TED2010
Christopher "moot" Poole: The case for anonymity online
Christopher "moot" Poole 談網路匿名
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4chan網站是一個具爭議性、未受過濾的影像佈告欄。它的創辦人將談到4chan創造的次文化（例如一些網路流行語），以及4chan網友高調入侵主流媒體網站的事件。透過本演講，觀眾將思考匿名的力量和代價。
Christopher "moot" Poole - Founder, 4chan
Christopher "moot" Poole is founder of 4chan, an online imageboard whose anonymous denizens have spawned the web's most bewildering -- and influential -- subculture. Full bio
Christopher "moot" Poole is founder of 4chan, an online imageboard whose anonymous denizens have spawned the web's most bewildering -- and influential -- subculture. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:17
Tom Green: That's a 4chan thing.
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那是4chan的東西
00:19
These kids on the Internet, they have this group of kids
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網路上有群年輕人
00:21
and they like to say funny words
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喜歡說些“火星話”
00:23
like "barrel roll."
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像是"barrel roll"（星際穿梭）。
00:25
It's a video game move from "Star Fox."
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那是遊戲《星戰火狐》裡面的動作。
00:27
"Star Fox 20"? (Assistant: "Star Fox 64.")
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《星戰火狐20》?（《星戰火狐64》）
00:30
Tom Green: Yeah. And they've been dogging me for a year.
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對，然後他們糾纏了我一年。
00:32
I got to tell you, it's driving me nuts, actually.
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簡直快把我逼瘋。
00:34
Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and I scream,
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我甚至會在半夜醒來大叫：
00:37
"4chan!"
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"4chan！"
00:43
Christopher Poole: When I was 15,
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我15歲的時候
00:45
I found this website called Futaba Channel.
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發現了Futaba Channel這個網站。
00:48
And it was a Japanese forum and imageboard.
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那是一個日本的論壇和影像佈告欄。
00:52
That format of forum, at that time,
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當時那種論壇的型式
00:55
was not well-known outside of Japan.
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除了日本以外很少見。
00:57
And so what I did is I took it, I translated it into English,
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所以我就做了一個英文版的，
01:00
and I stuck it up for my friends to use.
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然後推薦給親朋好友。
01:03
Now, six and a half years later,
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六年半後的今天，
01:05
over seven million people are using it,
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4chan的用戶已經超過七百萬人，
01:07
contributing over 700,000 posts per day.
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每天有超過70萬則貼文。
01:10
And we've gone from one board
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而且我們已經從一個討論版
01:12
to 48 boards.
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擴充到48個討論版。
01:15
This is what it looks like.
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這就是4chan的頁面。
01:17
So, what's unique about the site
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它的特色在於
01:19
is that it's anonymous,
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它的匿名性，
01:21
and it has no memory.
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還有它不會保留任何紀錄。
01:23
There's no archive, there are no barriers, there's no registration.
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沒有存檔、沒有限制、不用註冊。
01:26
These things that we're used to with forums
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這些在一般論壇很常見的東西
01:28
don't exist on 4chan.
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4chan都沒有。
01:30
And that's led to this
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所以就產生了這些
01:32
discussion that's completely raw, completely unfiltered.
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赤裸裸、完全未經過濾的討論串。
01:37
What the site's known for,
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4chan之所以紅，
01:39
because it has this environment,
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是因為它提供的這種環境
01:41
is it's fostered the creation of a lot of
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創造了許多
01:43
Internet phenomena, viral videos and whatnot, known as "memes."
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網路爆紅現象（例如kuso短片）。
01:46
Two of the largest memes that have come out of this site
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從4chan出來的兩大當紅炸子雞，
01:48
some of you might be familiar with are these LOLcats --
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你們有人可能已經知道，首先是LOLcats－－
01:51
just silly pictures of cats with text.
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就是些搞笑的貓咪照片加上設計對白。
01:54
And this resonates with millions of people, apparently,
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顯然有很多人喜歡，
01:56
because there are tens of thousands of these,
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因為網路上有好幾萬張這種照片，
01:58
and there is a whole blogging empire now
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而且已經發展出一個部落格帝國，
02:00
dedicated to pictures like these.
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專門放這種照片。
02:03
And Rick Astley's kind of rebirth
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再來是Rick Astley這兩年
02:06
these past two years ...
