5%

Showing off wealth: 5%

炫富：5%Health tips: 5%

保健貼士：5%

Overly emotional comments on celebrities: 2%

過于多愁善感的名人語錄：2%

Nationalistic news and comments: 1%

國家新聞點評：1%