策劃、編譯■李威撰、謝雯伃

2004年開站的臉書，原是為大學生所設計的社交網站，

但在開放給普羅大眾使用後，使用族群日益複雜，

其中成長速度最快者，並非年輕人，而是35歲以上的使用人口。

這些青壯年以上使用人口，不少已為人父母，

而年輕人也意識到父母可能入侵這一空間，

因此臉書上成立不少反對父母有權申請帳號的相關社群。

■加州大學洛杉磯分校的學生拉瓦修（Alyssa Ravasio）於2010年1月26日在展示她在臉書上的個人頁面。（圖文／路透）

根據一項最新研究顯示，大約有2／3的美國青少年願意加入父母為臉書朋友。

Roughly two thirds of American teenagers （1） are comfortable enough with their parents to have them as Facebook friends, according to a new study.

但有16％的學生表示，把父母加為朋友，是加入臉書這個社群網站的先決條件；另外以38％的學生表示，他們會略過父母提出的「加為朋友」訊息。

But 16 percent of students said befriending （2） their parents was a precondition for joining the social networking site and 38 percent said they simply ignored friend requests from their father or mother.

「在不斷演變的親子關係中，臉書持續成為新的疆域。」凱普蘭測試準備公司的康貝爾表示。該公司針對2,313名16到18歲學生進行社交網路趨勢的問卷調查。

"Facebook ... continues to be the new frontier in the ever evolving relationship between parent and child," said Kristen Campbell, of Kaplan Test Prep, which questioned 2,313 students, aged about 16 to 18, about social networking trends.

康貝爾表示，研究顯示65％「並未隱藏，這是正面的態度」。康貝爾在負責開發大學預備課程的凱普蘭公司擔任執行董事。

The study showed that 65 percent of teens "are not hiding and that is positive," said Campbell, an executive director at the company that develops college prep programs.

據康貝爾所言，對許多美國年輕人來說，臉書提供他們脫離父母控制保持獨立的機會。

For many young Americans Facebook offers an opportunity to remain independent from their parents, according to Campbell.

「即使父母對網路社群涉入極深、非常活躍，臉書仍讓年輕人能夠保持他們的獨立。」她解釋。「他們希望他們生活中有部分是能保有隱私的。」

"Even though parents are very involved and very active, Facebook allows young people to exert their independence," she explained. "They want part of their lives to be private."

在某些例子中，親子間彼此決定要過互不相干的臉書生活。即使許多青少年忽略來自父母的朋友邀請，有82％的青少年回報，他們的父母要不是「非常介入」，就是至少「有點介入」孩子的學業。

In some instances, parents and their children decide to mutually keep their Facebook lives separate. Even though many teens ignore friend requests from their parents, 82 percent of teens report that their parents are either "very involved" or "somewhat involved" in their academic lives.

康貝爾把臉書形容成網路世代相互連結的自然步驟。「這是一個電子通訊的世代；現在溝通的線路正往新的場所打開。」

Campbell described Facebook as a natural step in being connected for a generation that has grown up with the Internet. "This is a generation that's communicating electronically and now the lines of communication are open in new ways."

尼爾森對1,024名父母和500名13到17歲的青少年進行調查。尼爾森所進行的民調中，有3／4的父母受訪者表示他們和孩子在臉書上是朋友。臉書這個社交網站發展十分快速，到2010年8月已有超過5億名活躍的使用者。不過，父母受訪者中有1／3承認，他們擔心他們無法監控孩子在網路上的一舉一動。

Nielsen questioned 1,024 parents and 500 children aged 13 to 17 for the online poll. Three quarters of parents questioned in a Nielsen survey said they are friends with their children on the popular social networking website which boasts 500 million active users. But a third admitted they are worried they are not seeing everything their children are doing on the web.

孩子們或許也因此有了好理由，有將近30％的青少年表示，如果他們有機會的話，會解除和父母在臉書上的朋友關係。

Perhaps with good reason, as nearly 30 percent of teens said if given the choice they would unfriend （3） their parents.

「目前頭號的教養問題就是親子雙方如何在臉書上相處，至少在我與父母間討論的時候是如此。」線上服務公司美國線上的消費者顧問路易斯表示。她是這項調查的共同研究者。

"The No. 1 parenting issue, as least with my discussion with parents, is living on Facebook," said Regina Lewis, a consumer adviser with online services company AOL, which jointly developed the survey.

「我認為，加孩子為朋友的父母比例明顯地高，超過70％。」她並補充說，孩子想要把母親從臉書朋友群上解除的人數，是想要解除父親人數的2倍。

"I thought the percentage of parents who were friends with their kids was strikingly high. It is more than 70 percent," she said, adding that children were twice as likely to want to unfriend their mother than their father.

親子在臉書上是否該成為朋友的議題，在孩子努力想要擁有更多獨立自由，和父母希望能夠看到孩子在網路上做些什麼、以保障孩子的安全之間，有一個微妙的平衡。

The friending issue is a delicate （4） balancing act between children thriving for more independence and their parents' desire to see what is going on to make sure （5） their children are safe.

在將近半數的例子中，孩子表示他們比較希望私下在網路上和父母成為朋友，而不希望他們的父母有能力在他們的臉書上張貼評論。

In nearly half of cases, children said they would prefer to be friends with their parents privately on the web without their parents having the ability to post comments.

不論父母和孩子是不是朋友，路易斯說，有責任感的父母需要關注孩子在網路上做些什麼。

Whether they are friends or not, Lewis said that to be responsible parents need to keep an eye on what their children are doing online.

（Reuters路透）

1. teenager　(n.) 青少年

2. befriend　(v.) 交友

3. unfriend　(v.) 解除好友關係

4. delicate　(a.) 微妙的

5. make sure　(v.) 確定、查明

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