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又再度竄紅...
02:08
Rickroll was this bait and switch,
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Rickroll指的就是用偽連結惡搞，
02:10
really simple, classic bait and switch.
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非常簡單又歷久不衰的手法
02:12
Somebody says they're linking to something interesting,
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某人說連結點進去是有趣的東西，
02:15
and you get an '80s pop song. That's all it was.
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結果你看到的是80年代的流行歌。就這樣。
02:18
And it got big enough to the point where
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Rickroll現象紅到，
02:20
there was a float last year at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade,
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去年梅西百貨的感恩節遊行裡就有個氣墊花車
02:23
and Rick Astley pops out, and rickrolls
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上面突然出現Rick Astley的現場表演
02:25
millions of people on television.
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“rickroll”了電視機前的幾百萬觀眾。
02:27
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
02:30
There are thousands of memes that come out of the site.
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4chan創造了上千個網路爆紅現象。
02:32
There are a handful that have escaped into the mainstream,
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有些甚至紅到主流媒體，
02:34
the ones I've just shown you,
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像是我剛舉的那兩個例子，
02:36
but every day, every month,
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但無時無刻
02:39
people are producing thousands of these.
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網友都在製造一堆這種東西。
02:43
So does a site like this have rules?
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所以這種網站有使用規則嗎？
02:45
We do; they're the codified rules that I've come up with,
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有的；我定了一組規則，
02:48
which are more-or-less ignored by the community.
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只是沒人要理。
02:51
And so they've come up with their own set of rules,
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而且網友做了另一個版本，
02:53
the "Rules of the Internet."
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叫作《網路使用守則》。
02:55
And so there are three that I want to show you specifically.
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我特別挑出三條給你們看。
02:58
Rule one is you don't talk about /b/.
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第一條，不要提/b/。
03:01
Two is you do not talk about /b/.
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第二條，千萬不要提/b/。
03:04
And this one's kind of interesting:
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下一條還蠻有趣：
03:06
"If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions."
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『有它就有色情，絕無例外。』
03:09
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
03:11
And I will spare you that slide.
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我就不給你們看那張投影片了。
03:13
I assure you, it is very true.
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但我保證他們所言不假。
03:16
/b/ is the first board we started with,
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/b/是創站的第一個討論版，
03:19
and it is, in many ways,
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從很多方面來看，
03:21
the beating heart of the website.
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它都是這個網站的核心，
03:23
It is where a third of all the traffic is going.
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占了4chan三分之一的流量。
03:26
And /b/ is known for,
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/b/最出名的地方
03:28
more than anything,
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不只是
03:30
not just the memes they've created, but the exploits.
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它創造的網路爆紅現象，而是網路漏洞。
03:33
And Chris just touched on one of those a second ago,
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Chris剛剛才提到其中一個例子，
03:36
and that was the Time 100 poll.
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就是《時代》百大人物票選。
03:39
So somebody at Time, at the magazine,
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《時代》雜誌的某個人
03:41
thought it would be fun to nominate me
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看到網友去年做的這件事，
03:43
for this thing they did last year.
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覺得提名我可能會很有趣，
03:46
And so they placed me on it,
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就把我放在名單上。
03:48
and the Internet got wind of it. My community
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網友知道後，
03:51
decided they wanted me to win it.
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決定讓我贏得票選。
03:54
I didn't instruct them to do it; they just decided that that's what they wanted.
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我沒有叫他們這麼做，這完全是自發性的。
03:57
And so, you know, 390 percent approval rating ain't so bad.
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所以百分之三百九十的支持率還不算太差。
04:00
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
04:02
So they broke that poll.
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他們竄改民調，
04:05
And I ended up on top.
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讓我勇奪冠軍寶座。
04:07
I ended up at this really fancy party.
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我參加了這個非常奢華的派對。
04:10
But that's not what's interesting about this.
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這還不是有趣的地方。
04:13
It's that they weren't putting me at the top of this list;
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有趣的是，他們不是要把我擺到第一名，
04:16
they were actually --
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他們實際上－－
04:18
it got so sophisticated to the point where they gamed
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厲害到可以設計得名者的順序
04:20
all of the top 21 places
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使前21名的字首排起來是
04:23
to spell "mARBLECAKE. ALSO, THE GAME."
