第四單元大眾娛樂匯總

大眾的時ONEOFTHEaxiomsoftechnologicalprogressisthatitdemocratisesentertainment,distributingdelightstothemassesthatwereonce fortheelites.Morehigh-qualityentertainmentisavailabletomorepeopleonthenetthaneverbefore.Atthesametimeindividualsacrosstheglobecanfindanaudiencemuchmoreeasilythanwaspreviouslypossible.Theabilitytoaccesswhateverentertainmentpeoplewantdigitallyandondemandhastransformeddiversionsinsocietiesbothrichandpoor,changingthelivesofbillions.Evenmoreremarkably,massentertainmenttodaycanbetailor-made,notone-size-fits-all.Thereissomethingforeveryoneandatanytimethatsuits.AtthebeginningofthedayinNewYorkthedrearysubwayridetoworkisfilledwithmusic.InTokyothejourneyhomefromtheofficeisatimetodevourmangaona phone.IntheeveninginarustbeltcityoutsideBeijing,workerswhocannotaffordanightoutmaytuneintobroadcastslive-streamedbytheirfellowcitizens.Billionsofpeoplecanchoosefromalargerangeof gamesatanytime.Algorithmstakesomeoftheadventureandserendipityoutofhuntingfornewentertainment,andrarelynudgeacustomertowardsanythingwayoffhisradar.Thisisachallengeforindependentproducersofmusic,litureorfilm,whoalreadyfinditextremelydifficulttogetnoticedamidstsomuchchoice. mendationsoftwarecanmaketheproblemworse.Suggestionalgorithmscanexploitwhatcustomersareknowntolikebypushingsimilarfare,ortheycanencouragethemtoexplorethingstheymightbelessfamiliarwith.Typicalalgorithmstendtoexploitknownpreferencesmorethanencourageexploration.Whenacustomerbuysabook,forinstance,Amazonwill mendbooksonsimilarsubjectsthatpreviousshoppershavealsobought.Netflixwillsuggestashowbasedonthechoicesofotherpeoplewithsimilarviewinghistories.LASTYEARZHAOXINLONG,aged25,andhiswifeandbabyboymovedfromhisparents’farmintoamid-riseapartmentintown.Ithasbeenatoughadjustment.LuanCountyisarustbeltcommunityonthepollutedoutskirtsofthesteelcityofTangshaninnorth-east.MrZhao’smonthlyefromdrivingataxihasplummetedbymorethanhalfinthepastcoupleofyears,andhehasnotfounditeasytomakefriendsinhisnewabode.Butwhenhegetsonlineintheevening,he esadifferent :ZhaoLong’er,anentertainer.UsingKuaishou,a -sharingandlive-streamingapp,hebroadcaststoaliveaudienceofhundreds,sometimesthousands,offelloweverynight.Takentogether,theyadduptomorethan100,000.Manyofthemarediaosi,peoplewhomockinglyidentifythemselvesaslosersindead-endjobs.Onlinehecanrelatetothem,lingthemstories,dirtyjokes,whateverisonhismind.Occasionallyadvertiserspayhimsmallsumstoputcommercialsoutoverhisstream,includingthingslikeweight-lossproductsand“gold”jewelleryfromVietnam.Mostofhisfollowersarealsofromnorth-east.Theychatwithhimonlineandsometimesgivehimdigitalstickersrepresentingthingslikeabeerthatfansbuyonlineandcanbeconvertedintocash.Theindividualamountsareusuallysmall,buttheyaddup.Live-streaminghislifeearnsMrZhaoabout$850amonth,twiceasmuchashisdayjob.產(chǎn)業(yè)興起Theinternethasmadethelotteryofstardomavailabletoanyonewithasmartphone.ThisallowsforafewrandomindividualwinnerslikeRyan,whoseparentshaveearnedmillionsofdollarsfromadvertisingonthechannelinacoupleofyears;orforaneverymanin’srustbelt ealive-streaming帶來的問①Manyintheaudiencearediaosilookingforentertainmentandsometimesasubstituteforromance.②Womenoutnumbermenaslive-streamers,butmostoftheaudiencesaremale.③Theernmenthasimposedguidelinesaimedmostlyattheseamiersideofthebusiness,liketheeroticeatingofbananas(nowbanned).④Themostsuccessfullive-streamerstendtobeattractiveyoungsingersofeither,whocansometimesmustermillionsoffans.⑤Themostpopularofthemearnmorethan$1mayear,almostallofitfromvirtualgifts,butmostofthemareluckytoseeafewhundreddollarsamonth,broadcastinganythingfromeatingmealstovisualprankstowarblingtunesrequestedbyfans.⑥MrZhaolamentsthattoboosthisearnings,hehastolmoredirtyjokes.智Worriesaboutthewareffectoftechnologyarenothingnew.Everytremorofprogressinhistoryhasbeen paniedbyamoralpanic.Theprintingpressallowed“evilmen”to“floodthemarketwithanythingthathintsoflasciviousness”,warnedamonkinVeniceinthe1470s.Anyformofentertainmentisespeciallysuspicious.Readingbooks,goingtothetheatreorcinema,listeningtonewmusic,yinggames—allhavebeenpresentedasthreateningtoundermineauthority,degradehumanrelationshipsandlurepeopleintosin.FORmanyitisareflexasunconsciousasbreathing.Hitastumbling-blockduringanimportanttask(like,say,writingacolumn)?Thehandreachesforthephoneandopensthesocialnetworkofchoice.Abluroftimepasses,andhalfanhourormoreofwhatoughttohavebeenproductiveeffortisgone.Afeelingofregretisquicklydiscedbytheurgetoseewhathashappenedon inthepast15seconds.Sometimeafterthedeadline,theeditoraskswhenexactlytoexpectthepromisedcopy.Conductingtaskswhilereceivinge-mailsandphonecallsreducesaworker’sIQbyabouttenpointsrelativetoworkinginuninterruptedquiet.Thatisequivalenttolosingnight’ss