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「mARBLECAKE. ALSO, THE GAME」（4Chan二大招牌）
04:26
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
04:29
The amount of time and effort that went into that
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惡搞這個所耗費的時間和精力
04:32
is absolutely incredible.
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絕對非常多。
04:34
And "marble cake" is significant because
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"marble cake"的重要性在於
04:36
it is the channel that this group called Anonymous organized.
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它是由這個名為“匿名”的團體所組成的平台
04:39
Anonymous is this group of people
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而這一群人，就是
04:42
that protested, very famously,
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反對山塔基教（科學教）
04:45
Scientology.
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最著名的一個團體
04:47
The story is,
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事情是這樣的：
04:49
Scientology had this embarrassing video of Tom Cruise. It went up online.
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山塔基教有段湯姆克魯斯的可笑影片流到網路上
04:52
They got it taken offline and managed to piss off part of the Internet.
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他們把影片拿掉時激怒了部分網民
04:55
And so these people, over 7,000 people,
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於是有超過7,000人
04:58
less than one month later,
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在一個月内
05:00
organized in a hundred cities around the globe and --
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在世界各地上百個城市裏組織了--
05:02
this is L.A. --
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這是洛杉磯--
05:04
protested the Church of Scientology,
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抗議山塔基教的活動
05:07
and they have continued to do so,
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這抗議持續進行
05:09
now, two full years after the fact.
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如今二年過去了
05:11
They are still protesting.
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他們還在抗議
05:13
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
05:20
So we've got this activist group that's this grassroots group
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所以我們網站有出這種
05:23
that's come out of the site.
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草根行動派的團體
05:25
And last, I'm going to show you the example,
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最後，我要給你們看的例子是
05:27
the story of Dusty the cat.
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Dusty貓的故事
05:29
Dusty is the name that we've given to this cat.
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Dusty是我們幫這隻貓取的名字
05:32
This young man
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這個年輕人
05:34
posted a video
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上傳了一段
05:36
of him abusing his cat on YouTube.
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他自己虐貓的影片到YouTube
05:39
And, you know, this didn't sit well with people,
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惹毛了很多人
05:42
and so there was this outpouring of support
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於是很多人跳出來
05:46
for people to do something about this.
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呼籲有能者想想辦法
05:50
So what they did is they -- I mean, they put CSI to shame here --
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而這些人做到的--足以令C.S.I蒙羞--
05:53
the Internet detectives came out.
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網路偵探出動
05:55
They matched, they found his MySpace.
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經過比對，找到那個人的MySpace
05:58
They took the YouTube video and they mashed everything in the video.
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他們仔細過濾影片中的每個細節
06:01
Within 24 hours,
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在24小時内
06:03
they had his name,
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就查出他的名字
06:05
and within 48 hours, he was arrested.
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48小時内，那個人就被逮捕了
06:09
(Applause)
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（掌聲）
06:16
And so, what I think is really intriguing
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我認爲像4chan這樣的社群
06:18
about a community like 4chan
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最讓人省思的
06:20
is just that it's this open place.
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就是它提供的開放空間
06:22
As I said, it's raw, it's unfiltered.
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是赤裸裸、未經過濾的
06:24
And sites like it are kind of
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而像這樣的網站
06:26
going the way of the dinosaur right now.
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正步上恐龍的後塵
06:28
They're endangered because we're moving
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他們快絕種是因為
06:30
towards social networking.
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現在社交網站是主流
06:32
We're moving towards persistent identity.
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我們正往永久身份邁進
06:34
We're moving towards,
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整個大方向是
06:37
you know, a lack of privacy, really.
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你知道，完全缺乏隱私
06:39
We're sacrificing a lot of that, and I think in doing so,
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我們犧牲了很多隱私，而且我認爲如此一來
06:42
moving towards those things, we're losing something valuable.
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我們也失去了一些寶貴的東西
06:45
Thank you.
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謝謝大家
06:47
(Applause)
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（掌聲）
06:55
Chris Anderson: Thank you.
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（Chris Anderson）謝謝
06:57
Got a couple questions for you.
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一些問題想請教您
06:59
But if I ask them, is the TED website going to go down?
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不過如果我問了，TED網站會有事嗎？
07:02
CP: You're lucky that this is not
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你運氣不錯
07:04
being streamed to them live right now.
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這場演講沒有在網上直播
07:06
CA: Well, you never know. Some of them --
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難説吧，有些人--
07:08
we've got people in 75 countries out there watching.
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我們的觀衆可是遍及75國
07:11
Don't tell.
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別説出去
07:14
But seriously,
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言歸正傳，
07:16
this issue on anonymity is --
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關於匿名的問題
07:18
I mean, you made the case there.
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你的論點很清楚
07:20
But anonymity basically allows people to say anything,
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但匿名基本上就是讓人想說什麽就說什麽
07:23
all the rules gone.
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所有的規則都不存在了
07:25
You've had to wrestle with issues like child pornography.
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你曾經得處理像兒童色情這類的問題
07:27
And I'm just curious whether you
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所以我很好奇
07:30
sometimes lie awake in the night
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你有沒有曾經半夜睡不着
07:32
worrying that you've opened Pandora's box.
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擔心自己打開了潘多拉的盒子？
07:36
CP: Yes and no.
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是，也不是
07:38
I mean, for as much good
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在這個環境裏
07:40
that kind of comes out of this environment,
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出了很多好東西
07:42
there is plenty of bad.
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當然也有很多壞東西
07:44
There are plenty of downsides.
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儘管有缺點，
07:46
But I think that the greater good
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我認爲更崇高的目標
07:49
is being served here by just allowing people --
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應該是讓大家--
07:51
there are very few places, now, where you can go
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有地方讓你可以
07:54
and not have identity, to be completely anonymous
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不用表明身份，完全匿名
07:56
and say whatever you'd like.
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然後暢所欲言
07:58
And saying whatever you like, I think, is powerful.
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暢所欲言是一件很有力的事
08:01
Doing whatever you like is now crossing a line.
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爲所欲爲才太超過
08:03
But I think it's important to have these places.
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但我認爲有這些地方是很重要的
08:06
When I get emails, people say, "Thank you for giving me this place,
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我就常收到email說：“謝謝你提供這個地方，
08:09
this outlet, where I can come after work
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這個抒發的管道讓我可以在下班後
08:11
and be myself."
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做我自己。”
08:13
CA: But words, saying things,
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但是語言
08:17
you know, can be constructive; it can be really damaging.
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可以載舟，也可以覆舟
08:20
And if you cut the link between what is said
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如果你把自己跟說過的話
08:23
and any attribution back to you,
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做切割（不負言論責任）
08:25
I mean, surely there are huge risks with that.
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當然這有很大的風險
08:28
CP: There are, certainly.
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當然
08:30
But --
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但是--
08:32
CA: Tell me about what -- I mean, I think you asked the board
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來談談這個吧--聽説你在版上問
08:35
what you might say at TED, right?
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在TED要講些什麽對吧？
08:37
CP: Yeah, I posted a thread
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是的，星期天時
08:39
on Sunday.
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我發了一個帖
08:41
And within 24 hours,
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24小時内
08:43
it had over 12,000 responses.
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就有1萬2千多個回覆
08:45
And the thing is,
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重點是，
08:48
I didn't make it into that presentation
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我都沒採納
08:50
because I can't read to you anything that they said, more or less.
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因爲我不能把内容念給你們聼
08:52
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
08:54
99 percent of it is just,
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如果我念了，
08:57
would have been, you know, bleeped out.
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99%的内容都會被消音
08:59
But there were some good things that came out of that too.
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但還是有些不錯的内容
09:01
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
09:03
Love and peace were mentioned.
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像愛與和平就被提到
09:05
CA: Love and peace were mentioned,
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“愛”與“和平”，
09:07
kind of with quote marks around them, right?
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應該不是字面意義那麽簡單吧？
09:09
CP: Cats and dogs were mentioned too.
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貓跟狗也被提到
09:11
CA: And that content is all off the board now.
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那些内容都已經移除了吧
09:14
Right, it's gone? Or is it still up there?
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還是還在？
09:16
CP: I stuck that thread so it lasted a few days.
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我保留了我的原帖，所以討論又延續了幾天
09:18
It went up to about 16,000 posts,
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總文章數大約有1萬6千篇
09:20
and now it has been taken off.
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現在都已經移除了
09:23
CA: Okay, well.
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好
09:27
Now, I'm not sure I would have necessarily recommended
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反正我也不確定該不該建議
09:29
everyone at TED to go and check it out anyway.
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所有TED人去看一看你的討論版
09:33
Chris, you yourself? I mean, you're a figure of some intrigue.
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談談你自己吧，Chris，你是個神秘人物
09:36
You've got this surprising
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你的“半地下”影響力
09:38
semi-underground influence,
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讓人驚訝
09:41
but it's not making you a lot of money, yet.
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可是這還沒能讓你發財
09:45
What's the commercial picture here?
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你的市場規劃是什麽？
09:48
CP: The commercial picture is that there really isn't
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市場規劃就是，我想，
09:50
much of one, I guess.
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沒有什麽市場規劃
09:52
The site has adult content on it.
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這個網站有成人内容
09:55
I mean, obviously, it's got some very offensive, obscene content on it,
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有些非常限制級
09:57
just in terms of language alone.
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光是語言就很色情
09:59
And when you've got that, you've pretty much sacrificed
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當你有這些内容在，你就犧牲了
10:02
any hope of making lots of money.
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賺大錢的機會
10:05
CA: But you still live at home, right?
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你還住在家裏對吧？
10:08
CP: I actually moved out recently.
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事實上我最近剛搬出來
10:10
CA: That's very cool.
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酷
10:12
(Applause)
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（掌聲）
10:14
CP: I got out of Mom's, and I'm back in school right now.
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我不跟我媽住了，而且我恢復了學生身份
10:17
CA: But what conversations did you or do you
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但你都跟令堂
10:19
have with your mother about 4chan?
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怎麽說4chan？
10:22
CP: At first, very kind of pained,
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一開始有點痛苦，
10:24
awkward conversations.
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感覺怪怪的
10:26
The content is not dinner table conversation in the least.
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這種内容本來就不是什麽餐桌上的對話
10:30
But my parents -- I think part of why
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但是我父母--我想他們
10:33
they kind of are able to appreciate it
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能欣賞我說的話
10:36
is because they don't understand it.
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是因為他們聼不懂
10:38
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
10:41
CA: And they were probably pleased to see you
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而且他們應該很高興看到你
10:44
on top of the Time poll.
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登上時代百大的第一名
10:46
CP: Yeah. They still didn't know what to think of that though.
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是，但他們還是不知道該作何感想
10:49
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
10:51
CA: And so, in 10 years' time,
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十年後，
10:53
what do you picture yourself doing?
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你覺得自己會做什麽？
10:56
CP: That's a good question.
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這是個好問題
10:58
As I said, I just went back to school,
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我剛回復學生身份
11:00
and I am considering
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現在正考慮
11:02
majoring in urban studies
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主修都市研究
11:04
and then going on to urban planning,
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然後再進修都市計劃
11:06
kind of taking whatever I've learned from online communities
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把我從社群網站上學到的東西
11:09
and trying to adapt that
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試著應用在
11:11
to a physical community.
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實體社會裏
11:14
CA: Chris, thank you. Absolutely fascinating. Thank you for coming to TED.
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謝謝你，Chris。演講太棒了！謝謝你來到TED。
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Christopher "moot" Poole - Founder, 4chanChristopher "moot" Poole is founder of 4chan, an online imageboard whose anonymous denizens have spawned the web's most bewildering -- and influential -- subculture.
Why you should listen
Since its inception in 2003, Christopher "moot" Poole's controversial imageboard, 4chan, has gained worldwide notoriety as a breeding ground for many of the most recognizable Internet "memes" (think LOLcats). It was also the source of a high-profile hack of a mainstream media website and at least one spirited -- if morally inscrutable -- activist campaign in the real world.
Despite the server-crippling traffic it attracts, this last major enclave of the untamed Internet terrifies advertisers, and moot struggles to keep it afloat. Though you might regard much of its content as obscene or just plain weird, it's become a fixture on the fringe of the mainstream -- and a cultural force all its own.
In January 2015 Poole stepped down from 4chan after eleven and a half years as its founding administrator.
Christopher "moot" Poole | Speaker | TED.com